Hi,
I'm Thanh Ho (linkedin profile):
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/thanh-ho/7/246/b32.
My footprints are all over the internet. (Ex:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage_Wise)
I started with a small 18ft x 6ft kiosk and helped founded VaporXpress LLC in January of 2013, a B&M retail distributor of Electronic Cigarettes (
www.vaporxpress.com). In 2013, our revenue was ~$270,000 (our first month was $3,000), with gross profit after COGS was ~48%. Sales was approximately 50/50 in eLiquids/Hardware. We source and will soon in-house our eLiquids from the US. Our hardware we import directly from China. We currently own 4 retail and 2 franchisee locations within the DFW, TX and Houston, TX area.
After seeing the success of RentalStarter, I would like to gauge interest and advice on how I can leverage the crowdsourcing and non-bureaucratic element of bitcoin to help scale the business. I understand that there are currency exchange risk for a fiat-based business in the short term, but I feel that the profits from the long-term should cover the risk. (Note 2/24: I could be wrong due to the currently 'low' price on BTC where I feel it could go up very fast very soon).
My objective is to crowdsource both a team and the resources needed to create a buying group for the purpose of importing and selling hardware in the US. I would like to be the Fasttech of the US for the eCig market. I'm not sure where to start explaining, so I would like to answer questions and build up the details from there.