We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Polesak. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Hi Sam, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve always been someone that is inherently aware that life is short, and in order to make the best of the time we have here on earth, I needed to take the best risks I could to help me grow. The same applies in business, you’ll never get to a point where you’re comfortable and the stars align. There is never a right time to start a business, for most it’s a long drawn out process full of lessons and growth. That gut feeling of terror and excitement when you’re going to jump into the water, is the exact feeling when you should jump forward with confidence in life, because, what’s the worst that could happen? Most things worth it in life are on the other side of fear.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I come from the business brokerage industry, helping business owners sell their businesses. I found out through working with business owners, that I wanted to own one myself. The name Ocean Works comes from shell artwork that my Grandfather Fred had made. This inspired me, along with my love for fashion, marine life, and the coast. I moved from Minnesota to California in 2020 and founded Ocean Works. Ocean Works is a coastal clothing brand. We sell pastel colored clothing that resembles the colors of the ocean and marine life.

Giving back to marine life organizations is the lifeblood and a cornerstone component to Ocean Works. Marine life is a vital part of our ecosystem here on earth and the awareness for this is almost non existent for people that live inland like I did in Minnesota for 30+ years. Wearing Ocean Works is a symbol of responsibility and support for our marine life.

We started on the beach in San Diego, California selling sweatshirts when it got cold in the evening. Coming from the Midwest, the idea of coming to the coast was always one of “when I get there I’m going to get a nice tan.” This isn’t always the case, California evenings on the beach are chilly and our sweatshirts were a nice blanket for a lot of people in 2020. Now we have a larger presence online and are mainly an e-commerce driven business. That’s not to say we won’t be opening a retail location in the future, I think that’s a real possibility.

Ocean Works is a unisex brand, we believe that in 2023, fashion has worked it’s way to a point where genders, at least stylistically, intersect enough where unisex just makes sense. For the remainder of this year and into 2024 we will be working on implementing more hats, shorts, and a collection for youth.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

Coming from a background in business brokerage, I have a lot of experience interacting with business owners. I can say that although any business is challenging logistically, it’s much more challenging mentally. Keeping the faith, trusting yourself and the process, and believing that you can make something exceptional happen, over a long period of time is a skill that’s built, not inherent.

I have a few lessons or bits of information when it comes to selling a business that may be useful to readers.

80% of people that end up selling their business, sell for a reason external to the business itself i.e. something happens in their family, or their life.

Business in main street (500k-5m) sell for a multiple of cash flow or bottom line. Work to create efficiencies in your business and it’ll be worth more. A 5 million dollar a year in revenue business could be worth less than a business doing 1 million with a larger bottom line.

Make sure you aren’t “the business.” It won’t be worth anything if when you leave, the business dies, learn to delegate. It’s ok to trust others, mistakes will happen and you’ll move forward.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim. This is a book that was given to me by an old boss of mine. I used it not in the traditional way as the book explains though. It talks about red and blue oceans and how you should find an innovative product where there isn’t as much pressure on the marketplace.

One lesson I learned early on, is that the marketplace itself is so big that all it takes is .01% share of the marketplace to have a profitable business. There are customers all over the world. For example the fashion industry’s value is approximately. 1.7 trillion dollars, or 2% of GDP. There is enough for everyone to eat as long as you work hard and apply yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oceanworksco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceanworksco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Oceanworkscompany

Image Credits
Jason Gonzales