Meet marc sharma | Ecom Entrepreneur & Martial Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with marc sharma and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi marc, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When starting my business risk is inevitable and was a daunting challenge I faced as an early entrepreneur. For some time thinking of the many potential risks involved with starting my own business prevented me from even beginning at all.

When starting out my biggest fear was thinking about the potential financial consequences of failing. We all work so hard for our money that it makes sense we become, often overly, attached to it. That said I knew the risk would be well worth it if it paid off. To help deal with this during the start-up phase I figured out a simple but effective way to manage the risk and frame it psychologically to help manage the fear it can induce.

As I have a background in retail and hospitality management I was good with numbers. So I calculated the minimum amount it would take to get the ball rolling on my business. I then divided this by 365 (days in the year) to give this amount a much more manageable number. I then worked out what I could cut from my daily expenses to save and get this daily amount back.

In my case, the number was around $7500 and translated to $20 a day or $144 a week. So if I switched to taking packed lunches to work, removed Starbucks from my morning commute, and dined out one less time per week, I would have saved this by the end of the year.

So essentially if I took out a credit card, used $7500 to get my business started, and saved this amount daily, even if the worst happened and my business was a flop I would still be in exactly the same financial position I would have been had I not even tried at all. Once I wrapped my head around this I was off to the races and worked my 8am-6pm corporate job by day and spent every night and weekend getting my business off the ground.

I am so thankful I did not let my early risk aversion prevent me from starting at all as now I have. a brand well into the 6 figures and more importantly, I now own my most valuable resource, my time.

Now that I am 2 years into running the brand the risks have evolved and will always be there. For example this holiday season I took out a $30k loan to purchase the inventory I needed to drive sales. Thinking back I would have been terrified to do this at the start of my journey. Now I have some momentum I can always offset the risks because I know there is somewhat of a formula to the unit economics. For example, if I spend $10 in marketing I will get $45 back which translates to a 1-unit sale. So even if I were to have a surplus left over from the holidays I could move through this and pay off the loan at my own pace.

So at every stage of any business, there is a great risk. If you have a handle on what drives the business and can get creative in offsetting risks then they suddenly become much less daunting.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Ironically I was never a designer, I only started to create my own designs out of necessity as I could not afford to pay for a design during the early days of my brand.

For several years of my professional career, I was a regional manager and spend hours on the road. While on the road once I had finished answering emails I would pick up my personal laptop and watch design tutorials to teach myself the basics of design applications such as photoshop and illustrator. Once I had the basics down I would then start developing my visual style. For some time my design studio was an MTA train or the back of an Uber.

During this process, I did realize I had a love for art and the creative process and realized there was a gap in the apparel offerings available to martial artists, specifically Jiu Jitsu. Many of the styles out there were either super loud or full of pokemon fighting dragons. Or they were very minimal and to me lacked personality.

So I set out to fuse bold fonts and colorways with clean illustrations in the designs for my compression wear. I often draw a lot of inspiration from sports jerseys and sneakers. I have found these to be great examples of how to create this clean but bold and bright look that I wanted to bring to the martial arts community while also fusing in cultural moments.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First off given that I create apparel for the jiu-jitsu community I would have to take them on a little Gym tour of NYC. There are so many great gyms here we could probably fill the week with this alone. I am biased but I’d have to say my home gyms, Bronx Jiu Jitsu, Jon Calestines basement, and Warriors nation offer the best coaching while keeping the environment small and intimate.

The next stop would be the office, not what you think! The area by my office in Brooklyn has a ton of really cool graffiti artists and coffee shops. The area always has some dope new murals going up so it’s a fun spot to hang grab a coffee and check out some art.

Food wise there is so much to see in NYC. My favorite spot is a small mom-and-pop Persian restaurant in Astoria. Best dam kebabs hands down! Look like they literally converted their deli and living room into a restaurant.

If it’s summer we’d have to take some mats, a surfboard, and a bunch of grill supply down to riis beach. I am not a surfer by any means but Riis beach has some good enough waves to have some fun, space to roll, and a bunch of grill stations so super cool spot to hang when the weather is good.

We’d have to include one night out to hit some bars. As a former bartender, I love a good cocktail and pint. Slainte on the lower east side is where I went with my wife for one of our first dates. They often have live Irish music and a good pint selection. The dead rabbit by wall st is another good pub selection. Cocktails would have to be Apotheke Chinatown’s really creative menu..

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without my wife, I would never have been able to achieve half of what I did. During my early days, I was so hesitant to start my business. She has been a constant champion and always encouraged me to take risks and never give up the dream!

In my professional life, my first manager, Vanessa, (at a candy store of all places) really pushed me to develop more business acumen and always be looking for the big-picture trends while striving for excellence in operations.

Website: https://nationathletic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nation_athletic/