Agranoff's moment of inspiration came in 2013 at a high school basketball game. He noticed that most of the boys wore the same simple Nike athletic socks. He wondered: What would happen if he took them up a level by printing his own designs on them?
Brennan Agranoff is a 17-year-old with a lot to do. The high school student currently balances his studies with the full-time job he took on at just 13: founder and CEO of HoopSwagg, a startup selling socks customized to customers' designs.
HoopSwagg is more than a small project to earn this teenager extra money for his living and education. In 4 years, Agranoff developed his idea of custom-designed athletic socks into a profitable online business with annual sales of more than USD 1 million.
4 years have flown by, and HoopSwagg now has more than 200 designs created by Agranoff himself: a mixture of quirky images (such as a hat shaped like a melting ice cream), contemporary designs (such as a rendition of the carpet at Portland International Airport), and other things with no particular meaning. Agranoff also wants to let customers create their own designs in the future.
The company currently ships 70 to 100 orders a day, with each pair of socks priced at USD 14.99. This week, HoopSwagg announced its first acquisition: competitor TheSockGame.com, adding 300 designs and expanding HoopSwagg’s customer base.
But HoopSwagg started on a very small scale. After Agranoff’s initial idea at a school basketball game, he spent 6 months researching logistical issues such as the machinery and technology needed to print designs digitally on fabric.
He then presented the idea to 2 potential investors: his parents. “They thought it was a little… unusual,” Agranoff recalled. But he persisted and eventually received a USD 3,000 loan.
In true startup style, HoopSwagg began in the family's garage in Sherwood, Oregon, just outside Portland. Agranoff installed printers and heat presses with his family's help. He asked his parents to buy ‘as many white athletic socks from Dick’s Sporting Goods as possible.’
Business was fairly slow in Hoopswagg's first year. But things accelerated rapidly after the socks — which Agranoff said were ‘for everyone, from ages 6 to 80’ — became a hit on social media.
Agranoff made full use of his personal social network and targeted a group of influencers to help promote the product. In particular, a sock design inspired by the geometric and teal bird imagery formerly seen at Portland airport spread at astonishing speed, drawing more attention to the brand.
Because sales surged, the company decided to expand beyond the garage. The Agranoff family built 1 building measuring 1,500 square feet on their land to provide enough space for production, storage, and shipping.
His mother works full time in the business, and Agranoff also has 17 other part-time employees. But he says independence is the key to his success. Agranoff also taught himself programming so he could better set up and manage his business website, while learning to use graphic design tools to create designs. He is still the company's only graphic designer, despite being... color-blind.
The socks are currently sold mainly through HoopSwagg’s website, Amazon, eBay and Etsy. The next 3 years will be crucial for HoopSwagg, Agranoff said. He wants the brand to appear in retail stores. He is also extending this customized design work to other products such as shoelaces, gloves and ties.
Meanwhile, Agranoff may graduate from high school 6 months early. Although college is also in his plans, he has chosen to focus on HoopSwagg full-time after high school. He currently spends 6 hours/day on the business after completing school and homework.
Although he has never taken a business class, Agranoff learned a great deal by buying items at secondhand markets and reselling them on eBay, a pursuit he began at just 8. “Indeed, I've been learning how to do this for some time. Especially today, with all the information available online, there is no such thing as someone being too young to become an entrepreneur.”
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