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When Steve Nanino and his three childhood friends started Kid Dangerous as a side hustle in 2007, they never anticipated it would become a full-time venture. A Los Angeles-based retailer that designs graphic t-shirts for children and adults, Kid Dangerous has overcome many hurdles over the past sixteen years, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they are positioned to expand their benefits package by offering their first 401(k) plan with Human Interest.
“L.A. is an expensive city and most people are living paycheck to paycheck or with very little reserves,” said Steve Nanino, co-founder of Kid Dangerous. “I've had my own journey when it comes to saving for retirement, and I don't want people to start as late as I did. The key was finding the right time to make the investment.”
Navigating challenges during the pandemic
Kid Dangerous found itself in a bind during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Many of their biggest accounts, such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Free People, weren’t faring well. The company also faced logistics and supply chain challenges. “We were trying to get back on track, get on top of the situation, still hit our deliveries, still hit our commitments, still do all the things even though it got a lot harder,” said Nanino.
Perseverance paid off. With retailers able to count on Kid Dangerous to meet deadlines and make their deliverables while other businesses struggled with supply chain issues, the company was able to grow its market share. In 2022, the company had its best year revenue-wise, and was stable enough to start its first 401(k) plan.
Rewarding employees with a non-elective contribution
A safe harbor 401(k) plan with employer contributions can be a powerful tool to help employees make the most of their accounts. To help his employees save for retirement, Nanino designed his company’s plan to include a non-elective contribution, which allows the company to contribute three percent of each employee’s salary to their 401(k) accounts, regardless of whether or not employees make their own contributions.
Nanino says that selecting a safe harbor provision with a non-elective contribution was the best decision he made when designing his plan. “I didn't feel like I needed my employees to make a contribution in order to reward them,” he said. “And they are really happy that they're seeing their account [balances] grow, and maybe down the road when things change for them individually, they may change their contribution.”
Reducing paperwork and manual problems with Human Interest’s seamless payroll integration and stellar customer service
One of the biggest selling points for Kid Dangerous was the seamless integration between Gusto, their primary payroll provider, and Human Interest. As a small business without a dedicated human resources staff, Nanino didn’t want to be bogged down by additional paperwork. Nanino said it was “music to his ears” to learn that any changes to an employee’s contribution rate would be automatically updated and deducted from his payroll.
When Nanino’s team members had questions about setting up their accounts, Nanino was able to redirect them to their dedicated account manager, a feature included in the company’s pricing package. “It felt good to be able to direct my employees to Human Interest when they had questions,” said Nanino.
Since offering a safe harbor 401(k) retirement plan with a non-elective contribution, Kid Dangerous has seen a positive response from its team. To illustrate the popularity, Nanino recounted the story of a younger, L.A.-based employee who gained access to her first employer-sponsored retirement account at Kid Dangerous. A first-time saver, this employee had recently increased their deferral rate. “I have an employee who’s in her mid-20s, and who knows when she would have started some kind of retirement account,” he said. “But now, it's started—and it's growing."
Human Interest Inc. is an affordable, full-service 401(k) and 403(b) provider that seeks to make it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to assist their employees with investing for retirement. For more information, please visit humaninterest.com.
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