How Michael Nemeroff Turned a Family Business into a Million-Dollar Success Story

When was a time you came close to giving up?

By our third year, were bringing in about $30K a month in revenue. It’d taken us a long time to get there, with my siblings and I working around the clock in a small warehouse to bring in every sale we could. But at the end of every year we found we’d barely turned a profit as in, to the penny break-even or a slight loss. It was almost unfathomable for the amount of work and time we sacrificed.

We were all exhausted and I was ready to move on. But my brother wouldn’t let me quit. I promised him I’d stay for a few more months, and that’s when we doubled down on our marketing efforts. Within a month, we went from bringing in $30K to $200K in revenue. All of a sudden, we were a million-dollar company. The growth was challenging since we didn’t have any employees at the time. The three of us were doing everything: the selling, marketing, printing, designing, purchasing, shipping, cleaning, accounting.

It was one of the most challenging and rewarding times in our careers, but I learned so much. One important lesson was that sometimes success is just around the corner and you may never know it unless you keep going. You can give up a year, a month, a week, maybe even a day before it all clicks. I’m very fortunate that my brother kept me in the game for just a bit longer.

What motto do you live by?

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

What exciting projects are on the horizon for you?

We’ve recently acquired two fantastic brands.  A college brand called SouthBySea.com, which is a leader in the college and greek custom apparel market.  We also acquired a company called TheDealRack which specializes in selling blank apparel.  These two brands will allow us to reach tens of thousands more customers and supply them with great products.