8 Eyewear: From Idea, to Launch, to Growth (And Quitting the Job)

[mikey3times]

Website should be fixed now. Give it try please. It seemed to have been an iPhone user issue only. But I needed to update the theme. That seemed to fix it.

www iwear8.com

Confirmed fixed on my iPhone.

 

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[Sheens]

Thank you for making, keeping, and updating this thread! It was certainly a pleasure to read through!

On Friday, it was actually working faster on my iPhone than MacBook (about 5 min to load) but both are fast and great now!

I didn't have any issues with iwear8.ca or I would have just assumed it was a problem with this computer.

 

[Vick]

Thank you for making, keeping, and updating this thread! It was certainly a pleasure to read through!

On Friday, it was actually working faster on my iPhone than MacBook (about 5 min to load) but both are fast and great now!

I didn't have any issues with iwear8.ca or I would have just assumed it was a problem with this computer.

Iwear8.ca had the updated theme. That's how I knew that was the issue.

 

[Sheens]

Happy to hear and hopefully everything runs very smoothly for you throughout the coming holiday season!

I had a quick idea.. basic clear safety glasses used in healthcare settings can scratch and break easily enough; we don't always spend a lot on them. The surface disinfectant (e.g. Cavicide) for infection control numerous times daily is tough on them. (likely to be on most materials leading to this as a consumable)

A wrapping, anti-fog, scratch resistant lens with lightweight frame could be a luxury add on product for those that already love their 8's and may need a pair of safety glasses as well. Or maybe it opens different advertising to the medical field and they see how awesome all of your styles are!

 

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[NaPal]

What are the odds I could get a pair paint matched to my truck?

I understand your request however from a business perspective this is exactly with Vick should not do. Customization is a complete PITA and is not fastlane. Having 5 pairs of shades produced to superb quality and selling to the masses is fastlane.

 

[Abood]

New frames are up. With a slightly new website.

www.IWEAR8.com

Logo can be improved

 

[Vick]

Logo can be improved

That's just a temp logo for halloween. If your talking about the website logo .

 

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[Abood]

That's just a temp logo for halloween. If your talking about the website logo .

Ok

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@Vick -- I've edited the thread title to be more descriptive, man you've come a long way!

 

[Solais]

Wow, talk about competing on quality and not price. The pictures even made me want to buy one (but I'm too poor ATM, will consider in a year or two)

A lesson I will take to heart...

Edit: Minor optimizations you can make to improve your website

GTmetrix Performance Report: A (90%) / C (72%)

Leverage browser caching
Add Expires headers
Make fewer HTTP requests
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Reduce DNS lookups
Minify JavaScript and CSS

 

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[Vick]

@Vick -- I've edited the thread title to be more descriptive, man you've come a long way!

Ok no problem. Thanks buddy. Cheers

 

[Danny Sullivan]

Just read the whole thread over the past couple of days and "what a blast". Absolutely in love with your progress and what you achieved! Hats off to you.

Though from reading through your facebook opinions from others, especially people arguing about the non-existant customer service and little to no way to reach out to you (besides an e-mail adress which is rarely answered), could it be that:

PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL!

as some of you know. I have really bad anxiety. to the point where I get scared even to call friends.

this has become a problem of yours again? Also there's still no story up on your homepage. I have missed this thread entirely since my registration and it was such a good read, that as - if beeing a customer of your company - i sure wanted to know more about you and your progress that lead to this amazing brand, yet have no chance to do so if not registered to this forum and beeing an INSIDERS.

And exceptional customer service is also a value skew. Can't remember who in this forum said this: "Make sure everything is top quality and express that WE CARE. Provide superior unexpected customer service! Always be there: Help, Support, Resolve."

Not meant to step on your toes, just a friendly heads up.

Best of luck and keep rockin'!

--- EDIT ---
From recently looking at your instagram and facebook page i noticed that you were advertising your brand for quite some time with the caption "EIGHT EYEWEAR - Strength Redefined" and i wondered what happend to it? Wasn't / Isn't this your unique selling proposition? The "added value"?
Many of your more recent pictures wear property captions like "Matte Black with Gunmetal arms. Green REVO polarized lenses".
What i mean by that is: are the latest models "me too" products, where the only variation is design?

Again - not to step on your toes. Let us know your thought process behind your brand (if you want to).

 

[Timmy C]

This is really inspiring @Vick

What a read, everything you went through you did it man!

REPSSSS++

 

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[samuraijack]

I always seem to come back to this thread for inspiration. Thanks for keeping us in the loop @Vick !

3 questions for you:

1) Looking back now, is there one big thing you would have changed during the product development & launch phase?

2) Are your sales mostly from cold traffic through facebook/instagram ads (not influencer posts)? I remember in the beginning a lot of your sales were from posts by instagram accounts.

3) Is there a reason why your website does not have a brand story page & your social media pages/ads does not have a lot of lifestyle/brand story images? I'm assuming most of your buyers buy impulsively because it just looks cool, but it's still pretty pricey so I would think you would need more of a longer sales process.

Thanks in advance! I have an idea floating around in my head that may have a similar product development length as yours & also part of the USP is looking cooler than competitor products.

 

[pgtownsyou]

I'm curious to hear how the new models are selling. Having as much luck as the original styles? Thanks!

 

[SIDI]

Just read through all of this. Crazy and inspiring story. Congrats on the success and thank you so much for sharing. Hope all is still going well

 

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[TedM]

Vick is a great example of persistence and execution. it's always inspiring to touch his thread.

 

[Timmy C]

@Vick is an inspiration to me going through the struggles at the moment.

This thread is a great reminder there is no easy path.

Oh and still waiting for part 3!........

 

[OliverR]

@Vick Just read that bootstrapped ecom sunglasses brand Blenders (Est2012) announced yesterday they sold a 70% stake for $90m to the Safilo Group!! And thought of this thread.

Heres the link to the article.

https://www.sourcify.com/how-a-san-diego-based-surf-coach-built-a-90m-sunglasses-brand/

 

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[Vick]

Hello my friends.
Been awhile since I've posted.
Last couple years of my life have been a shit show.
So much has happened.
Pretty much lost everything.
Divorce. Stress. Depression. Heavy drinking. Chain smoking. A lot of Debt.
It just keeps adding up.
It has not been good.
I've made some pretty bad choices.
And now I'm paying for them.

And of course.
EIGHT suffered the brunt of that.
I just didn't care anymore. Let it slowly circle the drain.
The company sales dropped significantly over the years. Went from doing 80-140k a month. Down to 0-20k.
The only thing I have left is my F*cken car. And it looks like I'll be selling that come spring.

I don't know what to say.

Worst years of my life.

I don't even know if I can keep the brand alive.
My confidence is near 0.
I've lost all the urge to work on it. At least with the attention it needs. I feel like it's a lost cause.
And we still have about 400k in inventory.

I'll keep grinding.
But seriously... I'm pretty much F*cked.
And have to basically start all over again.

TO THE NEWBIES READING THIS.

PLEASE. PLEASE! PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF THE UNIVERSE.

BE SMARTER WITH MONEY! Don't let it get to you.

Trust me.

You do not want to be where I am.

It's F*cken horrible.

And extremely difficult to get out of.

I don't even know if I can.

 

[Ronak]

Hello my friends.
Been awhile since I've posted.
Last couple years of my life have been a shit show.
So much has happened.
Pretty much lost everything.
Divorce. Stress. Depression. Heavy drinking. Chain smoking. A lot of Debt.
It just keeps adding up.
It has not been good.
I've made some pretty bad choices.
And now I'm paying for them.

And of course.
EIGHT suffered the brunt of that.
I just didn't care anymore. Let it slowly circle the drain.
The company sales dropped significantly over the years. Went from doing 80-140k a month. Down to 0-20k.
The only thing I have left is my F*cken car. And it looks like I'll be selling that come spring.

I don't know what to say.

Worst years of my life.

I don't even know if I can keep the brand alive.
My confidence is near 0.
I've lost all the urge to work on it. At least with the attention it needs. I feel like it's a lost cause.
And we still have about 400k in inventory.

I'll keep grinding.
But seriously... I'm pretty much F*cked.
And have to basically start all over again.

TO THE NEWBIES READING THIS.

PLEASE. PLEASE! PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF THE UNIVERSE.

BE SMARTER WITH MONEY! Don't let it get to you.

Trust me.

You do not want to be where I am.

It's F*cken horrible.

And extremely difficult to get out of.

I don't even know if I can.

Vick,

Sorry to hear, man.

Few people know how to handle poverty, but even fewer are adept at handling wealth. You're not alone.

The roller coaster of entrepreneurship is tough to handle, I can't think of another "occupation" that has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, coupled with the uncertainty, raw emotion, and indescribable feelings that come with it.

Don't forget--You've built a successful business from nothing, you've provided inspiration to potentially hundreds (thousands?) of people whom you've never met and will never meet via the magic of this forum. But I bet not a week goes by where someone, somewhere out in internet land thinks, "that Vick guy-- he's an inspiration. If he can build something, then maybe I can too...I'm going to give it a shot". I can definitely say your thread helped me personally and inspired me to build my own 100k+/mo business.

You are not your success, but you are not your failures either. Don't give up, man.
Find that 1 friend whom you can talk to, and get the help you need.

It may not seem like it now, but YOU. WILL. GET. THROUGH. THIS. One day at a time.

PM me if you want to talk.

 

[Fox]

Vick,

Sorry to hear, man.

Few people know how to handle poverty, but even fewer are adept at handling wealth. You're not alone.

The roller coaster of entrepreneurship is tough to handle, I can't think of another "occupation" that has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, coupled with the uncertainty, raw emotion, and indescribable feelings that come with it.

Don't forget--You've built a successful business from nothing, you've provided inspiration to potentially hundreds (thousands?) of people whom you've never met and will never meet via the magic of this forum. But I bet not a week goes by where someone, somewhere out in internet land thinks, "that Vick guy-- he's an inspiration. If he can build something, then maybe I can too...I'm going to give it a shot". I can definitely say your thread helped me personally and inspired me to build my own 100k+/mo business.

You are not your success, but you are not your failures either. Don't give up, man.
Find that 1 friend whom you can talk to, and get the help you need.

It may not seem like it now, but YOU. WILL. GET. THROUGH. THIS. One day at a time.

PM me if you want to talk.

100% this.

You’re one of the guys who got me to join this forum and get started on my own journey.

It can always be turned around and any negative situation can bring with it equal opportunity.

Think of the 100s of big business names who went through some temporary failure on the way to even bigger success.

You did it once which is more than most will ever do. I’m sure you can do it again and even better.

 

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[DaisyH]

Vick,

First of all you're very brave to write this update...it takes a lot of courage to show that you're struggling ...everyone...and I mean...everyone...has made mistakes. Most people just keep their mistakes to themselves. I too have had pretty significant business failures- you just keep batting. All it takes is one home run.

Right now it might seem like there's few options but lots of times that's when we we're in the middle of a dense forest and right now you can't see the sunlight streaming though the trees. It's still there, you just need a bit of help right now looking for it.

As @ Ronak says, you've been a big inspiration to lots of us here on the forum and I second the vote to NOT GIVE UP! I'm a Canadian too and the fact that you had such success as a Canadian, helped encourage many of us from outside the US.

I'm going to message you so you better respond.
Need a kick in the pants...I can do that.
Need a pep talk..I can do that too.
Need a sympathetic ear, I'm your gal.
Need some new ideas, let's brainstorm and then see who else we can call upon to help. People are amazingly generous and so much more willing to help than what you might imagine.
You're not alone.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Vick,

So sad to hear the turn of events. It takes courage to post an update such as yours, so thank you for sharing.

I've made some pretty bad choices.

I'd be interested to hear what choices you've identified that created a downward spiral, their origins and their manifestations. You mentioned drugs (Alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and other stuff, was divorce the trigger? Declining sales? Reckless spending on material goods?

 

[Vick]

Vick,

So sad to hear the turn of events. It takes courage to post an update such as yours, so thank you for sharing.



I'd be interested to hear what choices you've identified that created a downward spiral, their origins and their manifestations. You mentioned drugs (Alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and other stuff, was divorce the trigger? Declining sales? Reckless spending on material goods?

Just give me a bit to reply to that. It's alot. I'll try my best to make sense of it.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

Vick,

So sad to hear the turn of events. It takes courage to post an update such as yours, so thank you for sharing.



I'd be interested to hear what choices you've identified that created a downward spiral, their origins and their manifestations. You mentioned drugs (Alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and other stuff, was divorce the trigger? Declining sales? Reckless spending on material goods?

@Vick As much as I wish I didn't read your post (been following you since day 1), I'm also very curious to know what went wrong, especially your money spending habits, as I'm in a very similar position emotionally.. and I know exactly how you feel and it's not good.

But list man... you've built a real business. This is something 90% of people fail at. You're already ahead of most people. If you did it once, it's much easier the second time. Please don't give up... if you're no longer interested in the brand, see if you can liquidate and start something new.

 

[Vick]

Vick,

So sad to hear the turn of events. It takes courage to post an update such as yours, so thank you for sharing.



I'd be interested to hear what choices you've identified that created a downward spiral, their origins and their manifestations. You mentioned drugs (Alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and other stuff, was divorce the trigger? Declining sales? Reckless spending on material goods?

I guess I'll start from the beginning. Try and do this quickly.

I was spending a lot. Way more then I should've been.
But I still had quite a bit at that point, so I didn't notice I was. Slowly over the years it grew worse and worse, my spending habits. I didn't even really notice, irresponsible on my part. But I was going through a separation, there was a lot going on, my head was a mess.
This is turn resulted in divorce eventually. And obviously affected the business.
For years we tried to make it work. But we just grew apart.
Were still best friends and have a great relationship, which is great for our son. So that's a plus out of this nightmare.

Anyway.
I started drinking heavily.
I was already drinking some what above normal, during all those years. But it got worse after I was on my own.
I was spending all my time working on "fun" things. When I should've been focused on EIGHT.
I guess I was comfortable with the cash flow. I didn't care to make more.
I was also gambling online a lot. That one was F*cken brutal. I put end to that one. But I lost a lot.
My debts were piling up.
Still drinking a lot.
Stress and Depression got worse.
Etc. Etc.

This is lowest I've ever been in life.

It really is horrible.

So I don't know, I think it's just a combination of everything. Slowly piling up.
Divorce. Spending Habits.
Stress. Depression.
Then Drinking to relieve that. Even if it's for a few hours.
Which then makes me not wanna work on my business.
Loss of ambition and drive.
Failure now hits you hard and fast.
Confidence now low again.
Then Drinking to relieve that. Even if it's for a few hours.
Which then makes me not wanna work on my business.
Etc.

Alcohol is a big factor here. At least the ability to moderate it.
And depression/stress.

It's just a cyclonic nightmare.
It's hard to get out of.

I don't even know if that answers your questions.
It's hard to type out.

 

[Vick]

I don't know.
It's just been a nightmare.
And started from spending habits.

I guess the only thing I can do is stay positive.
Work my a$$ off again.
Find support via friends and forums.
Etc. Anything I can do.

And see if I can revive this. And my self.

I think I'm gonna post more on the forum again.

I miss the support system. It really is great. It was a huge factor in EIGHT's initial success.

Start fresh.

I have another side hustle I built super fast for some extra income until EIGHT is back up.
www.polyduvet.com
It seems to be selling, so maybe I'll make a new Thread for that. Work on it every now and then.
That one cost me basically nothing to start.

In the mean time, EIGHT is my focus.

 

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[Andy Black]

I have a friend who was in a similar downward spiral. The biggest step towards his recovery was admitting to himself that he had a problem and allowing other people to help him.

Drinking wasn't his issue. Drinking just covered up the underlying issue. It took his mind off whatever he didn't want to face.

So you've taken the most important step.

I presume you're getting professional help? Please consider doing so if you're not.

I also hope you've at least one good buddy to talk to and hang out with? If you're not already doing so then go catch up with someone. I bet there's people waiting for that phone call from you.

Something else to remember: Nothing's so bad you can't make it worse. Don't make things worse by doing anything rash.

It's important to breath. It's important to move. Get out. Go for a stroll. Appreciate the moment if you can. Watch the birds swoop and hear the wind rustle the leaves.

I've been in a few dark places recently. I'm not entirely sure I'm out of them either. What helped me was to marvel and share in the delight my kids have in the little things. How the box that the toy came in is more fascinating than the toy. The look on their face as I let them change gear in the car on the school run. How proud they are when I praise them for bringing a favourite teddy to a brother who's off school from a trip in the yard.

Life's made up of little moments like that. Go manufacture some more of them with your loved ones.

Lick your wounds. Feel sorry for yourself for a bit, then remember to appreciate what you've got.

We're rooting for you Vick.

Happy to have a chat anytime too ... about anything.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

You're gonna bounce back man.

Just need to stay disciplined and grinding and it's inevitable.

If you need someone to hit up about anything, feel free to message me. I dealt with a few friends that were drinking, so don't hesitate if you need someone to talk to or think things through.

You'll get everything back in no time.

You already took the first step of identifying and acknowledging the problem. Now it's just time to stay focused and put in the hours. You've been there before. Just have to do it again.

Oh, and one more thing: You were one of the first inspirations for me when I got on this forum. I'm expecting that very soon it'll get back to that.