There’s a lot of good skating in Foundation’s new video entitled WTF?! But for the sake of this post, just skip to the end and watch Nick Merlino’s part. I won’t spoil it for you by naming tricks, just in case you haven’t seen it, but the guy has five or six solid enders. You see one, you assume his …
skateboard business
Other than being a skateboard blogger I’m also an entrepreneur with a few businesses. And it all started once upon a time when I started a skateshop while in high school. I only ran it for a year and a half, but I’ve stayed in the loop somewhat and have learned countless lessons about how to start a skateshop, how to run a skateshop, and how to make enough money to keep running it.
Question:
Hey,
I have been checking out sublimited for awhile now. Great site. Thanks for taking the time. Anyways, I have always thought about opening up a shop. Recently came into some money, so I am finally starting to get more serious about it. That’s besides the point. With your industry experience and knowledge I was wondering if you could …
Alrighty gents, I used to own a skateshop in the pre-Internet days. I handed out fliers at skate spots. I talked to people. I did everything I could to get the word out, but like you, I didn’t have money to slap up a billboard or anything, so I relied mostly on word of mouth. Luckily, skateshops in that day …
I don’t post much anymore, do I? Yeah, I’ve been kind of busy with the day job. And I really need to get a post done for Fortica Skateboards who sent me two decks all the way last year, but between snow, sickness, and injuries I haven’t been able to get out and skate the decks, which I really want …
Hey Dennis, I don’t know who this Carrie lady is that you’ve hired to handle your public relations, but I think you need to sit down with her and have a little talk about this email she’s sending around:
Hi Joshua!
Check out this AWESOME skate video: Dennis Busenitz doing what he does best, landing so many tricks that it’s …
You’ve got two options for getting ramps for your indoor skatepark; build or buy (meaning you pay someone else to build them for you). Unless you absolutely know what you’re doing when it comes to building skateboard ramps (and you would know if you did) I’d recommend paying someone else who has the experience.
Unless you have a very small …
05
Jan
Plan B’s Problem
So Nyjah is off Element and I’m predicting he’ll end up on Plan B. You might knock Plan B for some things, but you can’t knock the fact that they have an amazing team. But despite the awesome team they’ve got a huge problem, which is the same problem they had 15 years ago–the best skaters want to own their …
I get a lot of requests from various skateboard companies to post a link to their website. I especially get a lot of these from random skateboard t-shirt companies. But I’m kind of lazy and don’t want to bother. So let’s make this easy for everyone. If you own a skateboard-related t-shirt company, post a link to your website …
If you own a skate shop in Utah then here’s your opportunity to get some free marketing. Just shoot us an email answering the following interview questions and we’ll give you your own post here on the blog and a link to your website. Feel free to include some photos if you want.
1. Shop name
2. Owner’s name
3. …
Are you a fan of Lakai skateboard shoes? If so, why? Which shoe model have you had the best experience with? Do you buy the shoe based on looks, whose shoe it is, how long you think it’s going to last, or what? Have you ever bought Lakais and then had the buyer’s remorse and wished you had bought …
In a nutshell, the theory of Dunbar’s Number says that you have trouble dealing with more than 150 people. Not you specifically, you in general, and me too. That is, if you’ve got a company with 150 people in it, that will work fine, but hire 50 more people and you start having problems. Put 125 people in a church …
Hey Josh – My husband and I are opening up a skate shop in __________. [don't want to alert any competitors] I’m in charge of advertising. I recently read a post of yours dated June 06 in which you made a few comments on how poorly skateboarders are marketed to. Do you have any tips? Our budget is small so …
I, like most people, delete spam from my email inbox as soon as I get it. However, this one caught my eye.
…
Since posting a link in a previous post about Nike and the Don’t Do It / Nike boycott movement I’ve gotten input from people who hate Nike’s involvement in skateboarding (which is different from hating Nike itself), those who don’t care and adamantly believe no one else should care, and those who think Nike being involved is great. To be …
Most of you reading this probably weren’t skating when Girl Skateboards was started. It was 1993 if I’m not mistaken. Everyone who was anyone in skateboarding went to San Francisco for the yearly contests they had in the fountains there back in the day, and most of the Plan B riders were riding blank decks or something, and they were …
I’ve got my hand on the pulse of this industry. I know what’s popular and what’s not. I know what to buy, and what to sell. I know what product will fly off the shelf, and what will survive ten individual price reductions without moving. Now all I need is a shop and I could actually do something with myself.…
You can tell Transworld is committed to skateboarding because they allow ads like this to be on their website. Congrats guys, you’re aiding and abetting major corporate interests that care nothing about skateboarding as they try to put real skateboard clothing companies out of business.…
The offending Dickies ad is on p. 89 of the September 2005 issue of Transworld.
You know, when I was taking all those classes in college about marketing they would talk about doing focus groups, research, and really trying to figure out what the customer wanted. Sometimes companies would do the right things and have a hit product. Sometimes they …
The accused: Entenmann’s, baker of fine donuts and other pastries, including a mean pound cake.
The locations: Skateboarder Magazine, September ’05, p. 53. Transworld Skateboarding, August 2005, p. 105.
The crime: Bad marketing.
Let’s analyze what’s wrong with Entenmann’s new advertising campaign that attempts to cater to skateboarders.…
Paul ain’t gettin’ no incentives for this photo.
…
As we’re working on starting the Sublimited skateshop, I’ve been thinking that in the future we’ll want to get some pros on the team. It’s probably a little early for this since we don’t even have the first shop open yet, but it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.
Then I started thinking about actually having some pros come in …
In addition to starting Sublimited I also own a web design firm called MWI. I think skateboarders in general tend to appreciate good design more than the general public for some reason, and in my case it’s not just a hobby but my job as well. Well, my other job besides Sublimited.
One of the benefits of running Sublimited …
