Magicians Open Enchanting Online Store

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Hello, hello, what's up? Welcome to Recital School. Welcome as well to the Ides of September. It is the 15th of September. I don't think the Ides of September are really a thing.

That's just something that happens in March. But the way 2020 has gone, I figure everything else is up in the air. So here we are, middle of September. And today we're also gonna talk about something mysterious and unusual, but in a much better way than 2020 has been. Now this is all about magic today.

Dissatisfied with the slow innovation in the magic community, two magicians and lifelong friends create their own online retailer. This store goes on to become an industry leader, now employing other magicians and raising the standard of e-commerce in the world of card tricks and disappearing national landmarks. What can I say folks? This is where the magic happens. The story is called "Magicians Open Enchanting Online Store." And that story is coming right up.

[Music]

Andy Gladwin has wanted to be a professional magician ever since he could remember. When he was 15, he attended a conference for young magicians. That's where he met his future best friend, 17 year old Joshua J. As they grew up, they continued to delve into the world of magic. Although Andy eventually took an office job, he still found time to do magic on the side.

Even performing on shows like "Pen and Teller," "Fool Us" and "Masters of Illusion." Josh took it a step further and became a full-time touring magician. Eventually they began to collaborate by writing books about magic and even producing their own magic tricks for other magicians to buy. Now here's the thing, each new trick or product they invented had to be sold through other magic producers. There are directories of distributors that sell most of these products and eventually Andy and Josh desired more quality control. Many of the other magic products were poorly made and sold in bags with bad packaging.

They wanted theirs to look and feel like they were produced by Apple. And they knew the only way to do that was to make everything themselves. This was all back in the early 2000s and many brick and mortar magic shops were closing. The change left many magicians without access to the magic products they needed. So Andy and Josh wanted to solve that problem too.

Interestingly, despite being able to turn bricks or straw into gold, the magic community is historically slow to innovate. Few people were taking advantage of the available technology. And that's when the two friends decided to create their very own online retailer called Vanishing Inc. You get it, Vanishing Inc. They launched in 2009.

After six months, they had so much growth that Andy had to take a leave at his office job and Josh decreased his travel for his performances. Andy asked his boss if he could go back to work part-time but he was turned down. While this was upsetting at first, he says now that it ended up being a blessing in disguise because if he hadn't been rejected, he wouldn't have been able to grow the business in the same way. When the friends first started Vanishing Inc., they were focused on hacking the industry. They realized that most products all came through the same wholesaler in Sacramento, California.

They found a fulfillment company nearby and convinced them and the wholesaler to do daily pickups and ship out their orders. This way, they offered same day shipping without ever touching the product. Well, that process was a great way to be lean and not invest in stock. The downside was they were only ever as good as the companies they worked with. After about two years, other magic shops began to take notice of this process and started to replicate it.

This was frustrating at first, but it caused them to move forward and grow in a different way. For their next trick, they made the fulfillment center disappear. Instead, they recruited a team and bought their own warehouse. To this day, the friends still run their business through that warehouse. Since then, Vanishing Inc. has grown tremendously.

Andy credits their success to one central point. The magic community was starved of companies with great customer service. By noticing and feeling that need, people quickly began to notice them. These days, Vanishing Inc. is like the Amazon or Target for magicians.

The company brings in millions of dollars every year. They advertise widely and are constantly introducing new products. Right now, they've been focusing on the new era of virtual magic. Andy says that super visual magic is king and that creating one to three second videos showing a trick has done wonders to entice magicians into buying their products. Not only that, but every person they employ is also a magician.

This way, the whole company is always aware of the type of content and products the community is looking for. They're also looking to find solutions to the in-person conferences that are so prevalent in the community. Right now, these conferences that would draw thousands of people a year are just not possible. So they're trying to adapt like so many others. Despite the challenges, Andy and Josh agree that Vanishing Inc. has changed their lives.

Or, should I say, transformed. [Music]

Before we close it out today, I've got some interesting magician facts, fun facts from the world of magic. Did you know, I bet you didn't, but now you do, now you will, in Queensland, Australia, it is illegal to own a pet rabbit unless you can prove that you're a magician. How about that? Also, at the 1988 Magic Championships, which, you know, it's kind of like the Olympics, a magician was disqualified because his performance was so astounding that the other magician judges thought he must be cheating.

He then performed the same act three years later, this time letting the judges shuffle the cards and won. Lastly, the first hacker was a magician who, in 1903, hacked into a demonstration of wireless telegraphy to demonstrate that the idea of secure and private communication was foolish. Well, if you don't know, now you know. I hope you enjoyed this story as well. Congratulations to Andy and Josh, Vanishing Inc.

Pretty cool, check it out. We're gonna link it up in the show notes. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Those show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1354, episode 1,354. It's the eyes of September, but much more is on the way.

Thank you so much for listening. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.