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Student Spotlight: Arnav Bindra By Sabrina Cai & Yusuf Rasheed Staff Writers
Sophomore Arnav Bindra has been selling sneakers for four years, and in 2018, he founded his own business, Arnavs Kicks, to take this hobby to the next level. In this spotlight, the Smoke Signal takes a closer look at Bindra’s journey through the sneakerhead world.
INSPIRATION: Bindra grew up playing basketball which motivated him to collect signature shoes from the brands of famous basketball players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. Before Arnavs Kicks, he only collected sneakers for his personal collection, but this hobby soon became too expensive to continue. Thus, Arnavs Kicks was born. Bindra said, “At one point my parents didn’t want to fund this hobby because it was a waste of money, so I wanted to find something that would give me the ability to make my own money and pursue this passion.”
BUSINESS DEALS: Through Arnavs Kicks, Bindra has cut countless deals ranging between $10,000 and $20,000, and his largest purchase was just over $32,000. Many of his transactions are now made through his website, arnavskicks.com, which he started in the winter of 2017. Prior to the inception of his website, Bindra originally made deals through Facebook posts, but said, “I realized a website would be perfect because ... it definitely has a more professional look, especially when you’re going to events. People can find you easier. It's also allowed me to branch off and sell to people that I don’t even know.”
OBSTACLES: During his four years in the shoe trading industry, Bindra has faced a myriad of obstacles. As a full time student as well has having full entrepreneurial and creative control over his company, finding time to finish all his work has always been difficult. Bindra said, “I have school and basketball so it’s really hard to balance my schedule. Over the summer I was able to sell at least ten times the amount I was able to sell now because I had so much more time.” However, with dedication and perseverance, Bindra continued to grow his business, learning valuable lessons along the way. Bindra said, “It’s been eye-opening for me. Before I would spend money [on] no end, I would spend it immediately after I earned it. [But, now] I’ve worn the same shoe for the past year and it costs like 40 dollars. My money spending habits have definitely changed.”
Bindra gets ready to send out a shipment of over 70 sneakers to his customers.
CONFERENCES:
Bindra displays his Nike Air Yeezy 2 Red October sneaker, which is worth around $6,000.
Last March, Bindra attended Sneaker Con Bay Area, a premier sneaker trading event where sneakerheads can sell, trade, and buy shoes. He sold 70 pairs of shoes as a vendor and earned $27,000 in revenue and $5,000 in profit. He said, “It’s really a good place for [sneakerheads] to come together ... everyone in the building shares the same love and passion.” In addition, Bindra spoke about his business at the annual TiE Inflect Youth event in May 2018, one of the world’s largest technology conferences dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, and met other young entrepreneurs. He said, “It’s really cool to meet people that are interested not only in shoes but business in general to expand more and make new connections.”
FUTURE PLANS: In the near future, Bindra hopes to attend more conferences and conventions. He hopes that attending new conferences will benefit his future, potentially even providing him internship opportunities. In the long run, Bindra wants to study business in college and further make use of what he has learned so far. Bindra said, “Entrepreneurship is definitely something I want to do, whether it’s shoes or not, I don’t know, but I want to use my shoe business to channel into [something bigger in] the future.” photos courtesy arnav bindra