A 17-year-old high school student successfully started his own business, earning millions of dollars a year!

The cross-border e-commerce industry has never lacked young entrants.

A 16-year-old American girl sells hair circles on TikTok and earns six figures a month; a young girl earns $260,000 in 24 hours by selling clothing with positive energy quotes; a Chinese girl started a business at the age of 24 and created a big brand with an annual income of over $100 million...

Actual cases prove that even if cross-border e-commerce is becoming more and more competitive, the winners are those who can play the game and survive to the end. Some people spend all their wealth and end up in failure, but some people start their own business at a young age and break through the encirclement of traffic in just a few months or more than a year, and carve out their own world.

When entrepreneurs become beneficiaries, the categories they have deeply cultivated naturally become fertile ground for entrepreneurs to rush to. Earn millions of dollars a year from embroidery? A down jacket brand that has transformed into a handbag has won financing? Earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year from making nostalgic backpacks? ... Every successful person has a trace to follow.

17-year-old American girl earns millions of dollars a year by embroidery!

When it comes to embroidery, China is the country with the most say. As the most representative intangible cultural heritage of our country, the 2,000-3,000-year history of embroidery is not just talk. Dozens of styles such as Suzhou embroidery, Yuexiu, Longxiu, and Xiangxiu have been passed down to this day and have remained popular for a long time.

To date, embroidery has spread across the globe with the help of social media, and has also penetrated into the hearts of overseas consumers through digital means.

17-year-old American girl Keida Dervishi (hereinafter referred to as "Keida") benefited from embroidery and started a business based on it. By selling embroidery works, Keida achieved annual sales of one million US dollars in just one year.

Since her parents have been running a fashion brand, she was curious about this business at a very young age, but as a 9-year-old child, Keida's personal interests were only singing and performing. It was not until she was 17 years old, when the epidemic broke out, and her peers around her started their own businesses, that Keida also had the idea of ​​"having a side job to earn some extra income."

Unlike many cross-border e-commerce practitioners who made a large capital investment, Keida simply bought a $300 embroidery machine with the help of her parents and started her entrepreneurial journey of selling embroidery products on Etsy.

With the mentality of "even if I fail, I can learn from it", Keida was busy learning "how to embroider?" and designing and making embroidery products while posting videos on the platform. However, there were only a few orders.

Until one day, a video Keida posted on TikTok went viral, with 4 million views, which also brought a surge in orders to Keida's store, with more than 300 orders in 3 months. But this good time did not last long. As the popularity of the video song returned to normal, her orders also returned to the starting point in 2021, but Keida did not give up easily.

The second big spike in sales came when Keida gave her mother a shirt embroidered with the silhouettes of her and her daughter on her birthday. At the time, Keida was thinking, "Why not take a photo of myself, draw the outline, and then embroider it?" When her mother saw the shirt, she also thought it would be a good idea.

In fact, this little idea also became the source of Keida's subsequent creations. She even founded the brand Soulmate Customs with her mother in July 2021, mainly producing custom embroidered clothing with soul mate themes.

In order to promote her brand, Keida specially produced and delivered a short video of custom embroidered clothing and posted it on TikTok. Perhaps the video resonated with many consumers, and it received more than 3 million views soon after it was posted, as well as many positive reviews and new fans.

At this point, Keida also ushered in a surge in orders. In the first month after the video was released, more than 1,400 orders were received, and sales exceeded $100,000. However, such a huge order was simply not enough for one machine to complete. Keida bought four commercial embroidery machines with the investment of her father and hired many people to complete the orders.

Foreign media data show that Soulmate Customs has achieved $1 million in revenue in the first 11 months of 2022. And Keida has thoroughly figured out the popular code of TikTok. Sometimes a few seconds of order-sharing video can get more than 100,000 views.

From its official website, all kinds of embroidered clothing can be customized, such as couples kissing, friends taking photos in front of the Ferris wheel, girls riding motorcycles, etc. They can all be customized on sweatshirts, bathrobes, short-sleeved shirts, shorts, trousers, etc. The prices of these products range from US$60 to US$100, and a large "UP TO 50% OFF" message appears on the homepage to attract consumers.

Compared with Keida in the United States, Chinese sellers have a strong supply chain and embroidery history. I believe that the products they develop will be more creative and distinctive, and it is not difficult for them to gain an advantage overseas.

An innovative clothing brand founded by an American couple received millions of investment

As we all know, the clothing industry is very popular and competitive, but there are still some innovative items that break through from time to time.

Previously, the editor has also shared many cases. Sophie Nesticof, a 24-year-old American girl, founded the positive energy clothing brand See the way I See and made 260,000 US dollars in 24 hours; ORORO, a heating functional clothing brand driven by lithium batteries, successfully went viral; Cider, which focuses on plus-size women's clothing, has a valuation of over 1 billion US dollars...

There is no doubt that popular clothing brands all have their own little characteristics, and the same is true for the innovative clothing brand NineteenTwenty that we are going to share below.

This is a brand created by a young American couple in December 2022. Unlike regular clothing, the jackets and other clothing sold by this brand can be converted into functional windbreakers, skirts, handbags, pillows or blankets, and can bear up to 40 pounds of weight.

It is precisely because of this innovative feature that it has become popular on TikTok.

It is understood that the couple posted a video on TikTok, the main content of which was to show how a coat was transformed into a canvas bag. It not only received over 6 million views, but also attracted millions of likes from overseas netizens. Many netizens loved it and expressed their desire to own it.

The support of netizens has greatly increased the sales of its products, and the sales have achieved steady growth. Foreign media data show that in 2023, the annual sales of its brand has reached 269,000 US dollars. Although it is not high compared with other clothing brands, this figure has increased several times compared with 78,000 US dollars in 2022.

The couple can also be seen promoting their products on multiple social media platforms overseas.

Take shopping in supermarkets as an example. When they finish shopping, they don’t buy bags. Instead, they choose to dismantle their long down jackets, shorten their down jackets, and transform the lower body of the down jackets into bags. At the airport, they also transform their down jackets into pillows and lie down to sleep.

Perhaps due to the functionality of the product, its price is not low compared to its competitors, ranging from tens of dollars to 350 dollars. In addition, in order to meet the needs of different consumers, it is specially designed in various sizes from XS to 5XL.

However, due to the impact of funding, the rate of new product launches is not high. Previously, they also appeared on the American maker show "Shark Tank" and won an investment of 250,000 US dollars with the innovative functions of their products.

In fact, in the overseas market, there are many sellers who are deeply engaged in this type of functional clothing, such as ORORO, a cold-resistant brand that focuses on electric heating clothing. It is known as the "Hermes" of electric heating clothing and currently has global sales of more than 2 million products.

ORORO is not only a leader in the field of electrically heated clothing, but also performs well on Amazon.

Thanks to its waterproof insulation and electric-heat conversion efficiency, the first electric heating jacket ranked first in the sub-category of Amazon US soon after it was launched . Even in the hot summer, ORORO's products often rank first.

At present, ORORO products cover a variety of heating clothing such as electric heated jackets, gloves, socks and insoles, and have accumulated a relatively large number of fans on multiple overseas platforms.

It is not difficult to see that in order to break out in the red ocean market, each product must have its own functionality, such as the clothing conversion and heating properties we mentioned earlier, as well as large-size women's clothing in the European and American markets, all of which need to have their own uniqueness.

Two American brothers make hundreds of millions of dollars a year by making backpacks!

There don’t seem to be many Chinese brands that specialize in backpacks going overseas, and Xinweifa is one of them. As a big seller that has transformed from OEM to brand, Xinweifa mainly produces various fashionable bags, travel bags, outdoor backpacks, etc. In 2012, it tried cross-border e-commerce and officially turned from 2B to 2C .

In 2017, Xinweifa’s sales on Amazon accounted for 90%, ranking first in the Amazon luggage category. Many of its bags performed well on Amazon, with more than 10,000 reviews and more than 1,000 monthly sales.

But a brand that is even more popular overseas and even globally is Hershcel, which is known as the best-selling backpack in the world. I still remember the evaluation of it on the social platform: You may not know it, but you must have seen it, no matter when and where.

Hershcel is a luggage and travel accessories brand founded by a pair of brothers in Vancouver in 2009. They mainly make nostalgic backpacks. The founder once shared: "The bag industry is mostly dominated by popular and sports styles. Nostalgic backpacks are an untapped market segment."

Looking through Hershcel 's backpacks, you can find all kinds of retro details, including the classic flap design, sturdy leather buckles, and the retro brand logo on the bottom, which are matched with different colors and are suitable for various scenes.

Since its establishment, Hershcel is still considered by travelers as the most practical bag, combining multiple functions such as durability, light weight, and large capacity. In the eyes of many people, Hershcel 's bags are not just bags, but also a life attitude that advocates freedom and adventure.

Relatively speaking, the price of its bags covers a wide range, ranging from tens of dollars to hundreds of dollars. You can buy a suitable bag for about a few hundred RMB. The so-called "starting with appearance and loyal to quality" is the best way to describe Hershcel . As far as its products are concerned, most of them are made of polyester, which is not only strong and wear-resistant, but also can withstand the invasion of light rain.

Moreover, the brand is also integrating the concept of sustainability into its products. Not only does it try to make all its bags with recycled material ApexKnit, but it also makes bags from mineral water bottles, which is its Eco recycled series, which is very consistent with the current concept of sustainable development.

Since ancient times, retro has been the darling of fashion, so naturally Hershcel, which follows the retro route , has achieved great results. Since its launch, Hershcel has become a well-known brand in the world. By 2022, its brand sales have approached 100 million US dollars, with an annual growth rate of about 30%.

The monthly visits to Hershcel's independent website have reached 1.8 million, of which more than 20% are from organic traffic. Many consumers directly enter Hershcel 's website to browse products, which also shows that the Hershcel brand has a high level of recognition and loyalty.

At present, its product line has expanded to various accessories, hats, wallets and other aspects.

In fact, as far as the global luggage market is concerned, it is growing continuously. It is estimated that by 2025, the global luggage industry market size will reach about US$211.2 billion.

However, there are not many domestic brands that specialize in overseas backpacks. In addition to the Xinweifa we mentioned earlier, there is another brand, artrips, which focuses on the US luggage market. It entered Amazon's US site in 2022 and took the top spot on the BS list in multiple categories.

Overall, the global backpack market is becoming more profitable, and Chinese sellers can develop this category by relying on my country's supply chain advantages. In the future, I believe that more and more Chinese luggage brands will go abroad and shine.

Small items are sold at sky-high prices overseas. Are they really that popular?

As one of the most popular platforms, TikTok has been producing hits frequently, and even many big sellers have gained a lot of orders after joining. After being promoted by some celebrities, the sales of the products are even more amazing.

Friendship lamp. Recently, one of the hottest products on the platform is the friendship lamp. As the name suggests, it is a lamp that can connect friends. The main function of this lamp is to sense the changes of the lamps at the same time. If you bind two lamps on the APP and change the color of one lamp around you, the other lamp will also change color at the same time no matter how far away it is, similar to telepathy.

Currently, overseas, this set of lights is priced at $139, and many consumers share this light on social platforms. But in China, similar friendship lights are not rare, and have even been launched a long time ago, and can be purchased for only about 5 yuan. It is equivalent to that after crossing the ocean, the small touch light is sold at a high price.

Deodorant. Mavwicks Fragrances , a deodorant brand founded by an American mother , is one of the top streamers on TikTok. It has attracted many consumers to buy through the stories behind the products. Between November 4 and 10 alone, the store's main indoor deodorant received more than 2,000 orders per day, with cumulative sales reaching 16,800 units.

It is understood that the sales of this outstanding deodorant have been rising since May this year; in June, the sales doubled, with 318,400 products sold that month. It also topped the TikTok Shop US single-day sales list.

Human doghouse . Sleep seems to have become one of the biggest problems of modern people. According to TikTok data, sleep-related topics with the #sleep tag have attracted more than 30 billion views, and many consumers are expressing their concerns about insomnia and thinking about "how to get a better sleep?"

A brand called Plufl captured the demand and potential of sleep-related products and created a "human doghouse" to help consumers improve their sleep. It received support from a number of TikTok consumers and quickly became popular on the platform.

It is understood that this mattress not only has a thick pillow frame, but also uses easy-to-wash artificial fur on the outside. At the same time, in order to make it more convenient for people to use, it is also equipped with handles and side pockets. Data shows that its brand tag #plufl has exceeded more than 500 works and tens of millions of views.

Car aromatherapy. On TikTok, a hanging car aromatherapy is very eye-catching. Not only is it designed as a simple style with a wooden rope + transparent bottle, but its product price is only US$5.2. Thanks to this, this product sold a total of 18,800 units in a week, and it also ranked first in the TikTok US daily sales list for three consecutive days.

Searches show that the sales of this aromatherapy product have been rising since it was launched in June last year. As of September, its total sales have exceeded 600,000, and its total GMV has exceeded 4 million US dollars.

Color Changing Lip Oil. A lip glaze called "Color Changing Lip Oil" stands out from its competitors with its low price of $12.01 and organic ingredients. The bottle is transparent and can change color when applied on the lips. Since it was launched on TikTok, this lip glaze has performed very well. Data shows that this lip glaze is a perennial hit in the beauty category, with total sales of more than 330,000 in October.

In fact, there are many similar products, and they all have their own unique features. Take the color-changing lip glaze above as an example. Its product has highlights such as organic and color-changing, which attracts consumers' attention.

The reason why this product stands out is not only its own efficacy, but also the promotion of the category. You should know that beauty and personal care is one of the most popular categories on TikTok today. Due to the huge market for buying traffic, the sales performance of this category is not average.

TikTok data for September showed that beauty and personal care was the top-selling category, with monthly sales of more than 5 million units and sales exceeding US$200 million. Products that performed relatively well were mainly concentrated in skin care products, personal care appliances, and body care products.

Another key point is that most successful entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they are good at finding business opportunities in subtle places, whether it is the embroidery mentioned above or the nostalgic backpack. Even the American guy Rivera who started a candle business on Etsy that we mentioned earlier .

He did not choose currently popular categories such as homemade T-shirts, but instead looked for his own opportunities in niche tracks. He eventually found his own "spring" in candle products. Through various multi-level marketing and empowering products, his monthly income has now reached US$38,500, and it only takes 20 minutes.

What is certain is that, whether it is beauty and personal care or other categories, there are considerable niche or unpopular tracks waiting to be developed, and sellers also need to conduct continuous research, move forward according to platform policies and market conditions, and delve deeply into the corresponding tracks in order to achieve success.

Entrepreneurship

Cross-border e-commerce

embroidery