WHY YOU DON’T NEED MONEY TO MAKE MONEY: THE SAND CLOUD CASE STUDY

We live in a fast-paced modern world filled with billions of people with different types of personalities, languages, mindsets, and belief systems. Even now, new fingerprints keep coming every day! However, it is common for people to have their own version of what they want their successful life to look like.

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For some, it is living the posh life with many cars and expensive houses, for some it is filled with executive meetings with a coffee by your side while clad in a nice office suit. There are still others whose success picture is painted with paparazzi and awards while others simply just want freedom. Even if people have a common dream, it may not even be the same version. These can all be achieved provided you don’t fight it. How can I fight my own dream, you may ask? While there are some things you can do to fight your dream, and here’s one: what you believe.

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You may have heard the saying, “It takes money to make more money.”? The idea behind this adage is that coming from an affluent background, having a rich mom or dad, being well connected, and other monetary advantages guarantee a path to success. Consciously and subconsciously, many people believe this quote, and it affects them in so many ways- most of which they do not realize. They finish school, thinking they need money to start a business or an idea and when things seem not to budge, they go, “I have a great idea but If only I had rich parents who could support me….”. Although having well-to-do parents is indeed an advantage, here’s a different paradigm of our reality today where not having money, or rich parents can be an advantage to you.

This article seeks to change what you believe by debunking the claim that having money is a prerequisite to making more money, citing the origins of a successful company: Sand Cloud. Sand Cloud is a company that was started on the sunny beaches of San Diego by three friends: Brandon Leibel, Steven Ford, and Bruno Aschidamini. These guys had a goal to reinvent an age-old product: Beach towels. Growing from a humble beginning, Sand Cloud has become one of the top companies that ship their products internationally while advocating for marine conservation. The latter is achieved by donating 10% of their profits to organizations dedicated to protecting marine life and preserving ocean ecosystems. Their products include Beach blankets, reusable Water bottles, Tote bags, sunscreen, etc. Let’s delve into the Sand Cloud story, shall we?

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Reality hit these 3 friends on the head a little after their college years and they realized they needed a billion-dollar idea to weather the storms of real life. So, Brandon, Steve, and Bruno came together to shake the world with beach towels. They told their parents about it, and you would think they supported their adventurous and passionate sons, but it was the direct opposite: “You don’t even have money”, and “This is a bad idea”. They went on with the idea anyway. Then, reality struck(again): they had to get capital to start Sand Cloud which meant that sacrifices had to be made. Nonetheless, these guys refused to be pliable to their vision and were willing to do the necessary:

i. They moved into a 2-bedroom apartment. Bruno slept in a loft on the floor.

ii. They cooked beans and rice every day since that was cheap.

iii. They sold everything in their apartment.

iv. Steven and Brandon were going to be Uber drivers to pay the bills.

Bruno Cashed out his Apple stock to get their first batch of towels.

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After all these, boom…...SandCloud was born.

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Of course, there were rising issues when starting. Firstly, they needed to put up a millennial-driven brand, and there was no better place to do that than on Social Media. Unfortunately, none of them knew anything about social media at the time; they had no marketing agency nor any money to pay someone to teach them. To remedy this problem, they walked the beaches of Sand Diego every day for 3 months approaching people they met and convincing them to add Sand Cloud on Instagram on the spot. They did this for 6 hours a day…. for 3 months. How did this pay off? That‘s how they got their first 1000 followers.

After advertising the product and gaining momentum, they needed a website. Again, none of them knew how to build one (at this point, you’d probably be wondering what in the world they did with their college years) nor had any money to pay for a developer.

To remedy this, Bruno locked himself in the loft for 3 weeks to learn how to build a website. Using YouTube, calling friends, and reading resources online he set himself up as Sound Cloud’s first website developer; he cost 0$.

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3 weeks later, Bruno brought out his computer with a smirk on his face. The boys came together with expectant hearts to see some good news that would light up their hard, seemingly cluttered Sand Cloud journey. Bruno launched the website and surprisingly…... it sucked.

The pictures were blurry, the fonts were inconsistent, the product description had typos, and color combinations were flat-out wrong along with the general layout. Nevertheless, Brandon and Steve were ecstatic. After all, it’s still a website that was free.

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Another problem popped up when they realized that walking the Sand Diego beach to advertise for followers on Instagram was too slow in building up their market. They needed a way to grow followers because these followers would later translate into sales- Digital marketing.

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To remedy this issue, they followed Bruno back to YouTube, watching countless videos on social media marketing strategies: when to post, how to post, what to post, what to hashtag, etc. Afterward, They stayed up for nights using the knowledge they milked out in action. They texted thousands of people on Instagram about their product. They took advantage of a tool available to us all and added value to themselves. The result: Sandcloud went from 1K followers to 10K followers that month. They were later featured by podcasts, magazines, influencers, etc. but alas, they were still broke.

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Sand ’Cloud 9’? breakthrough

It was a calm morning at Sand Diego and Brandon was sitting comfortably in his office (which was the kitchen) when he got an alert from Uber that someone needed a ride. He accepted it and went to pick up the passenger. It turned out they were passengers: a gentleman and a lady. Brandon engaged them in a conversation, trying to get them to buy a towel- as usual of him. However, they declined (which was also usual) but didn’t hide the fact that they believed that Sand Cloud was something great in the pipeline. During the conversation, Brandon discovered that the lady was a reporter on Channel 6. Jackpot!! He made sure to get her business card (Dude was sick of eating rice with beans).

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Fast forward, this lady was in their house the following week with a full camera crew. The following night, Sand Cloud is on channel 6 and they make 8 legit sales (and go out for tacos afterward).

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Fast forward again, Sand Cloud made $30,000 in sales in their first year, and $430,000 in their second year. Today, SandCloud has over 800K followers on Instagram, had a deal on Shark Tank with Robert Herjevec, donates 10% of their profits to NGOs, and generates over $1 million every year.

So, what was the secret? How were these guys able to go from rock bottom to the mountain top? What’s the big idea? One thing is for sure: it was not having money. Let’s explore some of these things that helped Sand Cloud, shall we?

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A clear vision

These 3 friends had a clear and specific vision: beach towels and not just any kind of towel. Along the line, they produced other products that complemented beach towels. They knew that this project could contribute to the marine environment as well. Having a clear-cut vision is something that is birthed within and not at a bank. What vision do you have about your business or the next 30 years of your life? You don’t need money to get one. Find a problem to solve, reconcile it with what you can do, and birth a vision from within you.

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Dedication to the vision

I can’t overemphasize their dedication to the SandCloud dream. These boys were committed! They showed up every time. They made the sacrifice to learn, make mistakes, and grow; while looking stupid and clueless. Some people may have visions but not dedication. How loud does your vision speak to you? Do you have goals you are dedicated to? What are you willing to give your all to, even if it makes you look confused? Money cannot buy this kind of experience.

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A United team

King Solomon wrote, “Two heads are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” These three heads showed us that teamwork is invaluable when it comes to accomplishing your goals. You need a team of people who know what they can offer to serve the vision and are committed to it. Everyone in the team must have one vision. It is said that if you want to destroy a team’s vision, give them two; it becomes a di-vision. If you need help from a friend, who can you call at any time of the day and be sure that they will come through for you? Find people who buy into your vision and chase after them. Money can never be this for you. These are treasures that buy money.

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So move from telling yourself, “I have a great idea but If only I had rich parents who could support me….” to telling yourself, “Though I don’t have money, I can….”

Trends and tastes for goods may change but the ideas, strategies, and laws of productivity (which money can’t bribe) will always be consistent.

Here’s what Brandon Liebel says, “The next time someone tells you that it takes money to make money, tell them that your lack of money is going to finance your resourcefulness.”

You can check out Sand Cloud's website at www.sandcloud.com (Don't worry, it's much better now)

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