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This book is for anyone with the dream of starting
their own shoe company.

You will follow the launch of two start-up shoe

companies. Each has its own style of shoes and
business plan. In each chapter we will describe a
requirement or process, then explain how each of
our two new shoe brands will tackle this challenge.

You will cover crucial steps such as how to go

about creating your shoe brand identity, how to
legally set up your shoe company, how to register
trademarks and apply for patents, how to get your
shoes designed, built, paid for, and of course, how
to go about selling your shoes.

You will also learn how to import shoes, how to

handle international distribution, and how to pay
overseas vendors.

So, what does it really take to start a shoe

company?
 Available now:
How to Start Your Own Shoe Company
How Shoes are Made
Shoe Material Design Guide

Coming Fall 2018:

How to Make Shoe Patterns

W W W. SNE AK ERFAC TORY. NE T Dear Readers,

Shoe Material
How Design
to Start Your Guide
Own Shoe Company
This book was written to educate, inform, and
inspire the next generation of shoe designers,
Written and Edited by shoe developers, shoemakers, and footwear
Wade and Andrea Motawi entrepreneurs! Our goal is to help prepare people
Copyright © Wade Motawi 2017 for fulfilling careers in the world of shoes!
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted Enjoy!
in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or
mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations in critical reviews and other Special thanks to:
noncommercial use permitted by copyright law.
Andrea, Alex & Erik, Karim, Halla, Mom & Dad,
ask_a_shoe_dog@sneakerfactory.net Dave, Alfredo, Jason, David, Lizzie, Johnson,
Steve, Lenny, Bernie, Simon, Ben, Chad, The
Any trademarks, service marks, trade names, Mint Project.
trade dress, product names and logos that may
appear in this book are the property of their Thanks to all my working friends in the USA,
respective owners. SneakerFactory.net makes no China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.
claims to any trademarks, service marks, trade
names, trade dress, product names and logos
that may appear in this book.
WADE MOTAW I
DESIGN - DE VELOPMENT - PRODUC TION

CHAP TER 1 : YOUR SHOE S AND YOUR B R AND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Does the world need another shoe company?
Making your plans
Brand identity development
Target markets

CHAP TER 2 : CRE ATING YOUR SHOE COMPAN Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

When do you need to create your company?
What type of company?
Creating and protecting trademarks
Web domains

CHAP TER 3 : DE S IGNING YOUR PRODUC T LINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Two kinds of design briefs
Footwear merchandise plans
How to hire a shoe designer
Do you need a patent? Design vs. utility

CHAP TER 4 : PL ANNING YOUR SHOE BUS INE S S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

When and how to launch your shoes into the market
Delivery seasons
Financial modeling for your business
Calculating profit margins

CHAP TER 5 : M ANUFAC TURING AND IMP ORTING YOUR SHOE S . . . . . . . . 57

Finding a factory to make your shoes
Footwear agents and trading companies
The shoe development process
Import duty and shipping rates

CHAP TER 6 : S TART- UP COS T S AND R A I S ING C APITAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Footwear development expenses
The capital calendar
Raising money
Letter of credit and wire transfers
 MARK E TING - SALES - DISTRIBUTION
CHAP TER 7 : B R AND PROMOTION AND FOOT W E AR MARK E TING . . . . . .97
What is marketing? Traditional, guerrilla, and social
Footwear marketing strategies
Print and digital media
Trade shows and alternatives

CHAP TER 8 : FOOT W E AR S ALE S AND DI S TRIBUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

The sales chain
The language of footwear sales
Footwear buyers
Sales and distribution models

CHAP TER 9 : SHOE COMPAN Y OPER ATION S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Serving consumers
Operational models
E-commerce platforms
Third party logistics

CHAP TER 10 : WHAT ’ S NE X T FOR YOUR B R AND?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Strategies for growth
Selling products into new markets
Diversify your product offering
Vertical integration

CHAP TER 11 : GOING INTERNATIONAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Defending your trademarks overseas
Distribution models
Finding the right distributor
Purchase terms for distributors

CHAP TER 12 : WHAT C AN GO W RONG? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Dealing with delays
Quality issues
Lost trademarks
Damaged equipment

TERM S YOU SHOULD K NOW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

S AMPLE DOCUMENT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163