The Mr Vintage story
It’s great to hear about a basement business that grows to become a Kiwiana icon. That’s the Mr Vintage story in a nutshell.
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Humble beginnings
The business started in 2005. Initially I was doing Mr Vintage on the side during my university studies, says founder, Rob Ewan. But eventually I pulled out of Uni and went full time, moving into a house with a massive basement where I put up Mr Vintage gear and warehoused t-shirts.
The basement was our first makeshift office. As time went on, we moved into a store in Parnell.
One day, a friend’s girlfriend came into that store. She thought the idea was awesome, but could also see that Mr Vintage could be bigger than it was.
She happened to be working as a PA for a business coach and adviser, called Marti, and she set up a meeting with him.
The mentor advantage
At first, I had the attitude of, “No, I don’t need help, I’m doing alright by myself.” I just didn’t want someone to tell me how to run my business. I thought I was doing ok.
I saw Marti speak at this seminar they put on and I was quite impressed by the whole set-up. He gave away a CD with testimonials. I think I just trusted him, so I thought, “I’ll give it a go.” Plus, I’ve always been very open to giving things a go, to trying new things, and improving and growing the business.
For the first time since I started the business, there was someone who I could step out of the business with, someone who I could talk to.
There are certain things you can’t talk to your staff about. It was great to have someone to bounce ideas off, who could empathize with me. Marti had run his own business, which made a huge difference.
Finding the mentor that you need specifically to help your business means defining what complementary skill-set you want.
Complementing your strengths
We were already quite strong with marketing and branding, but Marti was really good at creating systems in the business.
I had come into business with an idea, but I didn’t actually know how to run and grow the operations. Marti was able to give me templated systems.
The way that I looked at any mentoring expense was seeing it as an investment, not a cost. I went in with a mindset of, “I’m investing in myself. If I’m going to go with a coach for a year, I’m going to try and up-skill myself so much in that time, and bring in skills and add to what I’ve already got.”
Rob’s advice
Acknowledge what you’re not good at. Read books or bring people into the business; surround yourself with people who can help you fix that weakness.
Business Drill-down
- Business type: NZ’s premier online t-shirt brand
- Main products: We stock Australasia’s largest range of authentic 80’s themed and pop culture t-shirts.
- Number of staff: 10 full-time
- Trading since: 2005
- Main markets: Australasia
- Website: www.mrvintage.co.nz
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