Sneaker cleaning business helps man become millionaire

A man in Melbourne ditched a career in law after he made a whopping $1.2 million from cleaning other people’s sneakers.

29-year-old Eugene Cheng, a dual Aussie and Singaporean citizen, got into the sneaker cleaning business because of his love for kicks.

Cheng came across US YouTuber Chase Maccini, who advocated for restoring sneakers rather than throwing them out to cut down on waste.

Cheng and Maccini decided to team up. Despite completing his law degree and being a fully-qualified lawyer, Cheng opened his own store in Melbourne three months later.

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The two and a few their friends chipped in $120,000 to bootstrap the business.

“When we opened the store we had $500 left in the bank account,” Mr Cheng told a media outlet, explaining that rent, refurbishment and products cost more than they had anticipated.

Soon, The Sneaker Laundry got off to a running start with referrals from nearby Melbourne stores such as Nike and Dolce and Gabbana.

Mr Chang cleaned Chanel Human Racers and Dior Jordan 1‘s, which are both valued around $10,000, as well as 1 of 1 Sample Air Jordan 1’s, worth $25,000. He has even opened a store in Beirut, Lebanon.

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He has also made cleaning kits that can be mailed to anyone in the world.

During four years since launching, he and his 14 staff have cleaned 29,000 shoes. They have exported his cleaning kits to 65,000 customers in 45 different countries.

The business has made a whopping $1.2 million in revenue.