Curl Mix! A Company For Black Hair By Black People

You want support roller mongkhon, pilchard, be sure to join our brain. The fan club every dollar that you give to us supports our daily digital shuttle ones daily. Digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. As Roland Martin unfiltered support the Roland Martin unfiltered daily digital show, by going to Roland Martin, unfiltered calm, our goal is to get $ 20,000 fans contributing 50 bucks each for the whole year. You can make this possible Roland Martin unfiltered bottle. You saw this clip. That was being spread around the internet check this out. All right guys, y'all, should have been ready in the control room come on come on, y'all should have been ready. Okay, lem me be real, clear y'all were in there talking and not focus. Don'T work come on play the clip like if we didn't grow it all, we would make 115 for the next 12 months yeah. We actually end up with a six point: nine million valuation, but we brought it down to four million really well. I can work a spreadsheet, we'll need a lot of money, but we would probably have to raise again, yes, which is why I need 20 % today and you're getting a shark 400,000 for 20 %, I'm not gon na change them. What are you gon na? Do sigh rapper, I didn't see that kind of congratulations. How about welcoming Tim Lewis. They were like now we'll pass, so how are they doing right now? They join us right now how y'all doing want to reason. I want to have you on not not only because I saw that clip because also while we're in the middle this whole coronavirus issue. It'S impacting businesses, people's ability to raise money to be able to make money, but but what really stood out there is that, and I think they were shocked that y'all wouldn't just give up 20 % of equity. I mean that's real, I mean that's, that's that's! For $ 400,000, how did that decision turn out? Oh, that was the best decision we could have made me want to be honest and true, some people go on the show and they say they'll take a deal and they surely air for evaluation of my club million dollars, and so that was based on ourselves. Last year, but maybe March of last year, but we did about 5.5 million in revenue last year. I think we're far above the 12 million our valuation Wow. So so you did so. They were offering $ 400,000 for 20 % equity and you later did a deal for 1.2 million for the same 20 %, relax for 10 % Wow so three times more money for a half of the ACO. You, wouldn't you were gon na, give up yeah and they've. Actually even we've grown so much since then, we 5x, since we even made that valuation when it comes to revenue yeah, so they've already made their investment back and we're still growing. So it was really one of best decisions we made in our life props to my wife. We did all the homework all the background. He knew what our value was going in and would bury, and we stood to that. You know we stuck stuck by what we knew was true about us in our company and what we believed in, and it was us at the end of the day. We believe in ourselves to grow our company and be successful, and they didn't see that as much as they should have on a sharp case. I think, but here's the deal, though I mean I feel like it. The way. A lot of these folks work is to give less money to get more equity because they hope that the company is frankly desperate for the cash and then oh you're getting one of the sharks. That'S that's! If you don't also, don't believe you yourself and your plan. Yeah yeah, so we actually the year prior to the episode airing. We went from about zero to a million in sales and then we 5/x that in the next year we're going to do more than that this year. So we knew that we were growing. We knew that we had that upwards trajectory yeah what we really need. It was advice and support, and education and knowledge about how to navigate a rapidly scaling startup and that's what we really wanted a shark on our team. But we knew that you know we could figure it out if we're gon na have to give up 20 % of our business, and we had 15 % of the business, because we knew at some point. We may have to race again - and we just didn't want to that time - that we raised where we have a minority stake in the company, and so we negotiated with Robert, but he wouldn't negotiate. He also say didn't know anything about the market, and so we were like okay. Well, then, maybe the ideal partnership, one of the things that you know - I've interviewed a number of entrepreneurs and when people go out in the space to raising money, it's for some people. It'S a crapshoot, so some people it turns out. Well others, not. I remember talking to one brother who had had a hair care company and he actually it got lots of attention lots of attention, as was a well-known company, but he said he actually regret it. Raising the amount of money because it when it came down to control and then when it came down to equity. And so how do you advise people to walk through that? Because others again might see 400,000 on half a million dollars? And the million and say that means I don't have to sit here and just you know, and just start myself and pay my employees versus paying myself, but on the back end they may be really screwing themselves out of millions. To be honest, so every coin I think, as long as you have a good strategy - and you are deep into the data that without a million dollars, we wouldn't have been able to transition all of our staff from contractors to full-time employees, because it's not just you, Someone make $ 60,000 a year as an employer, I'm taking an additional like five months for their salary being an additional thousand dollars expenses when it comes to employment, insurance, payroll taxes, health insurance, dental all of that right, and so we would have been able to have That plus invest in inventory before I was manage with the virus happen plus there's. How am I gon na stablished business? They had more security and we've hadn't raised that money. Now I will say you have more control over your company in the direction of it. When you don't have investors and that's great, but if you're just starting now, um there's a lot, you don't know, and you may not even make it to that point. You know you may not make it past a couple years without that kind of investment, I think, is just really the right eye. So just it's it's different for everyone. For us, we've taken an investment for 1.2 million. I thought I wanted to raise again. If I even kind of having conversations with investors, we did 5x our revenues, and so, if you are raising venture capital, you want to raise it on the heel of return. We didn't see the vision you know and so for me, I'm just like wow, I'm gon na devalue, my company just so I can get a check right. We have we're stable enough to continue to grow and grow profitably and people. I have. I know that black women love minorities, you less than a couple percent of the Chikako theory and black women like less than 0.2 %, something crazy. So for me, I'd recommend for us. No, we just go bomb companies making cash hand over fist, because when we do that, then people look at that right. They don't understand our product because they they're not black people with money or not black, but when they see dollar signs, didn't it already check yeah. That'S the real key right there is. We found that investors really want to talk to you when you actually don't need them. We are being successful and you're growing and you're scaling. That'S when they really want you to want to get on your side right. So the best thing you can do is, you know, take care of yourself and build your company in the best way you can and then hopefully someone will share that vision and want to help out yourself the way capital to the black woman running a fund that Invested under her work, um she's got a very savvy first money yeah, we love twenty-five thousand dollars and it came after. We had bootstrap so much in like bail for a few years in a row and her exactly like. You know business, and that was but because you know at the time our panel absolutely so there are a few different ways. Coronavirus have had an effect on our business, some of them positive on some of them negative. So, to start out, when it comes to taking care of our people, you know we already made sure that, as I Kim said, we were able to transition all of our staff from contractor two full-time last year with our first investment and right away. We offered everyone full benefits and we do double minimum wage or just our starting employees, and almost everyone makes above inventory average at every level. I'M not signed industry average. Every level of the business value is where we start with full benefits, and so we wanted to make sure that, first and foremost, we took care of our people, so we decided to make sure that everyone gets paid if we have to shut down. We have a program where, if we have to, if you have to go out for two weeks or if you're sick or if you're with someone who's thick, you have to take care of people who are stuck at home. We allow for you to take that time off. We'Re running. You know a very limited crew, just to make sure that we're able to kind of keep basic functioning of the business. So we put those things in place, but prior to COBIT becoming a huge issue. We were already on the path towards profitability, and so what happened was we were in a great position to kind of take advantage of some of the other benefits that have happened with people being at home right now, a lot more people are shopping online that I've. Never shot online before ecommerce is really growing for us with a lot of new customers. A lot of new access to people who are on call on social media things like that. So there's some negative things for sure, especially when it comes to our supply chain as well, but we feel like we're prepared because we've been working on the problems in our business for months now watching what's going on there. So we don't necessarily we make our products on the west side of Chicago, so it's not like we're ordering material. Then things have been, they have been made in China and then something I think we're making everything. But raw materials do still come from throughout the world and so or like some packaging pieces right and if those people are not at their job working, then it's harder for us to get the materials to make a shampoo to make. You know a body butter or a hand, sanitizer things like that. Yeah. The whole kind of supply chain is strained right now, um, so we've made sure to be as transparent as we can with our customers that things might take longer, but you still the products and services and we have 20 employees and 10 of them are already working Remotely sorry, we were already our online team was already all over the country working in that way. But now we have about 10 people who operate a manufacturing facility and 6 of them have been coming in and for our sewer at home with their kids. They just have baby than the other two because of the virus, but they don't have it it. Just kind of like do more nervous about coming in and the people who are coming in we're offering a $ 50 day bonus free employees for the 30 day period. So they're getting a bonus of $ 1,000 for coming in, as, like hazard, pay yeah all right, Brooke. Your question Brooke yeah, when I take it back to shark tank just really quickly, because I do love that you you came in, you were not gon na give up more than 15 %, very strong and stuff to that, but it were human. You know, and often times like when you make a big decision at a hard decision like that it's it's almost impossible, not to wait for a little bit. So I'm wondering what your thought process was your feelings right after you made that decision, and you bet on yourself and obviously you were right. But why are you worried a little bit? Oh, absolutely because you're in the road, a couple billion dollar Network right and you um have been practicing and and all of America is watching or is there something like 20 million people watch that shows in the first 30 seconds they don't edit. So if you flub it you just, you know, you messed up right, and so it's on you there's 30 cameras, and so I was like wetting bullets like down my back and like I was just so nervous and then the decision right I am I was when I got well after we made the decision it was like. Should we have said yes and then never cross time. We talked about it, but we never was like oh yeah. We should have known it. The right decision, like you, know whether or not this airs, because you don't know if it's gon na air, when you found it was just like this is the best thing for us. We still have to go home and run a real business. This is not a TV business; this is not for fun. This is how we eat, and so after I realized that you know what that was the best thing we could have done final question: oh very quickly, uh shout out to Chicago y'all up there with mr. Johnson and I'm hat used to have used to have their Products and Johnson corporations, so we know black people know how to make monies particularly around here. Oh and apparently since since Negroes is stuck at home, with no Clippers y'all might gon na expand to the Mayo evany. Some dudes might be looking how to get them curls. We have a huge prize. This is what I'm talking about brother. Well, yeah, here's another one, I'm looking at our website right now, brother, but um. You know, y'all might not know today is Emancipation Day in DC 1862 compensated emancipation, but I guess my question kind of in line. We'Re just asked in terms of that moment is Shark Tank. You know what message do you have to folks in our community who want to bet on themselves who have a sense of their abilities? I love what you said tell I mean you know we looking for some advice, some guidance, but if you don't give it to us, we'll figure it out. You know what what message do you have for these folks out here who want to get into business, but who may be wavering in terms of their ability or to see themselves as the expert in the room as somebody who is willing to do that work so That they can become masters of their future yeah, so the biggest thing is like we found that the Internet is the great equalizer when it comes to business like you could start a business tomorrow online with little to no input. All you really need to do is find a market to serve and then find out their pain points and then try to solve the problems. At the end of the day, an entrepreneur is a problem solver, but if you need resources like us, we needed resources. We needed knowledge about how to get these things done. We sought out a network of already successful black entrepreneurs, so I've got to give a huge shout out to traffic sales and profit, the community and Lamar Tyler, who has been one of our mentors and we're part of their mastermind group as well. I think it's, the largest black, I think it's, the largest master Martin black master in the world when it comes to small businesses, and so what founders, who are making five million or more? Like that's other things. You know it's like we can find a bunch of like small black businesses, but how many of us are making millions and it's at least five tips in the group making millions of dollars, so that was something that helped them Bao. So we read right like if you like, I didn't go to college, I don't that's. Okay, that's fine! You don't have to read a few books. You got Kindle you got Amazon. You know pay for a couple here our course on on Facebook or whatever, or you see the ads. You know you can teach yourself, that's what we've done yeah. Thank you, alright, folks. So look. We certainly appreciate y'all being on the show. Thank you so very much. A great information there, hopefully people will be inspired and learn from that. We appreciate it. Alright y'all take care. I want you to like share and subscribe to our YouTube channel youtube.com forward, slash rollin s, Martin and don't forget to turn on your notifications.