Shoe Company: How to Start your Own Shoe Company

Shoes will always be in fashion and the demand high. There are ladies shoes, men shoes, baby shoes and teenage footwear.

 The financial implication depends on your operation. Are you planning to build your own shoe line, buy ready made shoes or used shoes?

Other considerations are your target market, funding, business plan, production line and company management. You need lots of research to identifying the niche market you want to service.

Some shoe companies focus on unisex shoes while other specializes in one gender. Marketing your shoes is as important as manufacturing them.

Your core customers are shoe wholesalers and reputable retailers. Other market sources are departmental stores and shopping malls. Listed below are things to consider before starting your shoe company.

Producing the Shoe and Design

There are many things to consider when producing shoes. You need to consider the design process, shoe development, shoe patterns and shoe specification.

Others are stitching operations, rubber pressing, development process and shoe logo and design. Without a product you don’t have a business.

Start your enterprise by hiring a prolific shoe designer to create fashionable design. The design should be functional, beautiful and durable.

Make sure you use high quality material to create enduring footwear. And don’t forget to trademaker and patent your unique design including your brand name.

Some shoe designer’s use technical drawing specs including PFD and live vector .ai formats

Some Things Needed to Run a Shoe Company

1.    Business plan

2.    Good shoe design

3.    Quality material

4.    Dependable Material suppliers

5.    Manufacturers

6.    Shoe design tools

7.    Join a trade association

8.    Funding

9.    Sales customers

10. A shoe factory

Source your Raw Material

The shoe manufacturers association you join will provide useful information on factories and suppliers. You need deferent textile for shoes manufacturing such as foam, leather or synthetic material.

The Manufacturer

There are two ways to go about manufacturing your shoes. The first and practical method is to outsource your production to an established shoe manufacturer.

This reduces cost of buying equipment, staff, location and packaging.  Negotiate a good contract with the manufacturer and find out if they do drop shipment.

The second way is to produce the shoes yourself. You can hire a small staff and use basic equipment to achieve your goal.

Pricing

The price of the shoe depends on cost of production, labor costs and material used in making the shoe. A high quality leather shoe will definitely cost more than a cheap leather one. The price should reflect retail prices because they are sold to wholesalers and retailers.

Target Market

Sell your shoes to discount shoe retailers and wholesalers. You can target stores that buy mass quantities of shoes both domestic and foreign companies. If you have the means you can consider exporting your footwear.

Target Customers

Who are your target customers? You need to define your customer base before starting the enterprise.

You can make men’s shoes, formal shoes, flirty shoes, practical shoes or workman shoes. Know your customers strengths, financial capability and taste will position your company towards the right path.

There other categories of shoes such as high fashion shoes, performance shoes and causal shoes.

Brand Name

Differentiate your shoes by giving it a brand name. Brand names sell shoes just ask the Nike of this world.

Shoppers identify with brands and actively seek them while shopping. Register a good business name that is reflective of the image you want to portray. Register your company as a Limited Liability Company.

Do Research

You need to do lots of research to remain trending. The shoe business like other fashion business constantly evolves and changes.

You need understand the game to remain relevant. Your designer should create contemporary designs that your customers can identify with.

 Join shoe manufacturers association and similar organizations in your area. They provide lots of support, information and networking including suppliers and wholesalers.

Promote the Business

Create a dedicated website and use social media to create awareness. Promote you company through electronic and print media. Hire lots of sales representatives who get paid commission for their sales.

Reach out to departmental stores, wholesalers and retailers in the shoe industry. You can open your own retail outlet and use franchising to grow your chain.

Advertise in shoe magazines, newspaper publications and create colorful brochures.
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