From the unemployed to the CEO just ‘selling’ seats in line.
Randomly came up with a business idea from queuing for hire
In 2012, after being fired from AT&T and falling into a penniless situation, Robert stumbled upon a business opportunity by lining up to help launch the new iPhone. More specifically, he realized his business idea by advertising that he would get in line to rent an Iphone for $ 100, equivalent to more than 2 million dong. And because the heat of the new iPhone 5 was so great, he soon got his first customer with an order on Fifth Avenue.
Ironically, when it was almost his turn, Samuel’s customers informed him that they had purchased the phone online, but nevertheless decided to pay him in full. Not letting his efforts in waiting in line go to waste, he came up with the idea of selling his queue to someone else, the result after 19 hours of waiting, Samuel had collected 325 dollars, equivalent to about 10 million dong. After that experience, he realized this was a money-making opportunity and decided to seize it.
Immediately, he called his friends to come and line up. Not only that, they also bring milk, water, hats, even to sell to people who are also waiting to buy this hot iPhone. As a result, they raised $14,000 with only 4 positions that day.
One step to become the CEO of the company “queue to hire” professionally”
February 2012. Samuel founded the company Same Ole Line Dudes (SOLD) specializing in providing rental queuing services. This idea was supported by many of his friends, many of whom even joined him as employees.
Samuel confided: “I want to be the person you think of when you think about queuing.” Today, the company is no longer just a company with a few employees who are acquaintances. Samuel now has about 30 employees with a wide variety of careers, from neighbors, college students, veterans, anyone willing to do the job.
Same Ole Line Dudes averages 15 bookings per week, about 60-100 orders a month, costs $45 for the first two hours and $10 for every half hour after that. Same Ole Line Dudes pre-pandemic sales averaged $2,000 per week. SOLD’s customers are also very diverse, from the rich, to office workers who can’t leave early to queue to watch a movie premiere or simply those who can’t stand waiting for hours.
Samuel employees regularly line up to buy hot items like Dominique Ansel’s Cronuts and expensive shoes like Yeezy, as well as tickets to concerts like “Hamilton” and “Saturday Night Live”. This year, they even worked on graduation, keeping a seat for a mother who wanted to sit in the front row to watch her daughter walk up to the podium to receive her degree at Columbia University.
In 2014, he launched a website to facilitate marketing and promotion of his business. Samuel also said, when there were no orders, he personally went out to give each business card to the potential customers he saw. He even wrote his company’s name on the sidewalks in New York, near showrooms, Apple stores or at subway stations.
Besides, the working conditions are not always perfect. “We wait in the rain, we wait in the snow, we wait all,” says Samuel. “We delivered to Domino. So, that relationship that we’ve built with the people in line, we’ll ask them to hold our place so we can go to the bathroom. We use an app called Toilet Finder that can tell us where the nearest restrooms are,” Samuel shared.
While it can take hours, days or even weeks – Samuel said he once waited two weeks for a “Hamilton” ticket – it was well worth the wait.
“For me, if I get products for my customers, the joy of seeing them happy is the greatest reward I have.” I said. “I always want to see my customers happy. It’s always been a guideline in my work, but it doesn’t matter if I get a tip or not.”
For 10 years, Same Ole Line Dudes brought Samuel an income far beyond his initial expectations. Even so, even after becoming CEO, Robert Samuel still maintains the website, distributes work, manages the finances and is in charge of the company’s communications.
(Image source: Abcnews)
at Blogtuan.info – Source: cafebiz.vn – Read the original article here
