Milan Naropanth '23 and Graham Walter '23
An aspiring entrepreneur
Finding financial success as a high school student is no easy task, but starting your own business and building a sneaker empire is almost unheard of. Binit Sinha, a Lawrence High junior, is making big waves in the community outside of school. He is the founder of Binits Kicks, a sneaker reselling LLC. A market valued highly amongst teenagers and “sneaker-heads” alike, sneaker reselling is a lucrative business that can yield a fast track to success. Highly valued sneakers, or any type of merchandise, are bought at retail price in order to be flipped for a higher payout. Binit has found success in the industry, despite facing the trials and tribulations of a highly competitive climate. Here’s a closer look at Binit’s profile and how he started, and runs, a successful business as a high schooler.
Discuss your experience growing up in Lawrence. How has your background impacted your career?
Growing up in Lawrence I was surrounded by a great community of people, but I never really saw too many people doing something out of the ordinary. From the time I was in intermediate school, I knew that I wanted to do something different and stand out amongst my peers. Once I started to realize the potential of reselling limited, and sought after, sneakers, I saw that there weren't many opportunities in our town, but this also meant that I would be the only one doing this. This forced me to utilize the internet for my business and it just took off from there.
Can anyone replicate your success? What does it take to be successful in the sneaker reselling business?
There are very few people my age that have achieved the same success that I have found in the industry. It definitely is very possible as it depends on the amount of work you are willing to put in and the amount of risks you are willing to take. The key to being successful in the industry is to be able to make decisions when you are being put under pressure. You should also be able to bounce back from any situation no matter how bad it is.
How did you get into the business of Sneaker reselling? Describe your inspirations.
I got into this business from simply wanting to wear the newest sneakers out. My parents would never buy me these expensive sneakers that were hundreds of dollars, so I needed a way to supply my obsession. Eventually the act of buying and reselling sneakers became something much more than a hobby. One of my inspirations early on was Benjamin Kickz as he was just a teenager making millions from selling sneakers and he really opened my eyes to this opportunity in front of me.
When did it first start taking off?
My freshman year I started taking my business seriously and put in countless hours of research and creating valuable connections. My sophomore year I started to notice I was doubling even tripling my volume of sales every single month and that was when it really started taking off. I was supplying different stores all over the country and was moving thousands of items every month. Then the pandemic hit us, but this made my business skyrocket even more as everyone was online 24/7 and I was able to capitalize off of this. Soon enough, I was making hundreds of thousands every month.
What was the most difficult aspect for you in your business?
The most difficult aspect was definitely balancing my business and my school-life. At a certain point I started having trouble completing my schoolwork along with scaling my business and I was getting a couple hours of sleep a night. This made it very hard to scale past the point I was already at and I was forced to focus on school. Eventually I was able to find ways to balance the heavy load that I put on myself, such as having friends help me fulfill orders and also just being more productive altogether.
Was your success self-made, or were other people a part of the operation?
There were definitely a lot of great mentors that I had early on that really helped me take the first step into the industry. After that, a lot of my success was self-made. I was able to put together a successful team of people that were able to manage sneaker bots for me, which is currently a big part of my success. My parents didn’t help me early on as they didn’t really believe in me and just thought I was wasting my time, but now they are seeing the results from all the work and are very supportive of me.
Finally, is it difficult balancing your business and academic life? What are some keys to success?
It is pretty difficult balancing my business and academic life as I am taking some pretty challenging courses, but I have found ways around it. The current virtual lessons that we have during the pandemic have opened up a lot more time for me for the rest of the day after school. The biggest part of achieving a good balance between school and my business was allocating my time efficiently. I still have trouble balancing my time and struggle with procrastination, but I have definitely gotten a lot better at it.
The future of Binitskicks
Binit’s sneaker empire continues to grow as he forms new connections and tools in the industry. He is an inspiration to his community and his exponential growth will only rise in the next couple of years. Binit continues to expand his company with the addition of his website, as well as his Instagram (@binitskicks) where he announces new and “hyped-up” products. The next few years for Binit will certainly be exciting, and his hometown of Lawrence will certainly be there for it.