If you haven’t heard of Sneaker Kitchen and Justin Melnichuk then you could be missing out on some of the latest and most stylish sneakers on the market. Despite being only 16 years old, Justin Melnichuk has successfully developed an online business for reselling sneakers to stores and individuals alike. For 4 years now, he has worked tirelessly to create a reputation for himself and it has paid off, with Sneaker Kitchen making a whopping 1.4 million in sales in 2021 alone.

When he was only 12 years old, Justin Melnichuk became inspired to join the sneaker reselling community due to the success of other notable figures such as Benjamin Kicks. He saw the collaborations that he was doing with celebrities such as DJ Khaled and made it his mission to find out more about the sneaker community. After buying and reselling his first few pairs of sneakers, he realized what an amazing community he had the opportunity to be a part of and Sneaker Kitchen took off from there. Now, Justin adds Jake Paul, Marcelas Howard, G-Eazy, De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Mozzy, and more to his list of customers.

The process for Justin is as simple as buying an in-demand pair of sneakers, taking a photo, and uploading it to his Instagram story. From there, stores and individuals have the opportunity to send him a direct message asking to buy the shoes. He then spends 3-4 hours in the warehouse after school each day packing and sending the sneakers to the US and UK. He is careful to balance his school life with his highly promising professional life and is diligent about sticking to a schedule that ensures he completes all of his tasks each day.

People in California and across the US now know that Justin Melnichuk is the number one sneaker reseller. With this online success encouraging him to take his business further, Justin is opening a physical store location for Sneaker Kitchen in Sacramento California this year. He also plans to open locations in other US states, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami Florida. He hopes to become the top sneaker reseller in the US and his dedication to his business demonstrates that he is likely to succeed in this mission. No matter what kind of sneakers you are looking for, Justin Melnichuk is the man to see.

There have been some amazing, inspiring stories of entrepreneurs coming from absolutely nothing. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and it’s a powerful reminder to everyone across the world to strive for happiness and success. Here are some of the most potent, awe-inspiring rags to riches the world has seen.

Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz served as the CEO and chairman of a little coffee company called Starbucks. He was born in an incredibly impoverished area of Brooklyn, New York, and spent most of his childhood in public housing projects. His father was a truck driver.

He graduated from Northern Michigan University with a B.A. in Communications and subsequently took up a role with Xerox as a salesman. In 1979, he became the general manager of Hammarplast, who supplied coffee machine parts to cafes. During this time, he came across the Starbucks Coffee Company, which he joined the following year.

At 29, Schultz was responsible for revitalising their retail operations and marketing. He oversaw the expansion of Starbucks into a global entity and international force in the coffee industry. As of April 2020, he is worth $4 billion US.

Oprah Winfrey

Most people know the story of Oprah Winfrey. She was born in Mississippi to an unmarried teenage mother and spent the first six years of her life living in rural poverty. She was molested by several family members and even gave birth to a son when she was just 14. He was born prematurely, however, and he died shortly after birth.

At 17, she began working in media and picked up work with a local radio station, WVOL. She relocated to Chicago and began hosting morning talk shows, like AM Chicago. Within a month of working on AM Chicago, the show’s ratings went through the roof. The rest is history.

Oprah is often credited with revolutionising talk show television, earning her the title “The Queen of All Media”.

If you were to peruse a range of guides advising you on the best strategies for becoming an entrepreneur, chances are you wouldn’t find much relating to what you shouldn’t be doing. The world of business is built on entrepreneurial blunders, strategies mishaps and complete misfires. Want to know what you should be avoiding? Read on to find out.

Chase fame and success in the wrong places

Most young, naïve entrepreneurs are driven by one principle: get rich and famous. However, there’s more to being an entrepreneur and successful business owner than achieving fame and financial success. If you choose to operate your business on that philosophy, you are doomed to fail. If you want the best chance of success, make sure it revolves around something you are passionate about. Passion is arguably the essential attribute of a good entrepreneur.

Make everything about the customer

There is this misguided view that EVERYTHING must be about the customer. While adopting a customer-centric approach is crucial, letting down individual customers is unavoidable sometimes. You can’t please everyone, no matter how perfect your business is. Steve Jobs was reportedly a victim of this, especially when designing the iPhone.

Try and keep your messaging simple. Ensure that your staff are aware that pleasing the customer is essential; however, make sure there is some flexibility in that message. Honour the customer’s wishes, but don’t assume everything they want or need is essential. You’ll end up hurting most of your customers and pleasing the minority.

Use ineffective servant leadership

Most business owners think “servant” leadership is the philosophy your workers need to use. However, it’s the opposite. It would help if you worked to “serve” your employees, thereby giving them what they need to succeed. This includes things like training, compassion and holding them to a high standard. Sometimes, the most appropriate form of servant leadership is making someone redundant when things aren’t working out. It seems mean and harsh, but it’s unfair to keep someone in a job they aren’t thriving in.