We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maurice Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Maurice thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.

So back when I started collecting stuff for the shop and figuring out what I wanted to do with the store I wish that I had went with a bigger space and bought more variety to fit all my customers. That way there would be more in the store for people to enjoy. I was scared to pack it out because of the initial cost and now it seems to be thriving because or the amount of items I keep on the shelve.

Maurice , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Maurice Anderson and I’m a kid from huntville Alabama that moved through the South. My dad is a retired senior master Sargent and chef taught me to do what I have to do in order to do what I want to do. I got in the industry working at finishline , then Nike , and doing branding for other stores when I saw the flaw working on marketing for them. Consignment stores and resell stores are not different on the outside is the operations. When your stuff is on consignment the business itself is cash poor which makes it difficult to make money for the business but when you are a retail store that offers sneakers , collectibles , snacks and more it gives you leverage on your prices and your business is actually worth something because you own it all. That’s what sets me apart from others. I have a great customer experience a whole family can enjoy but not just one type of customer. I can sell a $20000 shoe ( which I did .. the Freddy Krueger dunk ) or I can sell a $1 pack of gum. All my customers I care about because I want that repeat business. My brand my name is what I have and I need to uphold that. That’s why I started the shop and that’s why I started my own buy sell trade show for others to enjoy where I donate proceeds to the homeless

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

For the initial capital I had a set of vending machines I bought with my business partner and I sold to bring in the initial funding for the shop

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson I had to learn is I can get this all back when I make sacrifices. We all like things but it really hurts when you let go of things you love

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.todayspgrm.com
• Instagram: @todays.program