Shakil Prasla as soon as owned 12 ecommerce shopper manufacturers producing $50 million in mixed annual income with 50 staff. However he grew cautious of the fluctuating income and continuous advertising and marketing, so he pivoted throughout Covid to wholesale private protecting tools.
That’s when he and I final spoke. The PPE enterprise, Gloves.com, had misgauged demand and misplaced, initially, a whopping $6 million. He has since recovered and pivoted once more, this time to actual property and convenience-store gasoline stations.
He’s an instance of resilience, priorities, and seizing alternatives. He shared these classes and extra on this our newest dialog.
Our total audio is embedded under. The transcript is condensed and edited for readability.
Eric Bandholz: Give us a rundown of what you do.
Shakil Prasla: I personal Gloves.com. We primarily promote disposable protecting gloves for medical, meals service, and different industries, principally wholesale. We import from abroad, retailer our stock in warehouses, and have a group of gross sales representatives who construct relationships and promote to giant distributors, comparable to Sysco.
Sysco, in flip, provides eating places and companies like McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Orders movement via backend integrations, and whereas we use automation, we’re basically a logistics firm: importing, storing, and distributing items.
I acquired the enterprise with a non-public fairness group. The model has been round for over 30 years, so it got here with a longtime gross sales historical past. When evaluating it, we checked out whole market share — disposable gloves are a surprisingly large, multi-billion-dollar trade. They’re used in all places: hospitals, nail salons, barber outlets, grocery shops, even gardening.
Whereas gloves are our core providing, we additionally present different disposable wearables, comparable to bouffant caps and beard covers. What I discovered from ecommerce is that consumables drive sturdy repeat enterprise. Clients reorder once they run out, which will increase lifetime worth and makes the enterprise mannequin enticing.
I purchased my first on-line enterprise in 2013, earlier than buying ecommerce manufacturers was fashionable. I loved bettering and rising them. By 2018, I owned 12 manufacturers, producing over $50 million in annual income with greater than 50 staff.
Throughout Covid, I offered most of my manufacturers and transitioned into wholesale distribution of private protecting tools. Now, I’m additionally concerned in actual property — shopping for land, constructing strip facilities, and gasoline stations round Austin, Texas.
Bandholz: You scaled this enterprise fairly a bit.
Prasla: We acquired the corporate with simply the stock — no group, no tech — so we needed to rebuild it from the bottom up. Luckily, it had been a big enterprise with sturdy model recognition, so we targeted on the low-hanging fruit: reactivating outdated clients.
We reached out to purchasers from 15 to twenty years in the past and knowledgeable them that the model had new possession, improved service, and the identical trusted merchandise. We addressed previous points and emphasised enhancements — quicker transport, higher pricing, and constant product high quality. That method labored nicely, and many shoppers returned.
Not like ecommerce, the place you’re continually operating advertisements on Fb, Google, TikTok, and writing emails, we don’t depend on conventional advertising and marketing. Our gross sales reps do the advertising and marketing. They observe KPIs, and their bonuses are tied to efficiency. That incentive construction has been a key driver of our progress.
Bandholz: How do you discover operators and get aligned to allow them to thrive and assist scale the enterprise?
Prasla: I spotted early on that operations aren’t my power — I get bored by the day-to-day particulars. Again in my ecommerce days, I began outsourcing operations. I employed somebody from what was then oDesk (now Upwork) to deal with customer support, company calls, and different duties. At first, it was messy as a result of I didn’t have correct working procedures, however I refined the method over time.
Discovering nice individuals is tough. A one-hour interview isn’t sufficient. Candidates are promoting themselves, and what they current isn’t at all times correct. So there’s a trial-and-error part.
Immediately, we use staffing businesses, LinkedIn, and platforms like Monster. My human sources group handles job postings, and we be sure to obviously define the position — for instance, “I would like a pacesetter to run a nine-figure enterprise and encourage gross sales reps.” That readability helps entice the fitting individuals.
Incentives are additionally crucial. Some candidates search a steady earnings, whereas others desire a decrease base pay with excessive efficiency bonuses. I attempt to perceive what motivates them and tailor compensation accordingly.
To filter candidates, we embody a brief questionnaire: “If you happen to have been operating this firm, how would you develop it?” Solely considerate responses transfer ahead. Then our group conducts interviews, and I converse with the ultimate candidates. That’s the method that’s labored for me.
Bandholz: What’s your relationship with the CEOs?
Prasla: I hold it easy. One 30-minute name per week, targeted on high-level technique. We evaluate a dashboard with key metrics, together with income, what’s working, what’s not, and the place the alternatives lie. I get the agenda upfront, and we follow it.
I don’t micromanage. My job is to empower, not management. I give CEOs guardrails — for instance, “Let’s develop from $1 million to $1.2 million this yr.” Then I ask how they plan to do it. They break it down into quarterly and month-to-month KPIs. Possibly the aim is to extend conversion from 1% to 1.5% via house web page A/B testing. I information the path, however they personal the execution.
That possession is vital. Once they create the plan, they’re extra dedicated to reaching it.
Compensation for a seven- or eight-figure firm sometimes features a base wage starting from $150,000 to $300,000, plus phantom fairness that vests over time, revenue sharing, and efficiency bonuses.
If my CEO brings in an additional $1 million in worth, I’m pleased to share in that. It’s about alignment — once they win, all of us win.
Bandholz: Inform us concerning the shift into actual property and comfort shops, and moving into strip malls.
Prasla: My transfer into actual property got here from two issues I seen in ecommerce. First, the ecommerce income was unpredictable. One month it will be up, the following it will drop as a result of elements comparable to algorithm adjustments, underperforming advertisements, or provide chain points. It was annoying, and I needed extra stability. Second, I needed to construct long-term wealth via fairness, not simply revenue. Actual property gave me each.
It’s been a enjoyable problem. I take pleasure in negotiating land offers and dealing with brokers, builders, and banks. As soon as I discover a property, the true planning begins — determining the constructing footprint, engineering, structure, and generally coping with environmental or entry points. It’s rewarding to see a venture come to life from the bottom up.
I’m not the overall contractor — I rent one to handle all of the subcontractors, together with plumbing, roofing, MEP, and basis, amongst others. We additionally work with about 20 professionals per venture, together with architects, engineers, and site visitors consultants. Financing sometimes requires a down cost of 20–35%. After building and getting a certificates of occupancy, it takes about six months to stabilize.
This isn’t a flip technique for me — I plan to carry the properties long run. Visitors at busy intersections brings constant footfall, not like the volatility of ecommerce.
After years of grinding, experiencing burnout, and incurring some losses pushed by ego, I’ve reevaluated what actually issues. I’ve two younger children, and now my precedence is time — being current. I constructed a steady monetary base, and now I’m targeted on having fun with the following chapter.
Bandholz: The place can individuals discover you?
Prasla: Gloves.com is our enterprise for disposable merchandise. Our comfort shops — known as Snack Cease — are in Austin, Texas, the place I stay. I’m on LinkedIn.
