The "RunVeer" Marathon T-shirt - Black, Unisex

Naturally, then, things like adverts in the newspapers, pamphlets, strategies like luring customers to "tell 20 friends and win a free t-shirt" are all methods to attract a whole lot of people, but not the kind of customer I hope/want to deal with at Toubé Bäs. A typical Toubé Bäs customer is far more prudent, dignified, and sophisticated than that. Plus, slightly richer as well!

I plan not to worry about the masses, or the huge business opportunity that I lose with them. My concern would be to cater to the few elite people, and give them all the customer service I can afford to. That's where I won't like to fail.

Thankfully, that's the business wisdom my grand father felt like sharing with me recently.

Also, Toubé Bäs is not about 'designer' t-shirts ... where a flutter of butterflies, a fleet of birds ... and things like that contribute to some immensely colorful design. The t-shirts here will always have a strong message to deliver ... a message that you will either connect with instantly, or not connect with at all. These are meaningful t-shirts, and may make sense to only a few people who are passionate about the core meaning. In your group, or at a social occasion, these t-shirts will certainly give you that "Hey Nice T-shirt!" response ... serve as conversation starters (about your passion), and make you feel happy about it.

Looks like the ride's going to be tough for me, right?! I hope so too!

 

91% of urban population claim that they have a "favorite tee", which they will never discard in their lives! Come what may.
About 5.4 million tshirts are sold worldwide! Daily.
More than 60% of the all urban population owns atleast 10 tees each. 19% own more than 30 tees!
 
These are statistics - but there's one very generic reason why people wear tshirts: to express. People mistake T-shirts as apparel. They are not. T-shirts are, instead, a form of 'media' - and a much more 'personal' media than the radio or tv can even hope to offer. When someone wears a t-shirt with a message on it, he or she is devoting 50% of the body to that message ... for an entire day. That's how siginificant t-shirts are ...

T-shirts are about one's personal beliefs and thoughts - and that's not the end! T-shirts are a casual, cool, and carefree manner to express one's attitude in style, and in a unique way.

That's why I always maintain, "T-shirts do not hide the body. No. Instead, they reveal your mind!"

Still, that is NOT the reason why a t-shirt becomes someone's favorite - so much so that that's the only thing they will sleep in. There's something else ... 
 
Emotional involvement. Yes - researches have shown that the one piece of apparel that people develop maximum emotional bonds with are their tees! A tee may be a gift from your girlfriend (better - it may belong to your girlfriend), it may remind you of that marathon run, it may have a message about your passion and belief, or it may simply reflect something about your school or college - but once ppl get emotionally involved with their tees, they don't want to discard them - no matter how batterred the fabric may be! This is one relationship where there's no breaking-up.

There's little wonder in the fact that almost 33% of the sports world revolves around merchandise, and almost 43% of revenues that colleges in the West generate are through sales of merchandise - and a huge chunk of that is t-shirts.

Garment industry?! No! I think I am in the media industry! :)
 
 

Payments on Toubé Bäs can be made in the following ways:

CreditCards/DebitCards/Direct Net Banking
Oh yes! This is serious business - we have tied up with CCAvenue to bring all the security and conveniences to your payment process. CCAvenue is India's largest payment gateway (they must be really good, right?) ... and provide for payment through global credit cards ... and also debit cards & simple online banking of almost all the banks in India!

PayPal
Allows for ultra-secure credit card and international bank transactions! Also, doesn't require you to have a paypal account :)

Not that I am playing in billions - but what the heck! The experience in this hobb-usiness has been an assortment of lessons already. While I get the ultimate pleasure in selling t-shirts here, I would love to share some empirical realizations about starting-up with you - may be they might benefit you!

8) Money is Easy!
Yes, it is. I used to believe that easy money is evil. But it's not. To me, money is good, money is my friend. And all I have to believe is that every moment, money is joyfully coming to me in abundance.
I think this is a necessary attitude to have because once this belief becomes a part of you, you can start focusing on things that really need your focus. Money should not be your focus at all. Your focus should be your passion, your commitment to your passion.
Ofcourse, being pragmatic helps. Like, a very wise thing I have learnt (it's a very simple thing, by the way, but simple is usually difficult): to have money, you need to learn to do two things. Save some of what you earn, and invest some of what you earn. That's the key to become monetarily-rich.

7) Long-term Planning is a Joke!
Yes, it is! Believe me! The gods smile at you pitifully when you plan your life - imagine how loud they will laugh when you try to make a 2 year plan of your business in an excel file, with goals very clearly mentioned in there! While you are doing it, one of your 27 other competitors has already sold his product. My small advice is ... think small, think small term, and make sure you do it. Stop ideating after a while. Get executing - asap. For instance, meet a real customer and test the product on her and take a genuine feedback. As far as your investors, angels, managers etc. are concerned, tell them, and make them repeat it 20 times, that your poorest customer is far, far more important than anyone in the business you are running. Because, he/she is.

6) The Customer is God ... but ...!
That's what we Indians have always been taught, haven't we? That's what the marketing gods Jack Trout and Al Ries have said, and that's what Theodre Levit said in his HBR classic, "Marketing Myopia". This is a rule that should be followed as a superstition, and yesterday, my 88 year old grandfather advised me to do the same too. When I say, "God", it doesn't mean you sacrifice just about everything for them. But respect them, their wants, and make them happy. They are feeding you, afterall. Oh - my MBA never mentioned a word about it :) MBA is for jokers. I was one when I did it :(