FUBU – ever heard of it? If you’re an active rap or hip hop follower, you may have seen celebrities wear FUBU attire, or you may have purchased FUBU attire yourself! Don’t feel left out if you, like me, have never heard of FUBU, though.
Daymond John, CEO of the American Hip Hop brand FUBU and Shark Tank investor, started his business from the ground-up as a 20-year old dreamer. Daymond wouldn’t be where he’s at without the help of his mom, who both taught him to sew and took out a mortgage on her home to help him jump-start his business. He also found that by asking for assistance from the people around him in his neighborhood and from his friends that he was able to gain a base of supporters, who ultimately became his salespeople when the company first began. One of those neighborhood friends was rapper LL Cool J, who Daymond convinced to wear one of his hats in a photo. His business took off from that point forward. Daymond understood the value in asking for help, even when it might be simpler to do it all on your own. If nothing more than moral support, friends and family can provide a foundational network of people who you can learn from, be encouraged by, and make further connections. As the article, “5 Motivational Sales Stories to Read for Inspiration,” noted, “if you can’t sell the people closest to you on your ideas or product, then who can you convince to buy your product?” These people are easy potential clients – learn to sell better with them!
https://www.xactlycorp.com/blog/motivational-sales-stories-inspiration
testacr22
Its interesting how you tied this all together! Personally I’ve never heard of FUBU, but I am aware of similar stories to this one and it does show a unique part of sales. Friends are very easy people to sell to because you can already relate to them and you know how they work, so its a great idea to practice with them.
This is a super cool story! It reminds me of the story of the guy who created the brand GymShark; through the help of family and friends and asking around the community for help he was able to turn the an idea into a globally known. Personally, have never heard of the FUBU brand but still interesting hearing how the business was started.
Hi Bailey,
These are good tips on trying to practice sales. It’s good to start with “Selling” to friends and family, who know you best. Looking back, I think the most effective ways I have sold to my family is when I listen to them and make sure they feel fully heard. Anything outside of this where I ask for things before listening, they tend to shoot down. It’s a fascinating connection to our sales class.
I love how you tied all of this together, FUBU is an amazing brand by a Shark Tank member and it is really cool to see how to go see sales as almost a “Practice”. Sales is something that will never be perfectly mastered and something that will take time to perfect.