From Banker to Collector to Entrepreneur
“I never knew how much my banking experience was going to come in handy when owning a business,” said Jameson Reeves, who spent a dozen years in the banking industry before opening FullGripGames.com, an online and physical retail outlet specializing in collectible games, Magic the Gathering and Pokemon, and offering a wide selection of board games.
His background in finance gave him the understanding that “utilizing opportunities to get capital is not a bad thing. If you’re running a good business and you know how to turn a profit… it’s actually very beneficial.”
For Reeves, funding is the key to growth. As a collectibles dealer, he purchases items from other sellers, and then resells them for a profit. “The more access you have to capital… the more inventory you can purchase and then sell.”
“Opportunities were coming up and if I had access to capital, I knew I could take advantage of them”
When Reeves reached out to ECDI, the company was at a growth point, after about a year of being in business. “Opportunities were coming up and if I had access to capital, I knew I could take advantage of them,” he describes. In the collectibles industry, sellers will offer a valuable collection when they’re ready to sell. According to Reeves, if you don’t have the funds to buy it immediately, someone else will. The best opportunities for profit do not stay long on the market.
The Ohio native discovered his proclivity for profitable trading while living in Chicago. He chose to return to the state and open a storefront in downtown Akron, due to the comparatively low cost of business and the access to support. “I absolutely felt like I would hit the ground running,” says the entrepreneur.
Not long after opening in the Rubber City, Reeves describes transitioning in his thought process of running a commodities business to wanting to create “a space for the community… and giving people a place that they feel is home.” Outside of pandemic restrictions, the team at FullGripGames hosts games and events six days a week. In addition to boosting sales, the events help create a comfortable hangout and sense of community for their gamer clientele.
When asked what business advice he would give to other entrepreneurs who are just starting a business, he says, “Work as hard as you possibly can. Put in as many hours as you possibly can because it’s going to take more of everything than you really expect it to… I work a lot more now… but it’s worth it.”
Also, he says it’s important to “take care of everybody. You have to make sacrifices for people. Not just your customers, not just your family members, but for your employees. You really have to take care of the people that are taking care of you.”
