February 8, 2024 • 24 mins
Seeing your small business grow can be exciting, but staying on top of that growth can be difficult for a solopreneur or a small team. As demand increases, how do you keep dollars coming in and products and services going out without breaking your original business model? Unchecked expansion can lead to painful downsizing after the initial rush - which no entrepreneur wants to have to deal with. Hosts Jannese and Austin will be discussing effective small business scaling: growing your company steadily and sustainably. Daniel and Michael Jay of the LazyButtClub Clothing Company talk about their experience with doing just that. They run a small family-owned apparel line with a global audience on TikTok. They’ll tell us how they keep their lifestyle business going strong while maintaining a small team even as they service customers all over the world.
Learn more about how QuickBooks can help you grow your business:
For a recap from this week’s episode visit:
Episode 2 Recap with Daniel and Michael Jay of The LazyButtClub Clothing Company
Or learn more about this topic at this resource:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The views, information, or opinions express during this podcast are
solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent
those of Intout, QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands
or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal, or
other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that
the info is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors, and
the information presented is for general information purposes only. Into
It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or
(00:22):
revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying
on them. QuickBooks Money is a standalone Into It offering
banking services provided by Green Dot Bank member FDIC.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hey everyone, I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
And I'm Denise Torres. Welcome to Mind the Business Small
Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Into
It QuickBooks and Iheartradios Ruby Studios. In each episode, Austin
and I chat with small business owners as they share
their stories about the ups and downs of owning a
small business. Plus, we'll learn from their experience about how
you can help fortify and strengthen your own bits business. Now, Austin,
(01:01):
I want to know, do you ever get a chance
to be lazy.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
This is such a good question because I was just
chatting with my girlfriend. We like to plan one big
vacation trip once a year around the world. So this
last summer we went to Mexico, and we were chatting
about the fact that whenever we go on vacation, quote unquote,
she's more of the traveler type, right, she wants to
go on the adventures and the excursions. I'm more the
(01:26):
lazy type where I'm trying to sit by the pool
and sip on a cocktail of some sort. So hopefully,
fingers crossed, I'll have a nice lazy adventure sometime next year.
But I think what's really important as a solopreneur is
to give yourself a little bit of grace. I had
I think it was maybe Monday or Tuesday earlier this week.
I just had an off day, right. I wasn't able
to click, I wasn't able to make good content. I
(01:46):
couldn't write. I feel like my emails were all lacky.
My brain was just foggy. And it's okay to kind
of just decompress a little lazy and give yourself some
grace because we all have those kinds of days. Denise
Do you also feel that way or am I just
like overly lazy?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
No, Austin, Honestly, I feel like I could probably be
the president of the Lazy Entrepreneur Club, especially now because
I do take off a month every quarter. So that
was a commitment that I made to myself last year.
I said, I really want to create this life where
work is very optional, and how can I do that?
(02:23):
So I'm testing like sort of semi retirement. Maybe it's
just been awesome because I've realized I still make the
same amount of money and I'm not having to work
as much, and so embracing laziness as not being a
bad thing is kind of the ethos of the folks
that we're going to be talking to the founders of
Lazy Butt Club clothing company, which I mean the name really.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What a fun name for a company. I mean, I
love their logo is a duck literally lounging on a
lawn chair, just completely relaxed. I will say, when it
comes to business, the Lazy Butt Club and every small
business out there is the opposite of lazy. There's a
lot of hard work in going into business for yourself,
but there's a lot of smart work too, and different
(03:08):
strategies for maximizing results, such as having an account with
QuickBooks Money, where every dollar you put away in a
savings envelope earns you interest at over seventy times the
US average, allowing you to build your rainy day fund
and rest easy knowing your money is working for you
and definitely not being a lazy butt.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That's absolutely a great feeling knowing that your money is
working just as hard as you are.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So on that note, let's introduce our guests. Michael and
Daniel J run a family business called Lazy Butt Club.
It's an apparel company that specializes in items such as
cozy staples, loungewear, and more. They operate in the US
and sell their products in over eight dozen countries internationally.
Michael originally crafted the designs decades ago when he was
(03:57):
following his own business journey as a T shirt store operator.
Daniel and his brother Nick rediscovered their father's work in
his warehouse in Vista, California, put the shirts on, and
quickly discovered they had a hit on their hands. They
launched the brand under its catchy name and found success
selling shirts and other products online. With the help of
(04:18):
the popularity of their family focused videos on TikTok. Welcome
to the show, Michael and Daniel. Thank you, Hi, thanks
for having us absolutely So. I love the name Lazy
Butt Club, but how the heck did you come up
with it?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Back in the eighties there were a lot of club club,
med club, this club that, a lot of designs and
T shirt shops were vacation club, yacht club, all those
different things. And I was selling T shirt transfers to
T shirt shops all around the country, and so I
just kind of picked up on the coinage of club.
I did yacht club, beach club, vacation club. I had
(04:58):
quite a few. And then back a few years ago,
when the kids dug out the old transfers, that's where
they got the Lazy Butt Club and thought that was
pretty neat.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
So, well, it's cool that you made You had made
the duck without putting Lazy Butt Club under it, and
then you thought them duck looked lazy, So.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, I called him a beach consultant.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah. So, Daniel, you've resurrected this a great brand your
father created decades ago. When did you realize that these
fund designs would have such a large demand?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
We found them on the original like iron on transfers.
My dad had some stills stored away. My brother and
I wore the shirts around for about a year, and
very quickly, like it became the most complimented and commented
on shirt that I had ever owned. Everywhere we went,
be at the grocery store checkout, or just at a
(05:48):
coffee shop or anywhere. Even at the gas station, someone
from the car over it was like, hey, I love
your shirt. So pretty quickly we realized that it was
kind of a special design and something that resonated with
a lot of people, and it's just playful and kind
of fun to wear. And so after that happened so
many times, we had the idea then maybe that it
was the start of like something, you know, the Lazy
(06:09):
Butt Club. Maybe we could start it as a brand
and build off of that. So yeah, after we wore
it for a while, we decided that we definitely had
something special and that we should just go for it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
That's awesome. So now for you, Michael, what did you
think when you found your children wearing and now eventually
selling your old shirt designs. Were you a little skeptical, Like,
wait a second, this was a thing back in the eighties.
Why are people excited about it now in twenty twenty one,
twenty two, and twenty three.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, basically it's you know, they've been wearing them for
so long now that I kind of forgot about what
was like in the beginning. But I had told it
too many stores, t shirt shops and stuff around the
country over the years and had real good success with
it then. But for them to bring it back and
get the results that we had, it's pretty amazing. I
had two retail t shirt shops back in Denver in
(07:00):
the early seventies and eighties, and people would come in
all the time and be excited about and buy them
and wear them, and it just kind of set up
on the shelves for probably close to twenty years or more,
and then the kids dug it out and next thing
you know, they're wearing it, their friends are asking to
buy it, and so we started selling them. Oh absolutely,
I mean, who doesn't like a cool design of a
(07:21):
Tyrannosaurus rex wrecking on the on a ski slope?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Right? Yeah, you guys have gone.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
From selling one T shirt a week to hundreds a day.
How fast did that growth actually happen? And were you
surprised by how quickly things grew or you ready for
what was coming?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
We're definitely surprised. The first year we started, we sold
about fifty in the first year, and then we sold
ninety three in the second year, and then in the
third year, that was the year we went viral.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In March of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
That year, we sold over six thousand orders, probably like
close to ten thousand shirts because a lot of the
orders were multiple shirts. But yeah, after that first video,
we sold five hundred orders overnight. The previous month we
probably made like five orders in the whole month. Wow,
So I went from five orders a month to five
hundred overnight. And then as far as being ready for it,
(08:13):
we weren't technically ready for it at all. We were
basically made to order, So it took about three weeks
to fill all those orders. So people were waiting for
a little while, but everybody was happy to support and
nobody was upset at all.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Did you communicate that with your customers that there would
be a lead time, er, like, how did you handle
that increase in demand?
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, once we realized how behind we were on the orders,
you know, I mean, and luckily everybody was buying through
the video, so I would I posted another video, and
the follow up videos were all about how we're crazy
overwhelmed and like grateful for everything, and so people were
more than happy to wait. I mean a lot of
the comments were like, take your time, don't work too hard,
(08:53):
you know. So it was nice that everybody was so
supportive and just happy to help us out on TikTok.
They love to see you grow like that, and they
love to see a small company blow up.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, Michael, how have you managed to keep the team
small with this large increase in size? Has there been
sort of a strategic thought process around, you know, let's
keep it lean and mean, or is growth one of
those things that you'll are talking about as time goes on.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Basically over the years and that I've had the T
shirt chops and different things like that, it was always
just trying to keep something going and making new designs
and just continuing. And when I realized I could make
more money than minimum wage selling a few shirts, that's
the incentive more than anything being a business owner. And
(09:43):
as far as getting big, at one point I had
about fifteen different employees with my T shirt chops back
in Colorado. But you can grow and have to work
harder and make more orders to keep the thing going.
But since the name of our company is Lady Buck Club,
we're kind of leaning more towards keeping between the three
(10:04):
of us and making it easy. There's a lot of
things we could do to really get bigger. If we
get big, that's fine. I'm sure we can handle it.
So we'll just take it one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, you know, I think that's something that not enough
entrepreneurs are honest with themselves about, is like how much
do I want to grow this? Like when is enough enough?
I appreciate the fact that that is your thought process,
because I think a lot of us are kind of programmed,
especially with social media, to be like always scale, always grow,
always get bigger, do it as quickly as possible, And
(10:35):
maybe for some of us that's just not the path
to success.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah, And like with us, especially with Danny doing all
the videos and everything, we go viral or mini viral.
We make a lot of sales, and then it's kind
of neat to be able to not post a few
videos and take a few days off go golfing or whatever.
So we're kind of living the dream of the Lazy
buck Club.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Basically, I love that that's the importance of defining what
success looks like business.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yep, so we've talked about kind of keeping the ethos
of the Lazy butt Club and being as lean and
relaxed as possible. Are you leveraging any tools to help
you stay competitive while remaining small.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
We recently got all official with the payroll and everything.
The first two years, the taxes were a little complicated,
but now we're under an S Corp. And we have payroll,
and we actually use the payroll through quick Books, which
makes it super easy. The taxes are taken out with
the click of a button. I don't have to think
about any of that, which is super nice. It seems
pretty straightforward the way it's laid.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Out coming up after the break.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
After that, I realized that it kind of was all
about the story, just being honest and authentic, and that's
what people resonate with the most.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
We'll be right back with Mine the Business. Welcome back
to Mind the Business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's
Ruby Study and into It QuickBooks.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So I discovered you all on TikTok. You guys are
crushing it now on TikTok shop. How do you think
that your family focused videos have affected the demand for
your brand?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I honestly wasn't posting all that much in the first
couple of years, but definitely the focus was just trying
to grow the idea of the brand, and I believe
that the design and the idea stands on its own.
Once I posted the video of Dad and telling the story,
it was just one clip, twenty four second clip of
Dad pressing the design and then pulling off the paper
(12:33):
and revealing the design, and I said, my dad and
I trying to make a brand out of designs he
made in the eighties. He works hard, but loves when
he has time to be lazy. If you drop a follow,
it me in the world, do us right. And so
they were hooked with the story and then at the
very end they got to see the design. So after
that I realized that it kind of was all about
(12:54):
the story to gain that emotional connection with the audience
and just being honest. And that's what social media offers,
is the ability to be honest and authentic, and that's
what people resonate with the most.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more with you here and it's
kind of a challenge to post that first video. You
kind of feel like, oh my gosh, what if people
are going to judge me? What if they don't like
my products or service or whatever I'm offering here as
a solopreneur. Do you have any piece of advice to
maybe encourage someone listening right now that maybe hasn't thought
about TikTok shop or Instagram or just social media in
general for their products and services.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I might say that, like when Danny first started doing
the videos, he was a little concerned about making the
perfect video, and I said, you know, I see all
these videos on TikTok, and some of them aren't really good,
but people watch them, and if you make videos that
it's not good, then they'll swipe, you know, so who cares.
The main thing is just getting the video out there.
(13:48):
And most people that are watching TikTok videos, they're not
doing it to be a critique on what you're doing.
They want to hear some words out of your mouth
and that's it. It's really pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I love that. So essentially you're taking on another role
now as sort of a production company with all the
marketing and advertising work that you're doing by creating these videos,
So how do you find time to continue the output
of videos while keeping this lean footprint.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
It is kind of a lot to think about, Like
while we're in the middle of production, I'll be like, oh,
I need a video, I need a clip of this,
and it's while I'm doing one hundred other things. So
you just have to take out the camera and film
a couple day in the life kind of things like
what are we doing now? And people like to see
that kind of stuff. We could plan for more of
our videos, but the right now, we're just kind of
doing it as we go. It's exactly what we're doing
(14:39):
that day. Or I'll use a clip from a few
months ago and I'll put some words over it. One
of the clips I made that went viral, it was
thirteen different clips, and those clips were from all over,
like they were six months back to that day, and
I combined a whole bunch of clips into one video
and it did really well, and then it was like, oh,
I'm glad that I stopped and I video taped this
(14:59):
thing for a few seconds. But yeah, it is a lot,
and you have to constantly be thinking about it. But
it's what we want to do and it's actually fun
to share our story.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah. I think that's why people are resonating with it,
because not only are you sharing the behind the scenes
the story of what the brand represents, but you're also
just giving a real life glimpse into what it looks
like on a day to day basis, whether that's you know,
making sure it's or packing out orders. And I think
that's the part that makes people feel really connected when
they see you growing, because they feel like they've been
(15:29):
part of the journey alongside y'all and they have. Do
you think that part of the advantage that you've seen
is the fact that you are a family owned business, Like,
have you gotten feedback from your audience that that's something
that they're connecting with.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Definitely helps being family business because so many people relate
to it. You know, people comment there like I love
that you get to work with your dad. It's so cool.
Your dad reminds me of mind or whatever like stuff
like that. Like, it's definitely an added like thing. It's
not like just two people working together. It's it's family.
It's cool.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Kind of makes it sound authentic. It's like, oh, it's
a legit business. Because it's a family business, which technically
it is, it works out pretty good. Yeah, it's their story.
When we go to the street fairs and stuff, we
get a lot of people that recognize this. And I've
even been in stores and stuff and girls reading my
shirt and she said, I follow the people on TikTok.
(16:21):
And I said, is there an old guy on the TikTok?
She goes, oh, that's you, And that's happened, you know,
five or six times. And so many people that I
meet at the street fairs and stuff. It's kind of
funny because I'll tell them that we're on TikTok and
they say they're not on TikTok, and I said, well
you should be. And one thing that I've kind of
leaned towards is I keep saying that, well Danny when
(16:41):
he makes it videos, we've got quite a few with
you know, three or four or five or seven million views,
and most of those are of me. So when I
see people, I'll tell them if you're not on TikTok,
or if you're on TikTok, get an old person in
your video. Is that old person, whether it be your
parent or whoever, tore part of your story, you know,
(17:01):
and just make them part of your story and to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I absolutely love that you're breaking the stigma that, you know,
folks in older generations just don't embrace technology and the
new way that things happen. So I think it's great
to embrace the technology and tell folks you know how
powerful it's been to grow your business.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
You know, at the end of the day, people follow people,
they don't follow brands, right. That's why Tim Cook has
more followers on LinkedIn than Apple, Right. So it's like
people see you too, creating these T shirts, spending time together,
enjoying yourselves, running your business, and they want to follow
your journey. I'm sure they will love the Lazy Butt
(17:40):
Club as much as I do, but they want to
follow Michael and Daniel, right, And I think there's something
really powerful to be said about that. So, Michael, you've
been in this T shirt game for a very long time.
Was it weird to start selling things other than T shirts,
like sweatpants and hoodies and caps and stickers or did
it come natural?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I would say basically became natural, because I mean I've
always sold the sweatshirts and T shirts and everything and
with TikTok that we've been able to get out to
more people, it just seems like the next step is
to offer them more stuff and people enjoy it. You know,
it's kind of neat to think that there's lazy butts
all over the world that want to buy it. We've
(18:22):
sent this to twenty four different countries. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So when you started introducing these new product offerings, did
you have to change your day to day work streams?
Was there any new technology you had to use to
try and track different shipments from different suppliers.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I would say this day and age just because of
shipping and you can get it the next day and
all that kind of stuff. You don't really have to
keep a huge inventory. And so to add an extra product,
it's not that big of a deal. Order the shirts,
order them to get them the next day, you prim
ship them out and the next day, and you know,
TikTok wants you to do it in three days plus.
Remind us to get stuff out and we don't have
(19:00):
that hardware problem doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
That makes a ton of sense. I'm curious do you
have any tips or tricks for people who are trying
to find their next good supplier, or build that relationship
with a supplier, and he may be questions to ask
or any pieces of information to verify.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Basically, the best advice would be is try to talk
to the owner or vice president, somebody that's pretty much
in charge of the company, and if you feel a
connection with them, go with them. If it costs ten
cents more, fifty cents more, whatever, it's not that big
deal because just like building trust with the brand, you
build trust with the people you're buying from.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Now, the question is to the founder and CEO of
Lazy Butt Club ever find time to be lazy themselves?
Speaker 4 (19:46):
As far as being lazy, getting to be lazy? Dad
wasn't lazy. Didn't seem like you were lazy at all
in the first thirty years of your business. I mean
Dad has told me he's been working. I mean there
was times you were working what seventy hours plus a week,
like seventy eighty whatever you have to Yeah, yeah, but like,
are you lazy? Did you get any time to be lazy?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Then?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Probably more. Now I think I've found time.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Yeah, and now I have plenty of lazy hobbies. I
play guitar, which I think is kind of lazy, and
then I play a lot of video games. So I
think we could be bigger maybe if I wasn't truly
a lazy But but the way we're.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Growing now is a good pace.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
And I think, you know, I'll start working seventy hours
a week like Dad did when he was my age,
maybe eventually, at least for one week.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Listen, Daniel, tell us where people should go watch your
fun videos and check out your products.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Social media wise, we're really just on TikTok and Instagram.
I mean, those are the big two, and we've had
a lot of success on TikTok and then recently this
year we actually had a good amount of success on Instagram.
So we're up to you know, eighty six thousand followers
on Instagram and three hundred and something thousand followers on TikTok.
So it's pretty sweet, and you know, that's definitely where
(21:07):
you can find us.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
That's incredible. That does not sound like y'all have been
lazy at all, not in the slightest.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yeah, that's what a lot of times on the comments
on the videos, they'll say, you guys aren't living up
to your name.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Sure, you're gonna have to change your name. You're gonna
have to instill like a twenty hour work week.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yeah, yeah, we've done that before. I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Thanks y'all. That was a lot of fun. Thanks for
being here.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, of course, Marginius. What's the verdict, are we lazy
butt Club members now or what?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I need to be on the board of directors of
the Lazy Buck Club at this point because the entire
ethos that Michael and Daniel represent is so on point.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I love it. You can be the chairwoman and that
will be on the board with you, and we're gonna
have quarterly board meetings. I'll wear a T shirts.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Something fun and mandatory, unlimited PTO.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
All right, Janies, what was your favorite part?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You know, I love the fact that they embrace this
concept of laziness as entrepreneurs, right, because I think there's
so much of this, like hustle all the time, you know,
sleep when you die. That's not necessarily what all of
us want to be doing. Right. Part of the reason
why we start businesses is because we do want more time,
We do want more freedom to kind of live our
(22:27):
lives outside of the structure of you know, normal corporate job,
and so the fact that they're like okay with not
doing all the things and just kind of enjoying the
ride as they get to wherever that destiny is going
to be for them. I absolutely love that sentiment and
I think that's something that we need to talk about more.
How about you, Austin.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I very much agree with you, right. I think hustle
culture is kind of toxic.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We see all these people who are working seventy eighty
hundred hours a week. And don't get me wrong, Michael
was doing that when he was getting it started. But
I think everyone's kind of got to have that small season.
But unfortunately, you know a lot of people take that
season into a lifelong reality and to your point, got
to give ourselves a little bit of grace here as solopreneurs.
I think what really resonated with me was, you know,
(23:10):
Michael mentioned, just post the video. You don't need to
have it polished and perfect. You can just make a
video of you packing some boxes, put some cool sound
on top of it on TikTok, and you know, you
got two and a half million views doing that. So
I think for a lot of solopreneurs listening right now,
give yourself some grace on posting your content right now.
Every single video has to be perfect. It doesn't have
(23:31):
to be polished, just document the journey and your audience
will definitely appreciate that absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
I mean, I think we're kind of breaking the stereotype
of what entrepreneurship can look like. It can be lazy
and you can start it imperfectly. Well, that's it for
today's episode. You can find me on social media at
jochierro Di netto podcast.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks.
To get the tools you need to start, run and
grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave it rating and a review. See you next time.
This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio and Into It QuickBooks.
Our executive producer is Malay Sosha, our supervising producer is
Nikkia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Lijah.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Our head of post production is James Foster QuickBooks. Money
is a standalone into it offering banking services provided by
Green Dot Bank member FDIC only. Funds and envelopes earn
annual percentage yield apy can change at any time. Money
movement services provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a
money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
The views, information, or opinions express during this podcast are
solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent
those of Intout, QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands
or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal, or
other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that
the info is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors, and
the information presented is for general information purposes only. Into
It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or
(00:22):
revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying
on them. QuickBooks Money is a standalone Into It offering
banking services provided by Green Dot Bank member FDIC.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hey everyone, I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
And I'm Denise Torres. Welcome to Mind the Business Small
Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Into
It QuickBooks and Iheartradios Ruby Studios. In each episode, Austin
and I chat with small business owners as they share
their stories about the ups and downs of owning a
small business. Plus, we'll learn from their experience about how
you can help fortify and strengthen your own bits business. Now, Austin,
(01:01):
I want to know, do you ever get a chance
to be lazy.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
This is such a good question because I was just
chatting with my girlfriend. We like to plan one big
vacation trip once a year around the world. So this
last summer we went to Mexico, and we were chatting
about the fact that whenever we go on vacation, quote unquote,
she's more of the traveler type, right, she wants to
go on the adventures and the excursions. I'm more the
(01:26):
lazy type where I'm trying to sit by the pool
and sip on a cocktail of some sort. So hopefully,
fingers crossed, I'll have a nice lazy adventure sometime next year.
But I think what's really important as a solopreneur is
to give yourself a little bit of grace. I had
I think it was maybe Monday or Tuesday earlier this week.
I just had an off day, right. I wasn't able
to click, I wasn't able to make good content. I
(01:46):
couldn't write. I feel like my emails were all lacky.
My brain was just foggy. And it's okay to kind
of just decompress a little lazy and give yourself some
grace because we all have those kinds of days. Denise
Do you also feel that way or am I just
like overly lazy?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
No, Austin, Honestly, I feel like I could probably be
the president of the Lazy Entrepreneur Club, especially now because
I do take off a month every quarter. So that
was a commitment that I made to myself last year.
I said, I really want to create this life where
work is very optional, and how can I do that?
(02:23):
So I'm testing like sort of semi retirement. Maybe it's
just been awesome because I've realized I still make the
same amount of money and I'm not having to work
as much, and so embracing laziness as not being a
bad thing is kind of the ethos of the folks
that we're going to be talking to the founders of
Lazy Butt Club clothing company, which I mean the name really.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
What a fun name for a company. I mean, I
love their logo is a duck literally lounging on a
lawn chair, just completely relaxed. I will say, when it
comes to business, the Lazy Butt Club and every small
business out there is the opposite of lazy. There's a
lot of hard work in going into business for yourself,
but there's a lot of smart work too, and different
(03:08):
strategies for maximizing results, such as having an account with
QuickBooks Money, where every dollar you put away in a
savings envelope earns you interest at over seventy times the
US average, allowing you to build your rainy day fund
and rest easy knowing your money is working for you
and definitely not being a lazy butt.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That's absolutely a great feeling knowing that your money is
working just as hard as you are.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So on that note, let's introduce our guests. Michael and
Daniel J run a family business called Lazy Butt Club.
It's an apparel company that specializes in items such as
cozy staples, loungewear, and more. They operate in the US
and sell their products in over eight dozen countries internationally.
Michael originally crafted the designs decades ago when he was
(03:57):
following his own business journey as a T shirt store operator.
Daniel and his brother Nick rediscovered their father's work in
his warehouse in Vista, California, put the shirts on, and
quickly discovered they had a hit on their hands. They
launched the brand under its catchy name and found success
selling shirts and other products online. With the help of
(04:18):
the popularity of their family focused videos on TikTok. Welcome
to the show, Michael and Daniel. Thank you, Hi, thanks
for having us absolutely So. I love the name Lazy
Butt Club, but how the heck did you come up
with it?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Back in the eighties there were a lot of club club,
med club, this club that, a lot of designs and
T shirt shops were vacation club, yacht club, all those
different things. And I was selling T shirt transfers to
T shirt shops all around the country, and so I
just kind of picked up on the coinage of club.
I did yacht club, beach club, vacation club. I had
(04:58):
quite a few. And then back a few years ago,
when the kids dug out the old transfers, that's where
they got the Lazy Butt Club and thought that was
pretty neat.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
So, well, it's cool that you made You had made
the duck without putting Lazy Butt Club under it, and
then you thought them duck looked lazy, So.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Yeah, I called him a beach consultant.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah. So, Daniel, you've resurrected this a great brand your
father created decades ago. When did you realize that these
fund designs would have such a large demand?
Speaker 4 (05:28):
We found them on the original like iron on transfers.
My dad had some stills stored away. My brother and
I wore the shirts around for about a year, and
very quickly, like it became the most complimented and commented
on shirt that I had ever owned. Everywhere we went,
be at the grocery store checkout, or just at a
(05:48):
coffee shop or anywhere. Even at the gas station, someone
from the car over it was like, hey, I love
your shirt. So pretty quickly we realized that it was
kind of a special design and something that resonated with
a lot of people, and it's just playful and kind
of fun to wear. And so after that happened so
many times, we had the idea then maybe that it
was the start of like something, you know, the Lazy
(06:09):
Butt Club. Maybe we could start it as a brand
and build off of that. So yeah, after we wore
it for a while, we decided that we definitely had
something special and that we should just go for it.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
That's awesome. So now for you, Michael, what did you
think when you found your children wearing and now eventually
selling your old shirt designs. Were you a little skeptical, Like,
wait a second, this was a thing back in the eighties.
Why are people excited about it now in twenty twenty one,
twenty two, and twenty three.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, basically it's you know, they've been wearing them for
so long now that I kind of forgot about what
was like in the beginning. But I had told it
too many stores, t shirt shops and stuff around the
country over the years and had real good success with
it then. But for them to bring it back and
get the results that we had, it's pretty amazing. I
had two retail t shirt shops back in Denver in
(07:00):
the early seventies and eighties, and people would come in
all the time and be excited about and buy them
and wear them, and it just kind of set up
on the shelves for probably close to twenty years or more,
and then the kids dug it out and next thing
you know, they're wearing it, their friends are asking to
buy it, and so we started selling them. Oh absolutely,
I mean, who doesn't like a cool design of a
(07:21):
Tyrannosaurus rex wrecking on the on a ski slope?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Right? Yeah, you guys have gone.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
From selling one T shirt a week to hundreds a day.
How fast did that growth actually happen? And were you
surprised by how quickly things grew or you ready for
what was coming?
Speaker 4 (07:39):
We're definitely surprised. The first year we started, we sold
about fifty in the first year, and then we sold
ninety three in the second year, and then in the
third year, that was the year we went viral.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In March of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
That year, we sold over six thousand orders, probably like
close to ten thousand shirts because a lot of the
orders were multiple shirts. But yeah, after that first video,
we sold five hundred orders overnight. The previous month we
probably made like five orders in the whole month. Wow,
So I went from five orders a month to five
hundred overnight. And then as far as being ready for it,
(08:13):
we weren't technically ready for it at all. We were
basically made to order, So it took about three weeks
to fill all those orders. So people were waiting for
a little while, but everybody was happy to support and
nobody was upset at all.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Did you communicate that with your customers that there would
be a lead time, er, like, how did you handle
that increase in demand?
Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah, once we realized how behind we were on the orders,
you know, I mean, and luckily everybody was buying through
the video, so I would I posted another video, and
the follow up videos were all about how we're crazy
overwhelmed and like grateful for everything, and so people were
more than happy to wait. I mean a lot of
the comments were like, take your time, don't work too hard,
(08:53):
you know. So it was nice that everybody was so
supportive and just happy to help us out on TikTok.
They love to see you grow like that, and they
love to see a small company blow up.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Yeah, Michael, how have you managed to keep the team
small with this large increase in size? Has there been
sort of a strategic thought process around, you know, let's
keep it lean and mean, or is growth one of
those things that you'll are talking about as time goes on.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Basically over the years and that I've had the T
shirt chops and different things like that, it was always
just trying to keep something going and making new designs
and just continuing. And when I realized I could make
more money than minimum wage selling a few shirts, that's
the incentive more than anything being a business owner. And
(09:43):
as far as getting big, at one point I had
about fifteen different employees with my T shirt chops back
in Colorado. But you can grow and have to work
harder and make more orders to keep the thing going.
But since the name of our company is Lady Buck Club,
we're kind of leaning more towards keeping between the three
(10:04):
of us and making it easy. There's a lot of
things we could do to really get bigger. If we
get big, that's fine. I'm sure we can handle it.
So we'll just take it one day at a time.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, you know, I think that's something that not enough
entrepreneurs are honest with themselves about, is like how much
do I want to grow this? Like when is enough enough?
I appreciate the fact that that is your thought process,
because I think a lot of us are kind of programmed,
especially with social media, to be like always scale, always grow,
always get bigger, do it as quickly as possible, And
(10:35):
maybe for some of us that's just not the path
to success.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Yeah, And like with us, especially with Danny doing all
the videos and everything, we go viral or mini viral.
We make a lot of sales, and then it's kind
of neat to be able to not post a few
videos and take a few days off go golfing or whatever.
So we're kind of living the dream of the Lazy
buck Club.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Basically, I love that that's the importance of defining what
success looks like business.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yep, so we've talked about kind of keeping the ethos
of the Lazy butt Club and being as lean and
relaxed as possible. Are you leveraging any tools to help
you stay competitive while remaining small.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
We recently got all official with the payroll and everything.
The first two years, the taxes were a little complicated,
but now we're under an S Corp. And we have payroll,
and we actually use the payroll through quick Books, which
makes it super easy. The taxes are taken out with
the click of a button. I don't have to think
about any of that, which is super nice. It seems
pretty straightforward the way it's laid.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Out coming up after the break.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
After that, I realized that it kind of was all
about the story, just being honest and authentic, and that's
what people resonate with the most.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
We'll be right back with Mine the Business. Welcome back
to Mind the Business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's
Ruby Study and into It QuickBooks.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So I discovered you all on TikTok. You guys are
crushing it now on TikTok shop. How do you think
that your family focused videos have affected the demand for
your brand?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I honestly wasn't posting all that much in the first
couple of years, but definitely the focus was just trying
to grow the idea of the brand, and I believe
that the design and the idea stands on its own.
Once I posted the video of Dad and telling the story,
it was just one clip, twenty four second clip of
Dad pressing the design and then pulling off the paper
(12:33):
and revealing the design, and I said, my dad and
I trying to make a brand out of designs he
made in the eighties. He works hard, but loves when
he has time to be lazy. If you drop a follow,
it me in the world, do us right. And so
they were hooked with the story and then at the
very end they got to see the design. So after
that I realized that it kind of was all about
(12:54):
the story to gain that emotional connection with the audience
and just being honest. And that's what social media offers,
is the ability to be honest and authentic, and that's
what people resonate with the most.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more with you here and it's
kind of a challenge to post that first video. You
kind of feel like, oh my gosh, what if people
are going to judge me? What if they don't like
my products or service or whatever I'm offering here as
a solopreneur. Do you have any piece of advice to
maybe encourage someone listening right now that maybe hasn't thought
about TikTok shop or Instagram or just social media in
general for their products and services.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
I might say that, like when Danny first started doing
the videos, he was a little concerned about making the
perfect video, and I said, you know, I see all
these videos on TikTok, and some of them aren't really good,
but people watch them, and if you make videos that
it's not good, then they'll swipe, you know, so who cares.
The main thing is just getting the video out there.
(13:48):
And most people that are watching TikTok videos, they're not
doing it to be a critique on what you're doing.
They want to hear some words out of your mouth
and that's it. It's really pretty neat.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I love that. So essentially you're taking on another role
now as sort of a production company with all the
marketing and advertising work that you're doing by creating these videos,
So how do you find time to continue the output
of videos while keeping this lean footprint.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
It is kind of a lot to think about, Like
while we're in the middle of production, I'll be like, oh,
I need a video, I need a clip of this,
and it's while I'm doing one hundred other things. So
you just have to take out the camera and film
a couple day in the life kind of things like
what are we doing now? And people like to see
that kind of stuff. We could plan for more of
our videos, but the right now, we're just kind of
doing it as we go. It's exactly what we're doing
(14:39):
that day. Or I'll use a clip from a few
months ago and I'll put some words over it. One
of the clips I made that went viral, it was
thirteen different clips, and those clips were from all over,
like they were six months back to that day, and
I combined a whole bunch of clips into one video
and it did really well, and then it was like, oh,
I'm glad that I stopped and I video taped this
(14:59):
thing for a few seconds. But yeah, it is a lot,
and you have to constantly be thinking about it. But
it's what we want to do and it's actually fun
to share our story.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah. I think that's why people are resonating with it,
because not only are you sharing the behind the scenes
the story of what the brand represents, but you're also
just giving a real life glimpse into what it looks
like on a day to day basis, whether that's you know,
making sure it's or packing out orders. And I think
that's the part that makes people feel really connected when
they see you growing, because they feel like they've been
(15:29):
part of the journey alongside y'all and they have. Do
you think that part of the advantage that you've seen
is the fact that you are a family owned business, Like,
have you gotten feedback from your audience that that's something
that they're connecting with.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
Definitely helps being family business because so many people relate
to it. You know, people comment there like I love
that you get to work with your dad. It's so cool.
Your dad reminds me of mind or whatever like stuff
like that. Like, it's definitely an added like thing. It's
not like just two people working together. It's it's family.
It's cool.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Kind of makes it sound authentic. It's like, oh, it's
a legit business. Because it's a family business, which technically
it is, it works out pretty good. Yeah, it's their story.
When we go to the street fairs and stuff, we
get a lot of people that recognize this. And I've
even been in stores and stuff and girls reading my
shirt and she said, I follow the people on TikTok.
(16:21):
And I said, is there an old guy on the TikTok?
She goes, oh, that's you, And that's happened, you know,
five or six times. And so many people that I
meet at the street fairs and stuff. It's kind of
funny because I'll tell them that we're on TikTok and
they say they're not on TikTok, and I said, well
you should be. And one thing that I've kind of
leaned towards is I keep saying that, well Danny when
(16:41):
he makes it videos, we've got quite a few with
you know, three or four or five or seven million views,
and most of those are of me. So when I
see people, I'll tell them if you're not on TikTok,
or if you're on TikTok, get an old person in
your video. Is that old person, whether it be your
parent or whoever, tore part of your story, you know,
(17:01):
and just make them part of your story and to
see what happens.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
I absolutely love that you're breaking the stigma that, you know,
folks in older generations just don't embrace technology and the
new way that things happen. So I think it's great
to embrace the technology and tell folks you know how
powerful it's been to grow your business.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
You know, at the end of the day, people follow people,
they don't follow brands, right. That's why Tim Cook has
more followers on LinkedIn than Apple, Right. So it's like
people see you too, creating these T shirts, spending time together,
enjoying yourselves, running your business, and they want to follow
your journey. I'm sure they will love the Lazy Butt
(17:40):
Club as much as I do, but they want to
follow Michael and Daniel, right, And I think there's something
really powerful to be said about that. So, Michael, you've
been in this T shirt game for a very long time.
Was it weird to start selling things other than T shirts,
like sweatpants and hoodies and caps and stickers or did
it come natural?
Speaker 3 (18:01):
I would say basically became natural, because I mean I've
always sold the sweatshirts and T shirts and everything and
with TikTok that we've been able to get out to
more people, it just seems like the next step is
to offer them more stuff and people enjoy it. You know,
it's kind of neat to think that there's lazy butts
all over the world that want to buy it. We've
(18:22):
sent this to twenty four different countries. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So when you started introducing these new product offerings, did
you have to change your day to day work streams?
Was there any new technology you had to use to
try and track different shipments from different suppliers.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I would say this day and age just because of
shipping and you can get it the next day and
all that kind of stuff. You don't really have to
keep a huge inventory. And so to add an extra product,
it's not that big of a deal. Order the shirts,
order them to get them the next day, you prim
ship them out and the next day, and you know,
TikTok wants you to do it in three days plus.
Remind us to get stuff out and we don't have
(19:00):
that hardware problem doing it.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
That makes a ton of sense. I'm curious do you
have any tips or tricks for people who are trying
to find their next good supplier, or build that relationship
with a supplier, and he may be questions to ask
or any pieces of information to verify.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Basically, the best advice would be is try to talk
to the owner or vice president, somebody that's pretty much
in charge of the company, and if you feel a
connection with them, go with them. If it costs ten
cents more, fifty cents more, whatever, it's not that big
deal because just like building trust with the brand, you
build trust with the people you're buying from.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Now, the question is to the founder and CEO of
Lazy Butt Club ever find time to be lazy themselves?
Speaker 4 (19:46):
As far as being lazy, getting to be lazy? Dad
wasn't lazy. Didn't seem like you were lazy at all
in the first thirty years of your business. I mean
Dad has told me he's been working. I mean there
was times you were working what seventy hours plus a week,
like seventy eighty whatever you have to Yeah, yeah, but like,
are you lazy? Did you get any time to be lazy?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Then?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Probably more. Now I think I've found time.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Yeah, and now I have plenty of lazy hobbies. I
play guitar, which I think is kind of lazy, and
then I play a lot of video games. So I
think we could be bigger maybe if I wasn't truly
a lazy But but the way we're.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Growing now is a good pace.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
And I think, you know, I'll start working seventy hours
a week like Dad did when he was my age,
maybe eventually, at least for one week.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Listen, Daniel, tell us where people should go watch your
fun videos and check out your products.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Social media wise, we're really just on TikTok and Instagram.
I mean, those are the big two, and we've had
a lot of success on TikTok and then recently this
year we actually had a good amount of success on Instagram.
So we're up to you know, eighty six thousand followers
on Instagram and three hundred and something thousand followers on TikTok.
So it's pretty sweet, and you know, that's definitely where
(21:07):
you can find us.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
That's incredible. That does not sound like y'all have been
lazy at all, not in the slightest.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yeah, that's what a lot of times on the comments
on the videos, they'll say, you guys aren't living up
to your name.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
Sure, you're gonna have to change your name. You're gonna
have to instill like a twenty hour work week.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Yeah, yeah, we've done that before. I love it.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Thanks y'all. That was a lot of fun. Thanks for
being here.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, of course, Marginius. What's the verdict, are we lazy
butt Club members now or what?
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I need to be on the board of directors of
the Lazy Buck Club at this point because the entire
ethos that Michael and Daniel represent is so on point.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I love it. You can be the chairwoman and that
will be on the board with you, and we're gonna
have quarterly board meetings. I'll wear a T shirts.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
It's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Something fun and mandatory, unlimited PTO.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
All right, Janies, what was your favorite part?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
You know, I love the fact that they embrace this
concept of laziness as entrepreneurs, right, because I think there's
so much of this, like hustle all the time, you know,
sleep when you die. That's not necessarily what all of
us want to be doing. Right. Part of the reason
why we start businesses is because we do want more time,
We do want more freedom to kind of live our
(22:27):
lives outside of the structure of you know, normal corporate job,
and so the fact that they're like okay with not
doing all the things and just kind of enjoying the
ride as they get to wherever that destiny is going
to be for them. I absolutely love that sentiment and
I think that's something that we need to talk about more.
How about you, Austin.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I very much agree with you, right. I think hustle
culture is kind of toxic.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Right.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We see all these people who are working seventy eighty
hundred hours a week. And don't get me wrong, Michael
was doing that when he was getting it started. But
I think everyone's kind of got to have that small season.
But unfortunately, you know a lot of people take that
season into a lifelong reality and to your point, got
to give ourselves a little bit of grace here as solopreneurs.
I think what really resonated with me was, you know,
(23:10):
Michael mentioned, just post the video. You don't need to
have it polished and perfect. You can just make a
video of you packing some boxes, put some cool sound
on top of it on TikTok, and you know, you
got two and a half million views doing that. So
I think for a lot of solopreneurs listening right now,
give yourself some grace on posting your content right now.
Every single video has to be perfect. It doesn't have
(23:31):
to be polished, just document the journey and your audience
will definitely appreciate that absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
I mean, I think we're kind of breaking the stereotype
of what entrepreneurship can look like. It can be lazy
and you can start it imperfectly. Well, that's it for
today's episode. You can find me on social media at
jochierro Di netto podcast.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks.
To get the tools you need to start, run and
grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave it rating and a review. See you next time.
This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio and Into It QuickBooks.
Our executive producer is Malay Sosha, our supervising producer is
Nikkia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Lijah.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Our head of post production is James Foster QuickBooks. Money
is a standalone into it offering banking services provided by
Green Dot Bank member FDIC only. Funds and envelopes earn
annual percentage yield apy can change at any time. Money
movement services provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a
money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.