The Amazing The Story of Thomas's Fashionable Socks --

Many entrepreneurs have faced and overcome obstacles and setbacks in order to achieve their business dreams. Still, few have succeeded with the same level of difficulty faced by Thomas Barry and his father, Finbar.

There are a few us have the same vision determination, perseverance, and strength of character that this remarkable group made up of Irish entrepreneurs.

A rough start

Seven children were the youngest, Thomas was born with Down Syndrome, along with many other serious diseases, such as Perthes Disease, Hirschsprung Disease with a heart murmur unactive thyroid, Hiatus Hernia, and stomach reflux. It was never expected that he would survive the first two months of his life, that were spent in intensive medical care.

But then, as now, Thomas was a fighter and was a fighter to get to home.

In his early years the boy was always in a state of sickness, and spent years in hospital for various illnesses. Thomas would be the youngest person in Ireland to undergo a complete hip replacement. It was a fact that Thomas would probably not be able to be able to hold a normal type of job due to the limitations he suffered from. However, being Thomas the person he is, it had no effect on his desire to pursue his work or express his imagination.

The fact is that when Thomas decides regarding something, he's driven -- sometimes even relentless -- to see the issue through.

"I would like to find an opportunity to work"

In spite of all the hardships and hardships Thomas endured throughout his childhood He had one unstoppable desire by the time he reached the teen years. Thomas was looking for a job. a real "get up in the morning and go to work" kind of work.

This was the sort of work the boy had spent his early years watching his father and brothers leave for each day.

"Dad," he'd say, "Make me a lunch. It's time to go to work!"

For Finbar, his son's dream was one that was extremely threatening. When Thomas first began to voice his desires, he wasn't walking at all. The overall condition of his health was pretty poor and he suffered with severe pain daily.

What would it take for him to maintain any type of work?

"We simply kept pushing the can down the road," says Finbar, "telling Finbar ' maybe next year", and then looking forward to a miraculous outcome. We just couldn't bear the thought of pouring cold water on the dreams of his son."

However, Thomas was never discouraged. "I need to go to work; I want to find a job. I'd like to go to work." The same never-give-up solid determination that carried him through the initial rocky years of his life was resilient as ever. As always, Thomas fought on.

The socks are the main topic

As "I would like to get a job" was his son's favourite mantra father pondered what he could be able to do to assist.

A few days later the idea came to him. If there was one constant in Thomas's daily routine, it would be his socks.

He was nowhere in the world without socks and he had his socks with him all day and night.

While other kids sought refuge in blankets and stuffed animals, Thomas found his in his beloved sock collection. Thomas was always playing with socks. He would slip one sock into the other and swing the sock around his hands for hours until, after years of practicing He was extremely proficient in the art of it.

He never played much with toys in his early childhood but he could not go anywhere without socks.

"He went to bed with him," says Finbar, "so that the first thing he'd see when he opened his eyes was the socks that were in his hands.

I remember wondering to myself, 'Is this something Tom might identify with or could even do for money, by exchanging his love for socks with others by selling socks on the internet?"

WordPress and

It was at this point that Finbar approached his grandson Shane for help. After having studied programming, computer science as well as web development and digital marketing at college, Shane seemed like the best choice to take Thomas's as well as Finbar's hopes and help make them come true.

"When my granddad contacted me about the business," says Shane, "we sat down, came up with a plan that I immediately knew I would utilize WordPress and . I'd used them before and I was confident in both."

For Shane it was a perfect match with WordPress for him, and he was able to find the two programs simple to operate, giving the user a great deal of freedom.

If asked about the use of Shopify, Shane was quick to reply.

Getting started

"Once we set up the sitewith a product catalog and some basic selling tools," says Shane, "we started adding more sophisticated options, including a monthly subscription program. It was simple."

Even though his education and expertise enable him to create himself, Shane appreciates the ease of use and ability to modify that comes with the many WordPress plugins available to users.

We utilize Stripe for everything from taking individual website payments to invoicing our commercial customers that want to buy in bulk.

Really, it comes down to making the whole purchase experience as effortless as it is for the consumer.

This includes, among other things, using a payment option with one click that they prefer to use that is available for example, Apple Pay. A payment method that you know the customer feels most comfortable using integrated into our checkout process will go a long way to developing their confidence in our brand."

Currently, Thomas's Trendy Socks' sales are almost 100% on the internet, and there is the inventory growing to more than 6000 pairs of socks. It's a fast turnover of inventory. In fact, it's so fast that the family is contemplating bringing production within the company.

Design and pattern-specific designs are the best targets.

Thomas, of course, always comes up with new concepts. Shane utilizes sales and site data to determine how popular each might be with customers.

"After I've determined my core customer base," says Shane, "we examine what other products they have expressed interest in. What are their commonalities? ( Animals, food themes and beers are all themes that have been popular for a long time)."

The family decided to help raise Down syndrome awareness as well and which is why Thomas did draw a Down Syndrome awareness sock. The first run sold out almost immediately. The Barrys intend to increase their charity work as well as make use of their socks to raise information in the near future.

"As soon as we start production in-house, I'm sure we'll do a lot more experimenting."

The business is always considering new ways to market their socks, including videos with Thomas. For digital marketing is concerned, they utilize advertisements on social media and email campaigns.

It's easier than you think

Shane isn't the only one who has found WordPress easy to use. Recently, 77-year-old Finbar was given the reins of the business while Shane was away.

"He didn't grow up in a world where you utilized computers to do everything," Shane told us. "Before we set up this company, he would've been able to use Microsoft Word, but that's about it. I was absent for about a week but Grandpa could learn how to use WordPress and . He learned how to login, control the store, and handle every order himself.

It really speaks much about the software in that someone who did not experience computers growing up was able to pick it up so quickly and effortlessly."

Their secret to the success of their

The Barry family started Thomas's trendy socks with a modest budget of just under EUR1,000, and have built on that through a simple strategy of growing month after month.

"That's our approach: just scale and reinvest, scale and reinvest. In the present, there are three of us, however, the longer-term goal is that, when we start making our own products We hope that we can hire people as Thomas."

The most crucial element that will determine the success of Thomas's Trendy Socks is attitude.

"Thomas is through lots. He's been through a lot of challenges, and yet, despite all of that, he's always happy and always smiling, and wants to make other people more happy and joyful, as well. It's my opinion that the company is growing because Thomas is able to transmit his positive energy through every pair of socks to all customers," Says Shane.

Thomas brings joy into people's lives through sharing not only his fun socks, but his enduring spirit, too.

It's Thomas's job. that is the job of Thomas.