Everyone has a purpose–a mission to accomplish. It can be a dream or a goal to conquer. By following and fighting for it, a person’s life can change forever. This is the case of Oguzhan Karlidag.
Oguzhan Karlidag is an entrepreneur who migrated to the United States more than seven years ago from Turkey with a mission: to master English and complete his MBA. As a result of that trip, Oguzhan fell totally in love with the country, and in order to stay, he got a job in the towel and bathrobe industry.
“I threw myself wholeheartedly into the towel and bathrobe industry, working 15 hours a day, 7 days a week in a warehouse, headphones glued to my ears as I drank up every morsel of knowledge on how to grow a business. My spirit and passion caught fire like wildfire. I quickly rose through the ranks as an inventory manager, supply chain manager, and eventually e-commerce manager.” Mr. Karlidag says.
Despite being in a job that guaranteed him a good income, Mr. Karlidag was not pleased, as he always felt that the sector he worked in was dominated by large companies that did not offer a good enough product.
Mr. Karlidag decided to quit his job to fill that void that was being left by large companies and offer superior quality bathrobes. This is how he ended up launching his company Lotus Linen.
“The problem is the industry is heavily dominated by large, entrenched companies with deep pockets. They have no incentive to offer a better product. I had a choice. Give up my salary and offer the superior bathrobes that were previously reserved only for elite hotel guests. Drawing on my knowledge of what this industry was lacking, I invested all my life savings and poured myself into creating superior bathrobes that would pamper even the most discerning senses; and Lotus Linen was born.” Mr. Karlidag explains.
Today, Mr. Karlidag is focused on growing his e-commerce business, Lotus Linen. While some people find their motivation in a book or a song, for him his motivation was his wife.
“She is the only person in my life who has always supported and motivated me. She has always believed in me. This is very important. When you get support and someone believes in you, you try harder. Also, seeing all the people who are successful come from nothing and start their own business, I told myself I wanted to do the same. I’m going to succeed and inspire others.” Mr. Karlidag shares.
After building his own business, Mr. Karlidag is convinced that mindset is everything when it comes to business. It is the foundation of any business. In order to improve his own mindset, he had the help of three people.
“Grant Cardone taught me about how to look at money, I learned human psychology from Tony Robbins, and all my paradigms were changed by Bob Proctor. I was literally listening to them while I was working in the warehouse and absorbing every word.” He says.
In particular, Bob Proctor helped him understand competition. He knows business is not about competing with anyone, but instead about being creative. This was a game changer for him.
“I serve collections of the highest quality, luxury hotel standard bathrobes at an affordable price. Everyone deserves to enjoy their luxury bathrobes at home without having to pay a steep price. I am obsessed with the customer experience and ask myself every day how I can serve them better.” He adds.
In the future, Mr. Karlidag plans to keep working hard to continue offering the best products of the best quality and at an affordable price through Lotus Linen so that everyone can enjoy their luxury bathrobes in their homes.
“My next project is to grow 10 times my company’s revenue: 10 times self-investment, 10 times hard work, 10 times whatever I do.” Mr. Karlidag states.
Find out more about Mr. Karlidag and Lotus Linen here.