At the age of 25, this entrepreneur has created a multi-million dollar company from scratch in just three years time. Meet Jacomo Hakim, the Founder of BookATailor.
BookATailor’s proprietary technology of creating suits and shirts has allowed Hakim to help customers to DIY the measurement of their shirts and suits. With the unique ways of creating bespoke clothing, Hakim has grown BookATailor into a $5 million company, with 12 showrooms across the U.S.
We are excited to have the opportunity for an interview with Hakim, talking about BookATailor, his entrepreneurial journey, and his epic plan for the future.
Ivan Widjaya (Q): Hakim – nice to meet you. I’m sure our readers are dying to know more about you and your multi-million dollar business. Can you tell us a bit about you and your business?
Jacomo Hakim (A): The Pleasure is all mine. My name is Jacomo Hakim, and I am currently 25 years old. Three years ago- with a little research, zero experience, and trial and error – I shot a dart at a major dilemma in the custom clothing industry. I decided to be proactive and solve all problems before they were even created!
The current industry margin of error is currently at 65%. My father is a computer programmer, and always taught me to think automation. Therefore, I decided to solve all industry problems by automating them. This way the margin of error is slim to none.
Once the process of tailoring menswear is streamlined, your overhead is cut into fractions because the computer is doing all the work. Since I’ve done this, I have come up with a way to deliver custom shirts to you for low pricing, with the quickest turnaround time, and with the fun and most technologically advanced experience doing so.
BookATailor, created only 2.5 years ago, is the future norm of men’s custom clothing. We are the only vertically integrated men’s custom clothing that is nationwide today.
Q: You are considered as a pioneer in your industry. In what way your business is unique and innovative? How do you come up with the idea?
A: The reason why our model is different than any other custom clothing companies are two simple reasons:
Number 1: We own our production facility in Bangkok, Thailand. This allows us to have full control over the production, which is one of the most essential and difficult legs in any fashion house brand. From there, we have streamlined the process – all the way down to the consumer placing an order.
Number 2: The outrageous programming hours that we put into our technology. We don’t just automate the process, but we automate our entire business model. With this strategy, the margin of error between an order to the factory and back to the consumer is slim to none. You might think it should always be zero. However, custom clothing is one of the most detail oriented businesses with tons of variables. Customers have so much to choose from, so every order is unique in its own way.
Also, keep in mind – we offer the best prices in the industry. We are in the turn over business. With our technology, we’ve built a database that allows us to keep track of the entire process while having the computer do most of the work.
When I first looked into the custom clotting industry, I instantly saw that every single company outsources their orders to different factories around the world. With that model, there were 3 common problems amongst all of them: communication, quality control, and turnaround time.
The only way to solve all three of those problems at once was to set up our own shop (production facility). Once that was done, we decided to target the consumer directly at the most affordable price by simply eliminating the middle man.
Overall, the experience I’ve created for a man to get fitted and order bespoke clothing is prestige, automated, fast, simple, fun, and amazing.
Q: In just two years, BookATailor has grown rapidly – so far, there are 12 showrooms nationwide. How do you achieve such rapid growth?
A: Very simple! Push hard all day, every single day.
I offer two custom shirts for only $99. My competitors sell one custom shirt anywhere from $85-$145. There is no reason for anyone to buy from them when I can offer you a product that is just as good — at a way more affordable price and a quicker turnaround time. And the best part is the user experience that we have managed to create it. The consumer actually has fun ordering his custom clothing.
We are making sure that every single man in the United States knows about BookATailor and the services that we offer, simply because it makes so much more sense for them to buy clothes this way. Why buy off the rack clothing, when we measure you, allow you to choose the exact fit you want, pick any fabric and offer you any styling options at a more affordable price? That is why the growth is rapid — because it makes sense.
Jordan Belfort, a great motivational speaker, once said: “If you give the consumer value, they will all come!” That is what I strive to do every single day. Moreover, I have a mentor behind me that pushes me harder than anyone I know, inspiring me to always think big, and to just push harder and harder every single day. Plus, he never forgets to let me know that he would have had accomplished ten times more if he was in my exact position!
Q: What’s your plan for the future?
A: A Vertical Monopoly! The best route for us to take in order to grow the business at a rapid rate and teach single consumer what we are about was through the franchise model. And that’s what we have done.
Our plan is to have 1000 BookATailor stores, showrooms, and kiosks opened all over America. That will help spread awareness of who we are and what we do. And the beauty about this industry is that it has no language. The model that we have managed to build can be done in almost any country in the world.
We are also about to launch our new online sales platform, allowing the consumer to order their clothes from home: Bespokino – a BookATailor Vision. It is a patented measuring tool that allows the consumer to measure himself from home and then with a bespoke visualizer they can design their clothing and see exactly what it looks like on them.
The way we have differentiated ourselves with this project against the online competitors is by not allowing the consumer to measure themselves in a standard fashion, which all the other companies do. Remember, when someone measures themselves at home for an online order from another custom clothing company, the margin of error is 65%. But with our patented measuring device anyone can measure themselves from home, and our margin of error is slim to none.
I could say that to date, this is the most exciting project I have worked on, and God willing, it will be the one to take us to the next level.
Q: You are a millionaire at your mid-twenties. Any tips you can give to other budding entrepreneurs who are yet to find success in their 20’s?
A: Keep going. I won’t stop until I’m a billionaire. When you look and go about it the way I do, it all comes down to the amount of the time you put in. Hustle, think big, never never never give up. And keep pushing. When someone tells you “No,” or “it can’t be done,” that should turn you on and motivate you to get it done!
There is a saying that goes, “You miss 100% of the shots you do not take!” That is the way I look at it: I am walking around with two machine guns! Unlimited bullets!
Thank you, Ivan. I really appreciate he interest in what I have created. Please believe in me and help me spread the awareness.
You’re welcome, Jacomo – and good luck in your endeavor!