Taekyeong Oh is the CEO of ZEROi Lab, a leading South Korean startup that specializes in creating innovative fashion products. By bringing together a team of experts from Samsung and established hat brands, Oh began making his name domestically. Then, he took his hat products to the global market through crowdfunding platforms. He successfully crowdfunded 10 different campaigns in four different countries, which continues to open new doors for his brand.
His most recent campaign, ZeroT Cap, was crowdfunded on Indiegogo and managed to raise over $100,000 in less than two months. ZeroT Cap uses light therapy to provide safe and effective hair treatment for those who struggle with hair loss or scalp issues. With the success of this project, he continues to refine its design and technology in hopes to satisfy all those who helped fund the product.
Oh aims to establish ZEROi Lab as the world’s first company to seamlessly integrate IT into hats. He never ceases to improve and will continue developing innovative hat products for his growing, global customer base.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is ZEROi LAB all about?
ZEROi Lab is a forward-thinking company that creates innovative fashion products. The “i” in ZEROi symbolizes IT. We aim to create products of sleek design that can be seen as fashion instead of just an IT gadget.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
ZEROi currently has branches in South Korea and the States. In Korea, our company takes great pride in being the first to integrate technology into hats. We strive to better our hat’s design and technology to become a globally recognized company.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
The top 3 would be strategic planning, technical skills, and sales.
Strategic planning to be able to read market trends and provide consumers with what they need. Technical skills to produce the ideal product that you first envisioned. Sales because you need to get the word out about the great product you just made!
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
The world’s first technology-integrated hat brand. We’re at our first stage of entering the global market through crowdfunding. We plan on growing from there.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Our expertise in creating hats and being able to apply great technology into these hats. We have professionals from Samsung and established hat brands on our team that help push innovative ideas forward.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
The first mistake was not realizing the difficulty of production and manufacturing. To produce thousands of units of what was once just an idea is an extremely hard process. I took big financial losses in this stage but now I have a better understanding of how all the bits and pieces come together.
The second was not keeping up with cash flow. With so many gears running, it was difficult to track where money was coming in and out. Running crowdfunding projects have helped me get better at it but I still have a lot to learn before entering the big leagues.
Last is spreading myself too thin. On top of running a fashion brand, we also make wearable tech products in the form of a hat. I wasn’t able to keep up with both and eventually had to slow down the process of both. But I now know that fashion hats and tech-integrated hats are completely different games.
How do you go about marketing your business, and what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
Our most effective marketing tool has been crowdfunding. Our products bring innovation and originality to the table so we thought presenting them to the crowdfunding community would leave a great first impression. I’ve also found having a video that can wow the audience while best representing your product is effective as well.
What must happen for you to consider your business a success? and when do you predict it will happen?
If we can bring joy and satisfaction to all customers around the world, I’ll consider ZEROi Lab a success. For me, reaching an international customer base is important.
Also, I gauge a customer’s satisfaction by how much they’re willing to visit the company again or what type of reviews they leave behind. We already have experience selling our products in the States, Korea, and Japan. After seeing success from our most recent crowdfunding campaign, we’re setting specific goals for the new year. But we have high hopes!
What are the top 3 tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
The first is having a structured system for manufacturing. Even though producing hats and tech-wear are two completely different processes, we’ve found the right partners that can help us achieve both.
The second is having crowdfunding experience under our belt. Now with any new product we have, we can go directly to our crowdfunding partners. We’ve already crowdfunded three different items in four different countries, totaling at 10 campaigns.
Third is having the right connections. We have IT and hat professionals on our team that always strive to better their own skills as well as integrate the two. We also have trusted connections in the U.S., Japan, and Korea that help with sales and marketing.
How can we get in touch with you?
You can check out our business website zeroilab.com or you can visit us on social media via Instagram.
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