Newbie with shoe business idea

[larali]

Hello! I'm Lara. I came across this forum while looking for resources about how to start a business. I need all the help I can get!

My idea is to start a children's shoe line. I want to produce a brand of higher quality children's shoes and sell them on my website and in stores. I'm uncomfortable sharing more publicly at this point, but please feel free to message me for more info!

I am thinking I should start by selling on Amazon, until I get enough money to begin producing my own shoes. Then, I will create my brand.

I'm currently a stay-at-home mom with little business knowledge. I'm confident that I will be able to learn the ropes quickly, however. I've already been exploring the SBA website and have found a SCORE mentor.

My biggest concern is how to acquire start-up funds. I've considered doing a Kickstarter project.

Thanks for reading.

[Fulcrum]

Welcome Lara.

I'm not an ecommerce expert but I think you would be making a mistake by not having your own website in along side Amazon sales.

[larali]

Thank you for the feedback.

So, it would be a better idea to just go ahead and get started with a website then? Should I even bother having an Amazon presence?

My idea was that I would sell an existing brand of shoes on Amazon until I am financially able to start my line. Then, I would market my own brand on my website.

I suppose I could sell my brand on Amazon as well, and link to the website, in order to drum up brand recognition.

[David Hunter]

Welcome, Lara!

I know zilch about the apparel market.

I see you said, "...until I get enough money to begin producing my own shoes." So, are you going to be an affiliate with other shoe brands, or amazon, so you can start selling shoes?

Or, do you have your own shoes already, just looking for ways to market it?

[larali]

Thanks for the reply, David.

I would like to design a line of children's shoes and sell them on my website, but I can't afford to have the shoes manufactured yet. The manufacturer requires a minimum order of 250 pairs. I was thinking, I could start by selling a similar but existing brand of shoes on Amazon first. That would help me learn about online selling and help me save up to be able to start my own line.

Is it obvious that I'm pretty confused about how exactly to go about this? LOL.

[Harold Mansfield]

I would like to design a line of children's shoes and sell them on my website, but I can't afford to have the shoes manufactured yet. The manufacturer requires a minimum order of 250 pairs. I was thinking, I could start by selling a similar but existing brand of shoes on Amazon first. That would help me learn about online selling and help me save up to be able to start my own line.

Is it obvious that I'm pretty confused about how exactly to go about this? LOL.

Well, yes and no. Learning how to sell online and marketing your business are skills you're going to need, but I'm not sure selling other people's products is even possible on Amazon. Yes, you could join the affiliate program and put links to other people's products on your own website, but getting sales that way takes just as much work as selling your own products.

First things first, I agree that you need to build your own brand, your own website, and market your own products and build your reputation and brand awareness before you embark on selling on other sites like Amazon where you're going to be lost among thousands of other brands.

Also, Amazon takes a cut, and has certain requirements that you are able to fulfill a certain amount of orders. You can't do piece work on Amazon.
Where as on your own website you can take orders how you wish, at the level you can fulfill them.

You are going to have to market your product. Amazon does not market for you. All they do is list it for sale. Unless people are searching out your particular brand on Amazon, you'll just be lost in the shuffle.

Brand awareness and marketing, besides creating a quality product, is going to be your job. It's not going to happen on it's own just because you're on Amazon. Everybody is on Amazon.

[larali]

Thanks for the advice! So I guess it is better to just forget Amazon and go ahead with my own product/website then.

[Harold Mansfield]

Thanks for the advice! So I guess it is better to just forget Amazon and go ahead with my own product/website then.

No, I'm not saying to forget Amazon. As a consumer I love Amazon.
All I'm saying is that it's not any kind of substitute for having to do your own sales and marketing.
You need to be able to sell product on your own to even begin to be able to sell them somewhere else. You have to build and market your brand or no one on Amazon will ever know you exist.

There is no shortcut to this. You have to either be in it or not. You can't just dip a toe in the water and expect to miraculously be a smashing success.

[CometoLifeCreatives]

If you're doing a Kickstarter campaign, I also recommend having a website (if even just a splash page with a link to an online shop of some sort).
By having a website, you may create further credibility and a professional presence to your audience.
Kickstarter may not just be people wanting to give you money. In a sense, you may be selling to them as well. It's another form of advertising.

Also, invest in making sure you have a professional video for Kickstarter if you go that route. Making sure your video looks (and sounds!) good may make a great difference in who is willing to give you $.

[larali]

Gotcha...

So in order to begin making my shoes, a successful Kickstarter campaign is probably necessary. And in order to do that, I need a website. So the website comes first then.

I need a prototype shoe for the Kickstarter, which is a problem, because prototypes cost money. I'm not sure how to get the money for that. That's why I was considering selling on Amazon, not because it's a shortcut to success. Rather, it would be the longer road. I wish I could just take out a loan and jump in headfirst, but I am not sure I can even get a loan. I haven't worked in ten years (raising kids) and I have no credit to my name. And even if I did, there is no guarantee that I would be able to pay the loan back. I feel like I need to start small. But if you all think otherwise, I am listening.

[Harold Mansfield]

Gotcha...

So in order to begin making my shoes, a successful Kickstarter campaign is probably necessary.
No. In order to start a shoe company you need money. If Kickstarter is how you want to try to get that money, then you need to develop an actual campaign to entice people to invest. You can't just plop up "I want to start a shoe company". People want to see a product, prototype, get on a list to get the first batch off the production line or something.

Clothing is a hard sell on Kickstarter. Usually tech does the best, but we only hear of the successful ones. Most don't get funded.

Marketing a Kickstarter campaign requires some investment of time, money and a plan.


And in order to do that, I need a website. So the website comes first then.
You are going to need a way to present your product no matter what you do. Even if you sell on Amazon, people are going to want to know more about your product since it won't have any recognition. You also need a store from which to sell your own stuff.

Also I think Amazon takes up to 30%.


I need a prototype shoe for the Kickstarter, which is a problem, because prototypes cost money. I'm not sure how to get the money for that. That's why I was considering selling on Amazon, not because it's a shortcut to success. Rather, it would be the longer road. I wish I could just take out a loan and jump in headfirst, but I am not sure I can even get a loan. I haven't worked in ten years (raising kids) and I have no credit to my name. And even if I did, there is no guarantee that I would be able to pay the loan back. I feel like I need to start small. But if you all think otherwise, I am listening.

No. We are NOT telling you to start big. Just the opposite. We're giving you the basics. Figure out how to get the basics first. You're not going to be able to raise money on kickstarter, Amazon or anywhere else if you can't at least finance the basics. What you can't afford, you're going to have to learn how to do on your own.

A lot of people start on Etsy or similar sites. Especially when they can't create a large inventory of products right away. You have to crawl before you can walk, especially if you don't have the money to do any kind of marketing or production.

I'd say the first thing is to get your designs in order. At least with something to show it opens possibilities to get to the next step...maybe even private investment or licensing.

[Fulcrum]

Lara, you need to answer a few questions before you can even consider funding.

1) Where will you source material?
2) Who will design the shoes? You or someone else?
3a) How will you manufacture the shoes?
3b) Where will you manufacture the shoes?
3c) Who will manufacture the shoes?

Now for marketing:
1) Who is your target audience?
2) How will you reach them?
3) Where will you sell to them?

You don't need to answer these here, but give them some thought and write down your answers for yourself. You can start putting a plan together from how you answer these questions.

[Harold Mansfield]

I agree. You can't just pull a number out of thin air. If you're asking for funding, you need to know how much you need and for what (and it needs to be realistic) or no one will take you seriously.

[larali]

Lara, you need to answer a few questions before you can even consider funding.

1) Where will you source material?
2) Who will design the shoes? You or someone else?
3a) How will you manufacture the shoes?
3b) Where will you manufacture the shoes?
3c) Who will manufacture the shoes?

Now for marketing:
1) Who is your target audience?
2) How will you reach them?
3) Where will you sell to them?

You don't need to answer these here, but give them some thought and write down your answers for yourself. You can start putting a plan together from how you answer these questions.

Thank you, that puts things in a much clearer perspective!




A lot of people start on Etsy or similar sites. Especially when they can't create a large inventory of products right away. You have to crawl before you can walk, especially if you don't have the money to do any kind of marketing or production.

Etsy is an excellent suggestion! I buy on Etsy all the time, but never considered selling there.