A Business Mind: building a business stitch by stitch

In little more than three years, J.J. Threads has gone from being a newly launched website to a company employing 10, which is in talks with investors and has big plans for further expansion.

“I have trouble sleeping because I’m so excited about how much we are growing,” says chief executive Katherine Cosentino.

However, what outsiders might see as an overnight success is actually the result of a lot of hard work. Start-ups can take longer than originally planned to get off the ground and the process often involves learning from sometimes costly mistakes.

“Especially early on, there is a lot of trial and error in finding the correct technology partners, suppliers and vendors,” Cosentino says. “I knew this was going to be difficult, and was told things can take longer than you expect. We have always tried to learn from our mistakes. If one approach isn’t working out, we try to move quickly to rectify the situation.”

Based in Hong Kong to be close to its production base and representatives of the world’s leading fabric mills, the company offers top-quality shirt fabrics in special designs. Using a factory in Hong Kong also makes it easier to control delivery times and ensure that customers receive items 10 to 14 days after an order is placed.

Since the business is based on a website, orders can be accepted from anywhere around the world. So far, though, the company has mainly dealt with US-based customers, filling a niche by offering bespoke shirts in a market where the idea of custom-made clothing is relatively new.