In this episode of Business Brain, Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean interview Scott Jordan, co-founder of the apparel company SCOTTeVEST. Scott shares his journey from being a lawyer dissatisfied with corporate life to founding a successful travel clothing brand. He explains how he came up with the idea for SCOTTeVEST after struggling to carry various devices during his frequent travels in the late 1990s. Initially, he aimed to create a proof of concept for tech-enabled clothing, but after launching an e-commerce-enabled website for $700, SCOTTeVEST became one of the first clothing brands to sell online.
Scott describes his early ambitions for rapid growth, including attempts to scale the business to $50 million in revenue, but he later learned that focusing on profitability and sustainability was more important than aggressive expansion. He recounts how handing control over to someone else led to a significant financial loss, prompting a shift in mindset from growth-at-all-costs to survival and efficiency.
During the pandemic, Scott and his wife Laura restructured the company, eventually reducing the workforce to zero employees while maintaining profitability. He emphasizes the importance of running a lean business, focusing on quality, and avoiding the trap of pursuing unnecessary growth. He praises his wife’s dedication and credits her as the key factor in their continued success, noting how they complement each other’s skills in running the business.
Scott offers advice to entrepreneurs about focusing on fundamentals, maintaining profitability, and ignoring hype around competitors and rapid scaling. He stresses the value of lifestyle businesses and encourages listeners to build a business that supports the life they want to live rather than chasing unicorn status.
The episode wraps up with Scott recommending SCOTTeVEST’s popular travel vest and Q-Zip shirts. He advises listeners to focus on sustainable, profitable growth and avoid being distracted by competition or trends.
Press play and be sure you don’t miss a bit!
- 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #615 for Casual Friday, January 17th, 2025
- January 17th: National Customer Service Day
- 00:00:42 Special Guest: Scott Jordan from SCOTTeVEST
- 00:01:41 Scott’s history
- Lawyers have Scarlet Ls on their foreheads
- Joined a startup: The Next 50 – A Portal for Seniors
- Shot Down Idea: get Rudy from Survivor to be a spokesperson
- Did we need the Enron Egg to power our cellphones back in 1999?
- Technology Enabled Clothing was the goal… SCOTTeVEST was the proof-of-concept to sell it
- 00:08:12 SPONSOR: Shopify – For anyone to sell anywhere, sign up for a one-dollar-per month trial period at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain and upgrade your selling today!
- 00:09:35 Growing a business…
- 00:11:52 $18MM in sales… gotta get to $50MM!
- And then we went backwards!
- 00:15:14 …and then shrinking it!
- We’ll figure it out!
- Changed focus from top line to bottom line
- I stopped doing anything that causes more friction
- 00:18:56 Lifestyle Business is a Good Thing!
- 00:20:34 SkypeGate
- 00:21:06 The reason this business is successful is because of my wife, Laura
- She loves solving puzzles
- 00:25:17 I don’t want to be a part of the wrong vision of success
- 00:27:53 SCOTTeVEST QZip Pullover Shirt
- 00:28:20 IP and competition aren’t as important as you think.
- Focus on the fundamentals
- Focus on making money every single day, not just Q4
- 00:29:35 Business Brain 615 Outtro
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