Andrew Shaw, a student at UW-Madison, did not originally see himself as an entrepreneur.
Originally as a pre-med major, he navigated through personal finance, nursing, and eventually found his passion for accounting at the Wisconsin School of Business. As a senior, Andrew aspires to graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and ultimately earn his MS in Accounting and Business Analysis, a path he had never anticipated when he first entered college.
His entrepreneurial spirit, however, started much earlier when he founded Shaw Sneaker and Clothing Investment LLC his freshman year in high school, discovering opportunities with the reselling market.
“I founded the company because I am really into clothing, and I am really into fashion. I like that you can express yourself without saying a single word based on what you are wearing, and I think that’s really cool. Unfortunately, fashion is not cheap. I realized in high school that I better find a way to fund my fashion habit. I still remember the first pair of shoes that I resold. It was for a $70 dollar profit. And I started doing this reselling more and more and I realized ‘Oh okay, maybe I actually have a business here’.”
Acknowledging the challenges in the reselling business, Andrew speaks of his early success and realization of making strategic decisions in regards to this market. “When I first started, it was really easy. I must have gotten lucky. My first 10-15 resales, I made money on. And then at one point, I was like ‘okay I can do anything. It doesn’t even matter what I buy. I’ll just buy it and make money on it’ and eventually you find out that that’s not how it works. Sometimes you misjudge. You buy an item that maybe didn’t sell out or that people don’t want. Fashion is expensive, so all of a sudden you have a $200 dollar hoodie that only sells for $150.” And while luck plays a role, Andrew also credits his commitment to learning about the market trends and being at the right place at the right time.
Andrew’s commitment to his business is evident in his diverse portfolio of sales. Ranging on different platforms like EBay to more specialized markets such as StockX and GOAT. Over the years, he has successfully sold a variety of items including high-priced hoodies for $680, t-shirts for $350, action figures for $730, shoes upward to $1,300, and even a Supreme straw mat for $160. This demonstrates his adaptability and his expertise in the reselling game. For him, these talents came easy as Andrew says, “I think that if you’re doing something you’re interested in, it doesn’t really matter. I think the fact I really love fashion, street wear, and sneakers, really made the time commitment to the business enjoyable. It’s not like I’m doing something I hate.”
“I pondered the decision of taking a gap year before college to pursue this and see where I could take it. But I think the fact that it is so dependent on the market…and what brands like Nike, Supreme, and Yeezy release, makes it difficult. It’s so variable and inconsistent that it was perfect for high school and making some money in college. But unfortunately, I think it’s on the decline especially as more individuals enter the selling side of the equation.” Despite this decline, Andrew remains optimistic and views his experience as valuable. Taking inspiration from his Introduction to Entrepreneurial Management course (MHR 422), he recognized from his instructor, Jon Eckhardt, that entrepreneurship is not limited to specific industries and that opportunities can arise from various interests and at various times, sometimes when least expected.
As Andrew approaches graduation, he contemplates the future of his business. While this may not be a long-term gig, he expresses gratitude for the lessons learned and is ready to remain open to new opportunities in entrepreneurship, showing his entrepreneurial journey is far from over. With this, Andrew says, “I always had entrepreneurship in the back of my mind. I’m going to college, I’m going to get a job, but, if I find something that I am very passionate about and I think I can pursue it, that’s when I’m going to go for it.”
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