Shapewear 6-Figure Exit: How Two Young Entrepreneurs Built and Sold a Viral Shapewear Brand

What happens when two young entrepreneurs take advantage of TikTok to capitalize on the booming shapewear market? In Corey Nicholson’s case, it creates a 6-figure exit story that began with a simple observation about market timing and ended with a smooth transaction on Flippa.

In 2020, 19-year-old Corey Nicholson and his business partner Anthony transformed a bold bet on an emerging market into Peachy Shapewear, a thriving e-commerce business that would generate over $50K in monthly revenue. By recognizing the intersection of the shapewear trend and TikTok’s explosive growth, they built one of the platform’s largest accounts in their industry amassing 290K followers and over 600 million views.

After scaling the business to $18,219 in monthly profit with a 36% profit margin, the duo successfully sold Peachy Shapewear through Flippa for $165,000 in 2024. The transaction, facilitated by Flippa broker Nick Carlucci, represented not just a financial win, but validation of their strategic approach to building a business designed for exit from day one.

The Founder’s Story

Corey Nicholson’s entrepreneurial journey began at 16 with drop shipping, but it was a pivotal moment in 2020 that changed everything. Having just finished high school and spent exactly one week in college before dropping out, Corey faced a crossroads.

“I really knew that I needed to make money online if I wanted this to be a real lifestyle for me,” Corey recalls. “For the first five years of my entrepreneurial journey, I was just like a diehard drop shipper… But I never really had true success, I guess, up until then.”

The breakthrough came when Corey and Anthony spotted a market opportunity that others were missing. They had witnessed Spanx’s massive exit and Kim Kardashian’s successful launch of Skims, recognizing that the shapewear market was experiencing unprecedented growth.

“We saw Spanx had their big exit there… and we saw Skims spin up from Kim Kardashian and we knew this was a big space and that there’d be room for people like my partner and I to come into this and make an impact,” Corey explains.

Company Overview

Business: Peachy Shapewear (trypeachyshapewear.com)
Industry: E-commerce – Design and Style
Founded: 2020
Location: Canada
Sale Price: $165,000
Monthly Revenue: $50,516
Monthly Profit: $18,219
Profit Margin: 36%

Key Assets:

• Primary domain and all site content
• Shopify account and branded email system
• 75,000-subscriber email list
• Social media empire: 290K TikTok followers, 17K Instagram followers, 14K YouTube subscribers
• Over 600 million TikTok views
• Established supplier relationships and 3PL fulfillment system

What set Peachy Shapewear apart wasn’t just their product, it was their revolutionary approach to marketing. The company became the second-largest TikTok page in their industry, turning social media virality into sustainable revenue.

The Business Challenge

Despite their success, Corey and Anthony faced the classic e-commerce dilemma that eventually drove their decision to sell.

“I think cash flow has always been like the biggest thing in e-commerce because even if you’re making a lot of profit and the revenue is scaling, it’s doubling, whatever, you need to buy more inventory and if that inventory doesn’t sell, then you have cash tied up into it,” Corey explains.

The transition from drop shipping to holding inventory across multiple warehouses in Florida created new risks. Combined with the inherent unpredictability of TikTok’s algorithm, the founders realized they wanted to find a strategic partner.

“I truly believe that the whole point of business is to minimize risk and minimize how much you’re spending relative to what you’re making,” Corey notes. “We were kind of like, we want to find a partner on this who maybe understands paid ads and the market even better and can scale it.”

But there was another factor: passion alignment. As Corey candidly admits, “Although we have a profitable business, we have passions in other areas we’d like to pursue.”

The Solution: Choosing Flippa

The founders’ exit strategy was intentional from the beginning. “The minute we started the business, the goal was to sell it,” Corey reveals. 

Choosing to sell on Flippa proved successful. “As soon as we listed it there were a lot of interested leads.”

Working with Flippa broker Nick Carlucci, the process became streamlined. The Flippa team helped organize their financials and guided them through due diligence, a process made smoother by their preparation.

“We hired Flippa’s due diligence team to help get all of our bookkeeping together, audit the financials. That was already dialed in because we knew we wanted to sell it. So, we made it easy for them, but they also went the extra mile to make sure it was all accurate.”

Results and Impact

The sale process attracted diverse buyers, primarily individuals with small funds or family offices, along with some private equity groups. What mattered most to Corey and Anthony was finding the right fit.

“The most important thing to us, as you would imagine, is price and terms, we really wanted to sell the business for full cash or as much cash as upfront as possible.”

The winning buyers – two female entrepreneurs from Canada – offered the perfect combination of industry understanding, solid financing, and cultural alignment.

“The main thing was that they were two female founders who really understood shapewear and could probably do it even better. And so that with the combination of aligning on the right price and terms which made it a no-brainer for us.”

The transaction moved smoothly through 30 days of due diligence, asset purchase agreement negotiations, and escrow transfer, followed by two months of transition support.

The Human Element

What stood out most to Corey wasn’t just the financial outcome, but the quality of support throughout the process.

“Having the right broker… acting as not just an intermediary between you and the buyer but also almost like a mentor to you and helping you stay sane during the process is super important,” Corey reflects. “When you’re working with someone who truly does care and they’ll answer all your questions, even if they’re crazy questions… that is super important and something that we experienced with Flippa.”

Lessons for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Corey’s journey offers several critical insights for entrepreneurs building businesses for exit:

1. Timing is Everything

“I think that timing was the first one… something around 40% of all businesses and entrepreneurs admit that a lot of their success is related to timing either with the market or just having the right idea at the right time.”

2. Early Adoption Pays

“We were one of the first brands and pretty much companies I would argue to ever really try and tackle TikTok as a marketing channel… us being very fast to move on TikTok versus the larger companies that were slower.”

3. Build to Sell from Day One

“We always had the intention of building it to scale it and then sell it… I advise all people that want to sell their business to really build it to sell. We already had all of our financials ready and Google drives set up so that once they came in it was a really simple process.”

4. Prepare for Emotional Challenges

“It’s obviously a stressful time… at any given moment, it can fall through. You’ve worked so hard to create something and you want to sell it, so any little speed bump, especially at a younger age, can throw you off.”

Future Plans

Corey has channeled his expertise into the AI revolution, founding a marketing agency specializing in short-form content for software and AI companies.

“I am a huge advocate for AI. I think that this is something that has really changed the conversation right now,” Corey explains. The agency now works with major clients including Microsoft, ClickUp, and even Flippa.

“I believe that we’re in this AI gold rush right now. We’re helping companies with their distribution and to crack short form content because you really are just one lottery ticket away from changing a lot about your business.”

The transition from e-commerce to B2B services also solved the cash flow challenges that initially motivated the sale: “E-commerce brands have cash problems because the inventory is so hard. So, right when I sold the business towards the middle of 2024, I said, I’m gonna go all in on this agency.”

Corey Nicholson’s story demonstrates that successful exits aren’t just about building great businesses, they’re about recognizing opportunities, timing markets correctly, and choosing the right partners for the journey. From a college dropout experimenting with drop shipping to a successful entrepreneur selling his second business at 24, Corey’s experience with Flippa shows how the right marketplace and broker support can turn a stressful process into a launching pad for the next chapter.

“Overall working with Flippa and working with the buyers that we found through Flippa was the highest quality that we could have expected. It went really smoothly and we’re still in touch with the buyers now.”

For entrepreneurs considering their exit strategy, Corey’s advice is clear: start planning from day one, choose your platform wisely, and never underestimate the value of working with brokers who truly care about your success.