2019-2023
a small business i ran from 2019 to 2023 — a custom service where i painted sneakers for people, mostly by hand.
i’m no longer actively marketing it, but i still take on commissions from time to time.
this all started from scratching my own itch after a weekend at a nike outlet - i came across the nike zoom fly sp x nathan bell collab and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
so i bought a plain pair of air force 1s, painted over them, and posted it online. nothing fancy. just a simple colour swap - but to my surprise, i started getting dms. a few friends, some strangers. small requests. then more.
somehow, it became a side business.
i listed simple designs on thecustommovement (now shut down — but artcustommovement feels similar today). my instagram became the place to showcase more bespoke pieces - everything from jordans to blazers.
simple designs started at $120 (excluding the base shoes). more complex ones went for $250 and up.
as a solo founder, i wore every hat: customer service, design, marketing, shipping, packaging - all while still a student. it was the first time i understood how content could drive a business. and it was also what got me posting more consistently, and showing my work, documenting as i went.
fihtus™ isn’t active anymore. but every now and then, i still think about reviving it - not to scale, not to brand, just for the joy of making something with my hands again.
[[ 2025-10-26-what i’ve learnt from running a small business 5 years ago|here are 3 lessons ]] i carry from this project:
- build fast, adapt faster. nothing was ever perfect, but shipping beat waiting.
- businesses solve problems. your product is just the vehicle.
- get good at one thing, then sell different levels of access to it (something i later conceptualised as a “ [[ digital coffeeshop ]]”)