Description
Follow Two Footwear Start-Ups
One of the book’s distinguishing features is its use of two different start-up stories.
One entrepreneur is an established professional developing a performance-footwear concept, while another is an art student turning customized boots into a business.
Learn How to Start a Shoe Company
Building a successful footwear company means bringing many different business functions together.
You’ll learn how to think through:
- Footwear brand identity and positioning
- Target markets and target customers
- Shoe company formation and business structure
- Trademark and intellectual-property considerations
- Footwear product planning
- Shoe design and development
- Hiring footwear designers and specialists
- Financial planning and profit margins
- Footwear manufacturing
- Finding and working with shoe factories
- Footwear sourcing and importing
- Development expenses and start-up capital
- Marketing a footwear brand
- Selling and distributing shoes
- E-commerce and fulfillment
- International footwear distribution
- Growing and diversifying a shoe company
- Common footwear start-up problems and risks
The book is organized around the actual progression from design and development through production, marketing, sales, and distribution.
Book → Business Plan → Shoe Business Start-Up Course → Launch Your Brand
Start With the Book:
Then Build Your Business
Reading gives you the foundation.
Use the book to understand the landscape.
Use the course to start building the plan.
When you’re ready to turn that knowledge into an actionable footwear business plan, continue with the Shoemakers Academy Shoe Business Start-Up Course.
Next Step:
Shoe Business Start-Up Course
The Shoe Business Start-Up Course takes the subjects introduced in this book and expands them into structured, on-demand training for aspiring footwear entrepreneurs and career changers. The current course includes 33 in-depth lessons, more than 12 hours of video instruction, case studies from nine start-up brands, interactive business-planning spreadsheets, and a certificate of completion. The course also includes the digital Start Your Own Shoe Company textbook as part of the program.What's Inside the book?
Part 1 — Design, Development & Production
Chapter 1: Your Shoes and Your Brand
Brand identity, target markets and planning.
Chapter 2: Creating Your Shoe Company
Business structures, trademarks and company setup.
Chapter 3: Designing Your Product Line
Design briefs, merchandise plans, designers and intellectual property.
Chapter 4: Planning Your Shoe Business
Launch timing, seasons, financial modeling and profit margins.
Chapter 5: Manufacturing and Importing Your Shoes
Factories, agents, product development, shipping and duties.
Chapter 6: Start-Up Costs and Raising Capital
Development expenses, capital planning, financing and vendor payments.
Part 2 — Marketing, Sales & Distribution
Chapter 7: Brand Promotion and Footwear Marketing
Chapter 8: Footwear Sales and Distribution
Chapter 9: Shoe Company Operations
Chapter 10: What’s Next for Your Brand?
Chapter 11: Going International
Chapter 12: What Can Go Wrong?
The book also includes footwear-business terminology and sample documents.
Having a great shoe idea is only the beginning.
A footwear founder also needs to understand how the supply chain, sales, marketing, distribution, and financial sides of the company work together. The book emphasizes that successful footwear companies need a plan covering brand identity, products, finances, sales, distribution, and marketing.
You’ll learn how to move from:
Idea → Brand → Product Plan → Development → Manufacturing → Marketing → Sales → Distribution
That makes Start Your Own Shoe Company useful before you begin spending heavily on product development, sampling, tooling, inventory, or marketing.
A successful shoe company needs a clear identity and a reason to exist.
The book explores how to define:
- Your footwear brand identity
- Your target market
- Your target customer
- Your product positioning
- Your company story
- Your brand personality
- Your footwear product line
You’ll also learn why brand strategy should begin before your shoes are fully designed. Your brand becomes a roadmap that influences product design, marketing, packaging, communications, and the customers you attract. How_to_Start_Your_Own _Shoe Com…
Professional footwear businesses don’t usually launch around a random collection of individual shoe ideas.
You’ll learn how footwear companies use:
- Product merchandising plans
- Product-line maps
- SKU plans
- Design briefs
- Pricing strategies
- Delivery schedules
- Target-market information
The book explains how merchandising plans and footwear design briefs guide the design and development process before products enter the factory.
If you plan to start a shoe brand, you’ll eventually need to understand how your products will actually get made.
The book introduces important subjects including:
- Finding a shoe factory
- Footwear agents and trading companies
- The footwear development process
- Manufacturing your shoes
- Importing footwear
- Shipping and import duties
- Paying overseas suppliers
- Production planning
These subjects help you communicate more effectively with designers, developers, sourcing specialists, factories, and vendors.
Creative founders sometimes underestimate the financial and operational side of the footwear business.
Start Your Own Shoe Company introduces topics including:
- Start-up expenses
- Footwear development costs
- Raising capital
- Financial modeling
- Profit margins
- Product pricing
- Vendor payments
- Sales models
- Distribution
- E-commerce
- Fulfillment
- International expansion
Understanding these subjects can help you make better decisions before committing significant time and money to a footwear project.
A Footwear Career Development Resource
You don’t need to be ready to launch your own brand tomorrow to benefit from this book.
It is also valuable for people who want to understand how footwear companies operate as businesses.
That makes it particularly relevant for:
Aspiring footwear entrepreneurs
Learn the complete process before investing in your first product line.
Career changers
Build footwear-industry knowledge and vocabulary as you prepare to transition into the shoe business.
Shoe designers
Understand what happens to a design after the creative process and how commercial considerations affect footwear development.
Footwear developers
Gain a broader understanding of branding, costing, sales, sourcing, manufacturing, and company operations.
Product managers and merchandisers
Understand how product strategy connects to design, development, pricing, sales, and distribution.
Students
Learn how commercial footwear companies actually operate alongside your design, fashion, business, or product-development education.
Existing business owners
Explore the requirements of adding footwear to an existing brand or product portfolio.
The current product page already has customer reviews reinforcing this positioning: reviewers describe the book as useful both for entrepreneurs and for students or aspiring professionals seeking an insider’s understanding of footwear companies.
How To Start Your Own Shoe Company
Series: How shoes are Made (Book 3)
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Wade’s Place; 1 edition
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0998707015
ISBN-13: 978-0998707013
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 11 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Ponto –
I bought this book, followed exactly what Wade said to do, and started my own brand! Just recently I ran into Wade in LA and it was awesome to meet him in person. Great guy and highly recommend all his books and courses. No doubt the tips we learned saved us lots of time and money when starting up. Check out Ponto Footwear!
Amy C –
I love this book!
I am a high-heel designer and started my business in 2013. I struggled a lot with some of the start-up details. This book answers all my questions and more. Great read and very informative. I suggest it to anyone starting out in the shoe world.
Freddie S –
A good introducción about how to start your way from concept to product in the actual factory environment. I suppose lots of things ready to do
If you are a designer reading this…I want to get in touch
Salutations
Erebouni –
A must read for anyone thinking of getting into footwear!
A brilliant book from a great series of books. I founded a footwear company with no experience of the footwear industry and this along with Wade’s other books were invaluable in helping me get up to speed and understanding what needed to be done. A must read for anyone thinking about getting into the footwear industry.
Tate –
Incredible resource
I purchased the ebook version of this book from the author’s website. It has been an incredible resource in my journey starting my footwear company – I can’t imagine doing it without this book. I also purchased “How Shoes Are Made” and highly recommend reading both.
Amazon Customer –
This book has help me launch my own company during Covid!
This book gave us great insight, we found it to be a very valuable purchase and I would highly recommend for others interested in starting their own business – shoes or otherwise”
I am thinking of buying their other books as well.
JC –
Great information and examples that are followed through the books.
Great information and examples that are followed through the books are immensely beneficial. I’m surprised there’s not more material on this process, but I’m thankful I found this book.
MR AO OSOKOYA –
Part of Great Series of Books.
I have purchased all 3 of these books and they are a wealth of insight and information. Furthermore, I have been able to email Wade and received helpful responses from him. Really recommended.
Verified Buyer –
Great resource for entrepreneurs and students!
This book has methodically laid out everything you need to know to get started. It’s an incredible resource and will save you much deliberation if you are starting a company. Also a great resource for any students of manufacturing or product design that want an insider’s perspective.
CalBear –
Unbeatable value for aspiring shoe person.
This is a must-read for any student or entrepreneur who aspires to work at a shoe company or start one. It gives you the low-down on how shoe companies work, the people and processes involved, and what you need to consider before starting your own. Ideas on how you can get a factory to make your shoe, how long things should take, how much things should cost, and how to factor that into your own business and marketing plan. The value is unbeatable. The book is also extremely readable.