17-year-old Korean CEO on making $1 million in sales

At just 17 years old, Sukone Hong has realized his entrepreneurial dream by building not one but two businesses.

The first, a South Korean fashion brand of which he is CEO, has made over $1 million in sales this year and won the recognition of Harvard University. The second, a braille smartwatch for the visually impaired, has advanced orders in the thousands.

That’s one way to get back at the bullies.

“It was hard for me to get engaged with school. I kind of got bullied. I had to find something that could change my life,” Hong told CNBC Make It.

Teen Hong began his entrepreneurial journey four years ago, when he was in just eighth grade.

Struggling to fit in with classmates at his school in Seoul, he was eager to find a distraction, taking to reselling branded clothes on South Korean search engine Naver.

But with just $150 in his pocket, which swiftly “flew away,” he realized he had to change tact.

Hong needed a unique selling point. So, using a $5,000 loan from his grandparents and the assistance of a printing business, he set to work creating his own clothing site offering unisex casual wear with simple, playful designs.

With that, Olaga Studios — Korean for “going up” — was born.

“Nothing happened for like a week,” said Hong. “Then, on Monday morning, there was like 15 orders. Fifty at lunch. Eighty by evening. That week, I sold 300 shirts.”

The three-year-old brand since has become a regional success, amassing $1.2 million in annual sales across six Asian markets and ranking No. 1 in Style Share’s t-shirt category.

That has enabled Hong to employ a team of 12 to help run the site. But it has also allowed him to pay his parents back for the school fees at the American international school in Seoul to which he relocated.

And it was there that he gained inspiration for his latest venture, which he says is his true calling.

“Before, I thought business was just about making lots of money,” said Hong. “But after moving school I had some good education.”

“My teacher said that my experience could be used to create a business to help others,” he added.

With Paradox Computers, the company behind his braille smartwatch, he aims to do just that.

Braille smartwatches — which enable the visually impaired to receive real-time information, such as texts and messages from their phone — have been on the market for several years.

But the exorbitant cost of such products — typically upwards of $300 — can make them inaccessible for many disabled people.

After working on a school project about disabilities, Hong realized the inequality and decided there must be another, more affordable option.