1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,120 Today on the Winning with Shopify podcast. 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,600 I quit my job in 2016. Sometimes I've seen the best 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,920 business ideas, but I don't trust the person at the helm. 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,640 That's like one of the challenge of growing fast. 5 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,760 Suddenly people are like, I know how to tie my shoes up. 6 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,400 To reconnect with the person and try to understand why she 7 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,600 haven't bought after she bought 20 pairs. 8 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:20,360 Somebody's thinking of running a Kickstarter. 9 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,720 What's your advice to them? We had one pair of shoes to to 10 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:26,800 start. Look, I'm so bored of all of 11 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,280 this. Just cut all of that. 12 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,640 Just put the simple thing out, get the new site live and and 13 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,520 we'll put more money behind advertising if we have to. 14 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,880 And it was the best, best decision anyone have made. 15 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,640 Hello and welcome to another episode of Winning with Shopify 16 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:44,200 podcast. If you've never tuned in before, 17 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,040 my name is Nick. Such a pleasure to have you 18 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,800 listening to today's show. I've got a bit of a sore throat. 19 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,120 I don't always sound quite like this. 20 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:51,880 And if I cough at all, I'm very, very sorry. 21 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,160 If you haven't already, check out the website, sign up to our 22 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,440 newsletter, engage with some of our sponsors. 23 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,880 And if you've never heard one, I've started doing little tea 24 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,880 Tea Break Tuesday talks or a different arrangement of those 25 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,519 words on a Tuesday, where we share some of the Shopify news, 26 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,400 learnings from the agency and other bits and pieces going on 27 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,840 across the business and across Winning with Shopify in our 28 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:11,840 community. So check those out on Tuesdays. 29 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,480 These episodes with our amazing guests and lots of brands and 30 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,720 some of our sponsors always happen on a Friday. 31 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,080 Today, I'm delighted to be joined by a very special guest. 32 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,800 Her name is Miriam McGuire, and she is from McGuire Shoes. 33 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:23,920 And Miriam, without further ado, welcome to the show. 34 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:26,520 How are you? I'm good, thanks for having me. 35 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:30,640 It's a pleasure to have you on. And Miriam is more organized 36 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,640 than most of our guests because a lot of our guests don't give 37 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,240 us that much in advance to ask about. 38 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,280 Miriam's given us loads. So I'm so excited to get stuck 39 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,760 into the the nuts and bolts of your business, how you guys got 40 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,120 started, where you are now and some of the strengths and 41 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:43,960 weaknesses and some of the challenges you guys have faced 42 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:46,760 across that as well. But before we start off, you 43 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,200 obviously sell shoes because it's in the name, But tell us a 44 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:52,760 bit more about what you guys do, what your Shopify store looks 45 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,960 like, some of the products you sell and where the products are 46 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:56,080 manufactured, where they're from. 47 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,640 Yes. So McGuire Shoes is a brand I 48 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,360 started in 2017 with my sister was really small at the time. 49 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:11,600 We had one pair of shoes to to start and then coming from 50 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,320 working in footwear. So I used to work for the Elder 51 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,760 Group, which is a pretty big company and I was a footwear 52 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,160 designer there. And I would go to Asia a lot to 53 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,840 to shop for, to to visit the factories and, and then I would 54 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,600 shop shoes around the world. And I would see that there was a 55 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:37,520 lot of shoes under 150 and a lot of that were like mainly made in 56 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,280 Asia. And then there was a lot of 57 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:44,760 shoes over 506 hundred, I would, I would say U.S. dollar that 58 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,360 would be made in Europe and there was nothing in between. 59 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,920 So this is what I with the raise of a lot of DTC business, I was 60 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:56,480 like, OK, I think there's a way to do original design made in 61 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,520 Europe in small batches and sell it for a reasonable price. 62 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,240 So for me, I was looking to be in between let's say $200 and 63 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,640 $400.00 where there's not a lot of shoe brands and a lot of 64 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,880 products. So this is what we do basically. 65 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,600 So I quit my job and then I went in Europe to look for factories. 66 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,240 I found some great factories that produce iron shoes and I 67 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,320 sell them for a more reasonable price than competition that 68 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,960 produced at the same place. And this is I think what I've 69 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,040 been successful for the brand. Amazing. 70 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,640 And so many brands I talked to, they just sort of go, I, I'm 71 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:37,640 really into this product, so I'm just going to sell it. 72 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:39,880 I love that you've done some research and you've even worked 73 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,600 out and I write it down, it's 150 around sort of $150.00 up to 74 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,120 sort of 300 to 500. I love that you found a niche in 75 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,200 that range in the middle because it, it must give you such a 76 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,760 laser focus when it came to launching that first product 77 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,440 range. You say you started one product. 78 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:55,480 How quickly did it become a range of products? 79 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,880 How quickly do you start to to actually expand the the SKU 80 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,400 lines? Yeah, so for two years I worked 81 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,360 part time. So I would say like I I quit my 82 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:08,800 job in 2016. So from 2016 to 2018, eighteen, 83 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,240 I was consulting for someone else that wanted to launch a 84 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,720 footwear brand to help him find factories. 85 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,399 And then on this at the same time, I would work three days 86 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:21,600 for this person and four days for my own business. 87 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:28,560 So I think we open a small store in 2018 and this is when I quit 88 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,720 my job because I had to be full time at the at the store. 89 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,600 And then when we launched the store, we had two product and 90 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,880 then we had I think 4 samples. And then when people would come 91 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,240 in, I would say, oh, these, these are sold out in your size. 92 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,320 So we'll get a restock in three weeks, which was actually the 93 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,000 day that my production was arriving. 94 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,320 So I would tell people I would, I would put their name on a list 95 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,400 and then tell and then e-mail them when the product was in 96 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,280 store. So for until 2019, we only had 97 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:06,480 like maybe 6-6 products and we were running on that. 98 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,440 And one thing we did is we did a Kickstarter for Winter Boot and 99 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,200 Canada is we, I'm based in Canada and Canada is really 100 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,440 cold. So with this Kickstarter, I 101 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:20,480 think we raised $30,000 and that allowed us to, to kind of buy 102 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:24,400 more stock and do and take loan because we had kind of a test 103 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,240 that did well. So we were able to get loans 104 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,720 after that. And then from there I build a 105 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,280 bigger store in 2019 where I where I had the full range. 106 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,840 But then what happened when I had my full range in 2019 with 107 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,320 the new store, the factory ship, everything. 108 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,320 And they told me we're closing tomorrow, we're going out of 109 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,040 business. So yeah. 110 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,680 So we had to find a lot of new factories. 111 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,200 So we went in Europe. My sister and I, I think she was 112 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,680 like 7 months pregnant when we, when we went to Europe to get 113 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,880 more factories. And then we found now we work 114 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,560 with eight different factories. So this way the risk is spread. 115 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,960 So if there's one that has to close, we have seven others. 116 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,160 Amazing. OK, this is my favorite and most 117 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,040 exciting part of the show. There's 20 things I could ask 118 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:17,160 you. I'm exaggerating. 119 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:18,720 There's seven things I've written down that I could ask 120 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,800 you right now. Let's talk Kickstarter first. 121 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:23,880 I think that tends to be a really hot topic in our 122 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,360 community and something people really focus on. 123 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,560 So you had one product, a few other products coming in, and 124 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,280 you had a waiting list of people for those products. 125 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,360 How did you make Kickstarter or how successful was it? 126 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,200 And how did you make it that successful? 127 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,640 Like if somebody's thinking of running a Kickstarter, what's 128 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,520 your advice to them? I think for us it was successful 129 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:47,600 because of the product category. I realized that a lot of people 130 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,600 put shoes on Kickstarter and for some people it's a business 131 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,640 model. So it looks like there's people 132 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,320 launching shoes on Kickstarter and like when you see the amount 133 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,720 of orders they have like something like 20,000 orders. 134 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,720 So it looks like at this point it's just a business model. 135 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,040 So I think it's a category people are looking a lot and two 136 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,600 and Kickstarter. So if you're launching a product 137 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,360 and you see your categories popular, that's a good 138 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,080 indicator. And for us, because we're, we're 139 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:22,480 based in Quebec, it's like at the time traditional media still 140 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,600 existed in Canada because now because of conflict with Meta, 141 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,080 Canada wanted to add tax to Meta and then Meta block all the 142 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,080 traditional media from their platform. 143 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,440 So it changed our landscape completely. 144 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,640 But at the time, traditional media had a lot of power. 145 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,080 And I think someone in traditional media mentioned or 146 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,320 Kickstarter and it really took off. 147 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:51,480 But I we also did sales in the United States that that we 148 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:53,600 didn't know they were where they were coming from. 149 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,240 So I think it's a mix of local push and Quebec is really close. 150 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,240 Like people kind of the information travel fast because 151 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,640 we're like a French state in Canada and we have our own 152 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,280 needs, our own community. So I think that's really helped 153 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,640 to kick off the project. So a mix of traditional media 154 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,560 exposure and the and a popular category on Kickstarter. 155 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,160 Hey guys, I just want to take a moment aside from today's 156 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,520 episode to introduce one of our amazing sponsors, Kavella. 157 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,040 They are the all in one platform that helps you design, sample 158 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,840 and launch your product lines. Kavella are helping Shopify 159 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,360 brands save up to 40% on stock costs thanks to their smart 160 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,280 streamlined supply chain. That means more profit for you, 161 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,720 less costs, and loads of time saved in trying to get stock on 162 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,679 your shelves right now. You can fast track their waiting 163 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,960 list and get 50% of your first sample order just by using the 164 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,120 code winning at checkout. This exclusive offer for winning 165 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,720 with Shopify Podcast listeners. Just go to the link in our 166 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,280 description or in our bio to unlock the savings and skip the 167 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,320 queue. We build a brand save on stock 168 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,600 and step into the future of e-commerce with Cabela. 169 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,240 That code again, winning. Back to the episode. 170 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:03,840 Amazing. And did you have to make much 171 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,200 content for Kickstarter? Did you guys create a video and 172 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,880 some photography and other stuff to explain it or was it just his 173 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:10,360 really cool product? Click it, buy it. 174 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:14,320 Yeah, So we did a video and at the time the factory was in 175 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,720 Canada, the winter boot factory was based in Canada and I worked 176 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,040 with them in the past, I think was my first job. 177 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,600 The the brand is called Pajar and they still have a factory in 178 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,920 Canada. So we did a collaboration with 179 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,040 them and we were able to film in the factory the process of the 180 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,720 boot. So I think people people like to 181 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,080 see the actual factory and us. Yeah, absolutely. 182 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:38,240 Yeah, Yeah. And I think that story as well 183 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,600 about being in the French state of Canada, the factories nearby. 184 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,960 I mean, I haven't mentioned this at all yet, but you've said 185 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,920 several times about your connections in your previous 186 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,280 jobs. So you know how to manufacture a 187 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:51,960 good product, you know where the factories are, you know how to 188 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,960 work with these guys and you know how to operate. 189 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,040 And a lot of brands that start out or brands that have been 190 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:58,960 running for ages and then want to launch a new product through 191 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,600 new supplies, they find it really difficult to do that. 192 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,480 So actually your competitive edge in a sense or one of your 193 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,680 competitive edges is not so much here's a really cool USP to the 194 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:09,440 customer. It's actually we just got great 195 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,720 products because we know how to source great products. 196 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,520 I know who to phone, I know how to work with them. 197 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:14,600 I know to get how to get what I want. 198 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:16,920 I know what it's going to cost. And so I think that that's 199 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,280 obviously been so powerful to you in your journey, hasn't it? 200 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,960 Yes. So I think for us, what was 201 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,480 successful is that we work with factories that it's really hard 202 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:28,560 to get in. So they need to give you a 203 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:32,320 chance because they produce for like the biggest brand or the 204 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,200 nicest brand. So they they don't really want 205 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,080 to take new customers unless they see a future. 206 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,320 And I think the fact that I work at Aldo for a couple of years, a 207 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,400 lot of factories I've worked with Aldo, the owner of Aldo in 208 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:50,560 the past because they used to produce in Europe. 209 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,120 So they would tell me, oh, you work with him a key. 210 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:55,880 I know him. We've worked together in the 211 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,960 past, used to have a business that was producing in Europe. 212 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,800 So I was able to make a lot of contact based on people I know 213 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,320 in the shoe business. I even add like someone in Spain 214 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,840 called me calling my old bus that was from Spain right in 215 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,400 front of me and asked to make sure, like to give me good 216 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:17,160 reference basically. Yeah. 217 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,160 So it's a really small myth in the street. 218 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:25,000 So when you know people, they make you, they trust you more 219 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,760 because they know, like in this relationship, we have to kind of 220 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:31,720 trust each other to send the money. 221 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:35,480 So like I need to send some time $100,000. 222 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,880 So if they don't trust me, like they won't do my production 223 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:42,280 because they kind of think like she won't. 224 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,240 Yeah, it's a big risk for them. It's a big risk for me. 225 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,600 So it needs to be like on common ground. 226 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,280 So a lot of these bigger factories gave me a chance when 227 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,720 we were tiny and Quincy were really small because they saw 228 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,360 potential. And also when you work in shoes, 229 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,440 you know what, what kind of silhouettes sell, what doesn't 230 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,680 sell. So they trust that you're going 231 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:05,480 to make good design and you're going to have good result 232 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:08,960 because what they want, they want repeat orders because this 233 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:10,520 is where they start making money. 234 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,800 Once they start repeating shoes, like the molds are open, the die 235 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,480 cut are open. So they can just like it's more 236 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,320 profitable for the factories when you do a repeat order. 237 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,440 So this is always what we aim for. 238 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,640 And there's certainly a lot of that in any, any walk of 239 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,960 investing, I think or people, whether it's the factory 240 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,520 investing in you, you investing in them or even financial 241 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,880 investment, people buy into the person running it. 242 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:35,640 It's like, do I believe they will do a good job? 243 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:37,160 Do I believe they know what they're doing? 244 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,840 Sometimes I've seen the best business ideas, but I don't 245 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:42,800 trust the person at the helm or I say, this is all great and 246 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,160 you've got a fantastic idea, but I don't see a way you're going 247 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:46,400 to execute this. I can't. 248 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:47,920 You don't have any history doing this. 249 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:49,360 You're going to make so many mistakes. 250 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,000 I'm sorry, I don't want to be involved. 251 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,040 As a marketing agency, we get so many people approaching us 252 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,320 saying can we do a joint venture instead of just having you as 253 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,640 our agency? And I've been sucked into too 254 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,200 many of them over the years. So I completely understand that 255 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,040 that sort of relationship with the factory, if they start 256 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,600 building molds for something and you order one of each mold and 257 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:07,800 that's it, you know, you do your samples and then nothing else. 258 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,920 There's been a massive waste of their time when, as you say, 259 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,720 they could have been working for one of the bigger, bigger shoe 260 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,520 manufacturers. So I think it's really important 261 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,080 to make sure you've got that supply relationship for sure. 262 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,720 And it's not just in the product production, it's in, I'd say all 263 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,000 suppliers. But I mean, that brings us up to 264 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:23,920 about 2019. So you had then had the full 265 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,680 range in 2019. How much have you guys evolved 266 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:29,880 over the last sort of five and a half, six years since 2019 then? 267 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,560 I think we evolve in like the range of product we're offering 268 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,920 because we're producing in different countries. 269 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:41,480 We were able to add, let's say Portugal does a lot of winter 270 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,000 boots. So we were in Italy also we 271 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,160 found in factories that were doing very light winter boots. 272 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,960 So like we were able to source different type of heel, 273 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:56,080 different type of of construction depending on the, 274 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,040 the place where we produce. We were able to find a place in 275 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,040 Spain that do very affordable sandal so that in the summer we 276 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,600 can have a part of a range that is priced a bit more reasonably, 277 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,080 especially in the northern countries. 278 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,240 People like the summer is 2 months and 1/2. 279 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,160 So people won't invest like a crazy amount of money in sandals 280 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,240 because they only need them for a few months. 281 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:26,320 So we were able to like find a like to improve our range of 282 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,920 product and we're still doing it. 283 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,720 So we found we were looking for a factory base in Europe that 284 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,520 makes sneakers. And then when the tariff 285 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,960 happened in the US, we didn't want any product to be made in 286 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,040 China anymore because we only had one sneaker in China. 287 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:46,040 So we found recently a factory that will be able to do sneakers 288 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,840 in Portugal. So we were always like looking 289 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,680 for also what's trending and sometime our factories don't 290 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,920 have it, so we have to find a new factory. 291 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,320 Something you just mentioned, I do want to touch on that, which 292 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,280 is I think it's really interesting actually, if you 293 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,600 mentioned about the factory in China, I when I was younger, I 294 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,280 hated when people described business success as luck. 295 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,280 When people say, oh, you've been so lucky, you start getting all 296 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:12,800 these and you must have the same, you start getting these 297 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,040 flashbacks of all those sleepless nights there. 298 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:16,680 How am I going to pay this invoice? 299 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,160 How am I going to cover this tax bill? 300 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,600 One of my staff members has just screwed up and I need to fix it. 301 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,920 Or, you know, there's a mountain I have to climb on a daily basis 302 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,240 and somebody turns around and says, oh, you've been so lucky. 303 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,640 And it's like you've no idea how hard I've worked. 304 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:33,560 But actually with the China situation of supplying products 305 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,120 from there and everything's been going on recently, that is one 306 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,280 of those rare scenarios that's actually have been lucky. 307 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,760 And I said the same in COVID being a digital business over 308 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,520 here, we were lucky. Like there was that was luck. 309 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,200 I couldn't have planned it that way, but we we did OK during 310 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,240 COVID. It was terrifying, but we did 311 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,880 OK. And so it almost sounds like a 312 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,240 beautiful accident that there was only one product out there 313 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,520 that you because had it been more Europe US focus, which it 314 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,400 looks like it's stuff bubbling at the moment. 315 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,800 We won't talk about that, but it looks like that, you know, 316 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,160 there's a few bits and pieces going at the moment. 317 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,680 But I mean, that's fascinating. How many skews have you guys got 318 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,440 at the moment then or how many product lines are you guys 319 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,320 running? I think we always launch like by 320 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,840 season. I think we are, we have around 321 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:18,200 30-40 styles. So I would say it's like around 322 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:24,280 the hundred 120 skews. I would say we we try to keep it 323 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,240 minimal and, and but still offer a range. 324 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:31,760 So we choose what's nice is we have a lot of repeat customers. 325 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:36,120 So if your customers bought some heels with you, they can buy a 326 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,720 flat or they can buy sneakers. Especially women like the, I 327 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,960 think the average woman will buy four pair of shoes a year. 328 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,600 And once they find a shoe company they like and they find 329 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,400 comfortable, they will often come back to you. 330 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,800 So, so that's what we're trying to build. 331 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:59,320 And then, I mean, I think I forgot the question, but yeah, 332 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:04,760 we, yeah, yeah, we have a we And then recently we feel that what 333 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,319 we need is a bit more depth in our bias. 334 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,640 So we, we need to put more quantities in this the style 335 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,240 that are selling really well because we're often sold out. 336 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,599 And that's like one of the challenge of growing fast is 337 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:21,079 that at some point you ran out of inventory, but you don't want 338 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,880 the customer to get tired of it. So we're actually working on. 339 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,240 You're going to over invest why You're small as well do you? 340 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,440 Because that's a risk. If you, something sells out, you 341 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,680 restock it really quickly and then they stop selling or you, 342 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,200 you restock it on the 1st of October and it's like, right, 343 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,400 we've missed the season for sandals, as you said earlier. 344 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,400 So there's there's risks on both sides, aren't there? 345 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,680 So we prefer, so far, we prefer to be sold out because we don't 346 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,920 have any sales. So that's a great thing like to 347 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,800 not be in markdowns all the time. 348 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,040 We do 2 sample sales a year and we're able to get rid of extra 349 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,560 inventory, especially in shoes. You can get in a situation where 350 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:01,560 you have 4 pair of 36 and that's it, you know, or seven pair 40, 351 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,880 but nothing left in the other sizes. 352 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,120 So you cannot keep running ads on these styles. 353 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:07,520 So. So yeah. 354 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,600 Yeah, the Canadian and American size is so strange here in the 355 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,200 UK. So when you say 40, I imagine a 356 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,560 shoe that's like this big if it's about two foot is what I 357 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,880 imagine. So in the UK like size 5, size 6 358 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,840 is like the most common women's size. 359 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,400 It's just the different sizing systems. 360 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,840 But but yeah, I mean, it's fascinating just to hear how the 361 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,440 ranges evolved. So do you for each season, do 362 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,680 you change almost the whole range that do you almost kind of 363 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,200 say, right, that's all last season now and perhaps that's 364 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,520 what the sample sale is and then you move into new season Or do 365 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,920 you have kind of Evergreen lines that are always running? 366 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,840 Yes. So we have kind what we call our 367 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,600 essentials that are always running like every year. 368 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,520 I think they're going to that's it, that's going to be over. 369 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,920 People won't buy them, but they keep buying them. 370 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,880 So we keep restocking. So we have I think usually in 371 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,280 their normal store. I was talking with a buyer for a 372 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:05,000 big store, she said it's like 85% bestseller and 15% novelty. 373 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,880 I think for us, we're at 40% novelty and 60 best seller and 374 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,760 then we're still trying to figure out if it's the right 375 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,120 thing because we're constantly bringing new shoes, they're sold 376 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,440 out, then we're bringing new shoes, they're sold out. 377 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,040 So we'll we're still trying to find our balance. 378 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,800 I would say it. Just takes and that takes time, 379 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,640 isn't it? And that's, we talk so much on 380 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,480 the podcast about the understanding the customer. 381 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:32,560 And actually, if the customer comes to you because they want 382 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,000 the everyday essentials, it'd be too easy to get. 383 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,960 And again, I said to you earlier about shiny objects, I get so 384 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,080 distracted by business opportunities and change this, 385 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,080 try this. So I, I, I certainly sympathize 386 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,400 with you with looking at the new ranges and going, wow, this 387 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,760 shoes amazing. Let's, let's, let's start 388 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,960 selling more of these. But then if you don't reorder 389 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,200 some of those essentials and as you say, it's 60% of the 390 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,120 business and it can be such a frustration suddenly find that 391 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,520 those, those sales disappear. One thing I want to touch on 392 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:03,280 though, which is amazing is your five times a year for some of 393 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:06,480 your better, better, better customers, their higher lifetime 394 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:10,200 value ones, 4 orders a year per customer is amazing. 395 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,040 My question really is how do you attract customers? 396 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:14,880 Like what is your marketing strategy as a business? 397 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,440 What channels work for you? What messaging works? 398 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:19,680 What products? If I, if we put that product in 399 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:21,800 front of, in front of people, they just buy it and then we can 400 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:23,800 start emailing them and talking about other products. 401 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:25,920 What's the strategy behind customer acquisition? 402 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,360 Yeah. So quickly in the business when 403 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,680 we were small and we owned out a few product, we realized that 404 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,920 every time we did a pop up, we would get sales online. 405 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,800 So every time we add like in person exposure, it was creating 406 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,040 sales online. Because otherwise if you just 407 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,320 have a website, it's hard like and you're starting and you 408 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,280 don't really have budget for ads, it's going to be hard to 409 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,720 convert. But like when especially for 410 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,640 shoes, people likes to try them at least once. 411 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,600 So they see the quality over all of the product and then they 412 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,720 feel confident buying online because they already have a pair 413 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:04,000 or they've been to the store. So that's why quickly we open a 414 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,240 store. So when we enter in a new 415 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,240 market, for example, Montreal was our own market. 416 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,840 So at first it was like her friends and family. 417 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,600 So for a long time we were able to trace customer. 418 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,560 It's like, oh, this girl, she looks like she's friend with a 419 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,560 friend, so that's why she's buying. 420 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,360 Or you know, we were at first we were able to track every 421 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:27,400 customers that we add and then suddenly we were not able to 422 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,160 track them. We didn't know where they were 423 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:31,640 coming from. But when we enter a new market, 424 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:36,080 so after Montreal, when we open in our hometown and her friends 425 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,920 were buying and friends of France, then we open in Toronto 426 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,480 where we had a few friends, but not as much as in Montreal. 427 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,480 So we realized that the first thing is you build a store so 428 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:53,360 you have a physical presence, whether it's an old cell or your 429 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:55,200 own store. So for us it was like our own 430 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,440 store. Then people just by being on a 431 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,080 good St. people will get in and buy your products. 432 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,360 So your store will be break even at least so you're not losing 433 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,000 money with your store when you're entering the new market. 434 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,520 And then this store will create more sales online. 435 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:15,600 So then you, you partner with influencers that are local, that 436 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,640 will bring traffic to your website. 437 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,240 So let's say the local influencer are coming to your in 438 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,800 person, opening the local journalist as well. 439 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,360 They talk about you and then it brings leads to your, to your 440 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:30,120 website. And then you can retarget these 441 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,840 people with online ads so they don't forget that you exist. 442 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,480 And then you go from there and then you bill from there and 443 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,840 then more people that comes get targeted. 444 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:44,160 But I would say like, so first step is like in person something 445 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,520 in person, second step, influencers to bring traffic or 446 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,160 local journalists to bring traffic to your site. 447 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:55,200 And then after that retargeting with online ads and, and then it 448 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,080 grows from there. So right now, let's say Toronto 449 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,840 is a pretty big city. Montreal is still doing better 450 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,960 in terms of store sales, but Toronto brought more sales 451 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,000 online in the rest of Canada that we would have add if we 452 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,120 just stayed in the French part of Quebec because there's also 2 453 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:17,280 languages involved. So you have to be in like 2 454 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,680 different markets with two two different languages. 455 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,960 As someone in the SCO world trying to explain to Google that 456 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,400 we've got 2 languages in the same location, it's a nightmare 457 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,720 because Google's like, what language do you want us to show? 458 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:30,480 And but thank you so much. I mean, you've just made my 459 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,320 whole career sounds so simple. How do we acquire new customers? 460 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,560 And I just, I love that really simple view that you've taken 461 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,360 it. We open a store, people know who 462 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:38,360 we are. Then we get some local 463 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:40,280 influencers, then we start retargeting to people. 464 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,640 Now we've got a brand, now people know us. 465 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,560 I think shoes though, and you'll know much better than I surely 466 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,520 with shoes the sizing is so important because all your 467 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,400 weight is physically on the product products and it's on 468 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,240 your foot rather than, I mean we've literally just got some 469 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,880 new hoodies in the office which we bought our own hoodies and 470 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,760 then we're going to get our logos and stuff printed on them 471 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,040 so we can buy because we found it. 472 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,360 Whenever you get stuff printed it's always low quality. 473 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,880 So we've bought really good quality T-shirts and hoodies for 474 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:06,040 the team. We're going to get our own 475 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:07,200 printers. They've just arrived, so 476 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,200 everyone can try them on, but with a hoodie, I mean, if the 477 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,680 difference between large and medium or small and large is 478 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,320 negligible, isn't it? Do I want it tight? 479 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,360 Do I want it baggy? But shoes have to be perfect or 480 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:17,920 you're going to get blisters and all sorts. 481 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,960 So you guys, I think you've explained that really well about 482 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,880 the fact that somebody wants to try the item on. 483 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,520 So you could almost map that like, OK, this person has got 484 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,680 these shoes in this area. Now suddenly we've got two or 485 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,680 three more sales popping up in that area. 486 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:31,840 Those people must have the same shoe size because they've 487 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,600 ordered all ordered size say 400 or whatever, whatever it is in 488 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:39,200 Canada compared to the UK. But the but you can kind of see 489 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,840 that starting to to grow. I love the way you guys are just 490 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,120 building this brand of the good quality products people want to 491 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:45,520 wear and therefore they come and buy them. 492 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:51,120 How do you looking at 2025 then? How do you guys keep growing 493 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,000 that without just purely growing your store footprint? 494 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,520 How do you get that sizing across on the website? 495 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,200 So people go, it's a really great shoe, it's comfortable, 496 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,600 it's stylish, it's worth the money, it's more expensive than 497 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,520 the cheaper stuff. It's not as expensive as the 498 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,680 premium stuff and it's going to fit me well. 499 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,560 How do you get all of that across on the website without 500 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,840 somebody buying 4 sizes and returning 3? 501 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,800 Yeah. So we noticed that in the market 502 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,200 where we have stores, there is less return than in the market 503 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,560 where there's no stores because like expected. 504 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,880 But really interesting. Yeah, as soon you had one touch 505 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,160 point, you're able or we're able to also help you online. 506 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,400 If you already have a pair, we know how it fits compared to 507 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,240 other pairs because I remember when I work at Aldo, someone 508 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,920 spent a year trying to standardize the, the, the sizing 509 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,120 and then it didn't work. Like they spend like an entire 510 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,280 year try because we have different factories and, and it 511 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,720 didn't really work because like each lass is different. 512 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,760 If you have a pointy shoe, it's not going to fit a large foot 513 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,280 the same way as like a round toe shape. 514 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,440 So you really have to try to a certain extent. 515 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,960 So what we decided to do, like we look at app. 516 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,960 I know like in my past, they did studies, they try everything 517 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:09,800 with factories to like normalize like the size of the lass and 518 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,600 the size of the shoes. And I'm sure they improve the 519 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,160 situation. But what we decided to do is 520 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,000 we'll have different like fit model if you want that will 521 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,160 write their honest review about sizing on our fit note. 522 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,360 So in the new website now we're redesigning our website to put a 523 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:32,000 better place about fit, like the fit right now it's hard to find 524 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:37,080 on our page, but we're going to redesign their website so that 525 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,120 we have an employee, Charlotte. She's a size 38 and she has like 526 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:43,440 an average foot and she's going to try everything. 527 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,960 But we want also a persona that that has a large foot and eye 528 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:51,040 arch that try the shoes and say this one is not for me. 529 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,240 Like this one doesn't fit. And I feel like on the website 530 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:58,280 for clothing when I see a girl and it says she's 5 foot 7 and 531 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:03,440 she weighed 150 and she's taking this size, it helps me to be 532 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,000 like, OK, I'm just a bit taller than her. 533 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:07,840 So I think it's going to fit me well. 534 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,760 So we'll do the same shoes with the foot size. 535 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:16,600 So we're going to put the length of the shoes and the yeah. 536 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,440 So we'll put the length of the shoes and give as much 537 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,000 information about our foot so that people that have a similar 538 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,720 foot can take decision. And we'll do that with different 539 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:30,320 sizing and different width. Also a feat so that people can 540 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,280 like, have an idea, but it's a big problem we're trying to 541 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,200 solve right now. Do you ever find that in your 542 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,000 warehouse you have dead stock, You can't sell it, no one wants 543 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,480 to buy it, and you can't get a refund on it. 544 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,800 Or alternatively, you're missing inventory in your warehouse that 545 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:44,960 you need, you've got sales coming in and you're low on 546 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,040 stock and you haven't ordered more stock. 547 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,040 In time, all these things hit profit. 548 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:50,800 And I've been there. I've run my own Shopify store 549 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,320 and had exactly that problem, but we've partnered up with 550 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,760 Inventory Planner who have the most incredible app to help you 551 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,600 manage that and forecast exactly what products, what skews even 552 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,920 down to what colour of products you need to order in advance to 553 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,680 make sure stock levels remain consistent throughout. 554 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,320 They're also running a seven day boot camp and if you want to go 555 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,120 and sign up to that, it's 7 emails every seven days and it 556 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:13,080 takes the same amount of time as your morning coffee. 557 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,520 And in seven days, like me, you can become an inventory 558 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,880 management pro. Both links are in the 559 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:19,120 description. Enjoy. 560 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,400 I'd be interested to talk about customer service in a minute, 561 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,440 how you deal with that side of things. 562 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,360 But I love the example you've given of what the example of 563 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:28,520 giving an example and saying this person is this size, this 564 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:30,440 weight, etcetera. I've certainly bought stuff on 565 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,240 stores before where they've said this person is this size. 566 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,280 I normally then Google it to say what's that in centimeters? 567 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:39,200 Because we're though we're in the UK and we use imperial 568 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,280 metric is still still there. The obvious one, when you get to 569 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,760 100 or 1000, change the name. It's very simple. 570 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,680 I don't know why the UK and the US we're so obsessed with miles 571 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,040 and chains and stones and all all sorts of. 572 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,160 Random things. So we work with both because 573 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,200 Canada is like the UK and the US is different. 574 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,800 So we have to work with both the units. 575 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,120 France will use yeah, the French will use metric as well, so 576 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,800 they'll be using centimeters and meters, which is fascinating. 577 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,920 So yeah, I mean, I love the, I love the example you've given 578 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,640 and such a thanks for sharing. Just how simple the approach is. 579 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:12,760 It's going to be quite complicated. 580 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,240 I mentioned it's going to be lots of designs. 581 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,120 And when you get it absolutely right and test it before we have 582 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,560 the right version of it. But better the devil you know 583 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,600 than the devil you don't. I to say on websites, once you 584 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,320 know that OK, this is the problem people are having, but 585 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:26,920 how do you deal with it prior to your new site going live? 586 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:28,760 And we are going to talk about a minute because we said we wanted 587 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:30,760 to talk about your new website before we hit record, which I'm 588 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,160 very excited to hear about. How do you deal with all the 589 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:34,760 questions at the moment in customer service? 590 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,440 Like do you guys use AI chat bots? 591 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:37,840 Do you reply to everything yourself? 592 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,280 How do you manage that process, especially when there are going 593 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:41,840 to be so many questions about the product? 594 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,160 Yeah. So basically we have someone 595 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,440 full time in customer service that answer all the question 596 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:54,640 because we have question coming from Instagram, from Facebook, 597 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,080 because we still have like old Facebook page where people ask 598 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,520 question. So we have question coming from 599 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,520 all direction. So we have someone that does it 600 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,640 full time. And basically we involve this 601 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:13,800 person on the new website to try to to fix the issue before she 602 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,080 get question. So this way, like we're hoping 603 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,640 that it's going to reduce the amount of question and she can 604 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,120 get involved in like other type of project. 605 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,280 So that's what what we're working on at the moment to like 606 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,760 with the redesign of the site, she might have less e-mail so 607 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,240 she can do other things and, and work on fit with us and and work 608 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,880 on like all kind of different like project. 609 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,360 So I think it's going to make it more like effective for the 610 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,640 company overall. So every time, also every time 611 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,480 she has the same issue over and over again, we fix it. 612 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,840 So every week she give us like a report on what product she got 613 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,240 like a problem with. Like if there's a strap that 614 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:58,760 always break on a product, we're able to fix it or we're able to 615 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,840 warn customers that they cannot. So what we did one time we had a 616 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,480 shoe that people were not attaching correctly and it was 617 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,360 breaking it. So we send an e-mail and 618 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,600 automatic e-mail to everyone that bought the shoe to explain 619 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,840 them. This is how you have to tie the 620 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,200 laces whatever you do. So it's solve a lot of the 621 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:20,840 problem. Now we don't have this issue 622 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,920 with the customers because they get an e-mail that explain how 623 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,760 it works. So all of these fifth issue or 624 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,520 problem, sometime we're able to send an automatic e-mail to 625 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,280 customers to kind of address the problem. 626 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,000 Before I think I mean that that feedback loop between your 627 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,200 customer service person and the product developers and 628 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,800 marketing, having all of that tied up, I mean, as you guys 629 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:43,760 grow as an organization, it's going to be hard to keep that 630 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,800 communication so, so lean. But certainly the moment I mean, 631 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,360 that's such an advantage. We, we find it so often, whether 632 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,360 it's in B2B sales and actually like in B2B companies, for 633 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,480 example, I know some of you guys listening are in B2B e-commerce 634 00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,920 to give you an idea that the sales team that answers the 635 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,080 phone and take the leads and try and sign a contract or sell a 636 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,120 car or whatever the, the lead or insurance, whatever the lead 637 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,440 might be. That team of salespeople, the 638 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,880 ones that actually speak to the customers, send their proposals 639 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,040 and get the signature signed, get the payment into the bank. 640 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,240 So often in larger organizations that and even some small 641 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,720 organizations, they are so disconnected from marketing. 642 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,040 And actually, if you can find out that the 99% of people or 643 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,680 60% of people phone us before that pre sale and they say, can 644 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,160 your service or product do this? If you tell the marketing people 645 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,760 that the marketing people can go, do you know what everyone 646 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,520 complaints about that on us and all of our competitors. 647 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:35,040 And now we're going to change it. 648 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:36,680 We're the only one that solved it. 649 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:38,400 Suddenly got AUSP A differentiator. 650 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,000 And so I think even giving people that advice, even though 651 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,840 you're doing it so you don't get the returns, giving people that 652 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,240 advice even post sale, but before the product arrives, 653 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:49,640 suddenly people are like, I know how to tie my shoes up. 654 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,280 Oh, I don't actually now I've read your e-mail and they've 655 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,360 learned something. And that's all about, and we've 656 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,440 spoken about so much when we talk about e-mail marketing on 657 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:58,640 the show, like it's about building that relationship. 658 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,880 Say you must find that the more you more educational content you 659 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,240 send out, you must find that that has helped massively to 660 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,440 that four times a year, you know 4 orders a year from some of 661 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,840 your better customers just by kind of closing that loop. 662 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:14,240 Yeah, and I think we can get even better at it, like we can 663 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,160 send emails that are even more personalized. 664 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,200 So for example somewhat that bought 20 pair of shoes and then 665 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,240 suddenly is not buying anymore. We need to create a special 666 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,840 e-mail for this person to, to reconnect with the person and 667 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,520 try to understand why she haven't bought after she bought 668 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,760 20 pairs. You know, So I think I was 669 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,480 talking with someone that work at Netaparti or like one of the 670 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,600 big fashion retailer and she said especially in I and the way 671 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:48,440 she did the most money was to send personal emails to 672 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,600 customers that were, that would buy a lot. 673 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,960 But I haven't bought in six months or a year. 674 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,920 So, so they would they would send individual emails to this 675 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:02,600 customer because it's worth spending on time and effort on 676 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,680 this kind of customers. Absolutely. 677 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,239 And I think certainly when you get to that, that level as well, 678 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,120 it's not probably not worth your time emailing people that have 679 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:15,199 bought one of your cheaper pairs of sandals just just for, you 680 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,280 know, some of the colder areas of Canada for those few months 681 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:18,800 in the summer. It's pretty not worth your time 682 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:19,880 doing that. But then when you add up the 683 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,360 time of, OK, this person, as you say, has bought 20% pairs of 684 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,000 shoes, hasn't bought anything for however long be a certain 685 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,480 timeline, you know, amount of time, send them an e-mail and 686 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,080 suddenly they buy another 8910 pairs of shoes over the next 687 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,040 year or two. That's a lot cheaper than paying 688 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:34,560 Google or Facebook for you to send that e-mail than paying for 689 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,120 advertising to, to hook someone else in. 690 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,520 And let's talk about this two other points. 691 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,000 I'm conscious of time. We've probably got about 10 692 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:42,920 minutes left on this, but I just want there's two points I really 693 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:47,360 want to cover if we can in that time. 1 is about your European 694 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,199 direct to, to, to consumer because that's quite exciting 695 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:52,480 because obviously you're selling in the US and Canada 696 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:54,920 predominantly at the moment, but you manufacture in Europe and I 697 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:56,199 know you're planning to sell in Europe. 698 00:34:56,199 --> 00:34:57,760 And then we can talk about new websites. 699 00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,800 So tell us about what's the strategy for launching the 700 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,520 European sales and, and how easy was that decision given that 701 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,240 they're manufactured in, in Europe anyway? 702 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:07,680 So crossing the Atlantic and you don't want to cross the Atlantic 703 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,000 and cross back. Yeah. 704 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:16,080 So we basically we in 2022 we incorporated a new business in 705 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:20,240 the US So we thought that that's the 10 next year of our growth 706 00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,640 would be in the US and we were like, OK, let's just keep 707 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:25,720 opening store. the US is pretty big. 708 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:29,040 So we'll concentrate on that first and then we'll go in 709 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,840 Europe. But with the Tahif, it made us 710 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,400 like rethink everything and we realized with the everything 711 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,960 that happened with the Tahif, the euro versus Canadian dollar 712 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:46,120 went from 1.5 to 1.6. So the euro is now really high 713 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,120 for us and most of our product we buy them in euro. 714 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,320 So we start thinking, OK, maybe if we do a bit of all, we would 715 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:58,040 be able to do all sell in Europe because our dollar is so low in 716 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,000 Canada that it would be worth for us doing it because DTC 717 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,080 company, it's hard for us to do traditional wholesale. 718 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,160 So we're, we started to think about traditional wholesale in 719 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,440 Europe when that happened. And on top of it, because we 720 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,440 produced in Europe, we wouldn't have all the tariff and duty 721 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,600 problem that we have in the US and we could edge the device 722 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:24,400 the, the, the euro. So be paid in euro, keep the 723 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,920 euro in an account. And no matter what happened with 724 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:31,760 the the currency, we can still pay your production for Canada 725 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,720 and US store. So this is how it came out that 726 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,240 it was always a dream for us to open in Europe. 727 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:41,080 And because we're producing in European factories were really 728 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:43,760 influenced and redesigned by European product. 729 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,440 So we were like, I think there's a natural fit for for us there. 730 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:53,960 So we're going to try to start O sell and fall next year. 731 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,960 So you have to sell it like in Jan this year to be able to have 732 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:02,280 your connection in a year. And once we have product in the 733 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,280 O seller because we can't afford to open like store like a lot of 734 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:09,440 stores in Europe, we want to see like which countries are 735 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,080 interested in our product. Will it be the north because we 736 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,600 have a similar weather? Or is it more the South because 737 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,640 we have sandals made in Spain? Like we'll see where it bites. 738 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,720 And then from there we can start a strategy. 739 00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:27,080 So we'll make sure that maybe we open a tree PL. in Europe to 740 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:31,040 keep some products. So there's no VAT applied at the 741 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,720 door of the customer because right now we're not really set 742 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:38,440 up to do online sell in Europe. And there's a way to set up the 743 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,880 duties and the tax. So we're doing it with the new 744 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:44,120 website we're working on, like including everything so that 745 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,400 when the European customers buy from our site, there's no extra 746 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:52,080 fees because often what happen is they buy on our site because 747 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,000 the price is really cheap when you convert in euro. 748 00:37:55,720 --> 00:38:01,040 But then at home, there's an extra €40 of taxes and then the 749 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:04,200 customer doesn't want to pay it. So I have to bring back the fare 750 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:06,320 in Canada. So I have to pay for the 751 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:10,200 transport in and out. So we don't want to encounter 752 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,480 this kind of situation. So right now we're not doing any 753 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:16,880 promotion in Europe, but we're looking to do it in the next, 754 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,720 let's say, six months. Yeah, Yeah. 755 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:21,840 And I think as you say, it's such a natural market given that 756 00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,120 the products are actually manufactured in Europe and 757 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:25,600 you've obviously got this new website on the way. 758 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:27,680 What was the purpose behind the new website? 759 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:29,720 Was it, as you mentioned earlier about the sizing? 760 00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:31,840 Is it because of Europe? Is it because of something else? 761 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,560 Is it a whole range of different bits of data you're looking at 762 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,400 like what's what's the drive to rebuild it? 763 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,720 Because obviously site rebuilds they can be very expensive. 764 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:46,280 I actually it's because we've done it in 2020, I think most of 765 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,760 our pictures have like new background which cost a lot of 766 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,240 money to to make. So we want to switch it for 767 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:56,520 white background picture. So we had to redesign the entire 768 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,640 site. So we feel at the moment that 769 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:06,480 the site, like the side, the I would say aspect looks a bit 770 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,720 like old millennial, you know, when like pink was really big 771 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:14,360 and beige and all of that. So visually we want it to be 772 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,840 more neutral. And I'm a old millennial, so I 773 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,400 can I can see that it it looks like old millennial. 774 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:23,760 But as well, I might not look like it, but yeah. 775 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:27,040 I am. So. 776 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:27,920 So. Yeah. 777 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:32,920 So, so basically like the, the design aspect for us is really 778 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,320 important. So always having like fresh 779 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,920 design for us is important. And also a lot of people have 780 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,880 our hard time checking out, they can't find like the weightless, 781 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:45,200 like the weightless button is really small. 782 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:50,120 So there's a lot of UXUI design that needs to be improved. 783 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:54,880 And we feel our conversion rate has gone down. 784 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:58,240 So we feel it's going to help the conversion rate also on the 785 00:39:58,240 --> 00:40:00,800 website. So there's like, and we want to 786 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:03,680 add like features that didn't exist in 2020. 787 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:07,240 So for example, we wanted customers to see where the shoes 788 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:10,480 are available in which store because a lot of people call us 789 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:15,200 to know, do you have the size 40 at your Toronto store? 790 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,000 So if they can see it on the website, it saves a call for a 791 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,120 team or it sells their e-mail for a team. 792 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:22,840 So that's a common question we have. 793 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,960 So, so yeah, because people when they come in store, they want to 794 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,280 make sure that the size they want is there for an event or 795 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,360 for something special. So there's a lot of feature we 796 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:37,640 want to add and then the side is a bit heavy I think. 797 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:40,280 So in SCO we'll try to make it lighter. 798 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:46,480 And in terms of Cus, we last time we work with an agency and 799 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,960 it was a bit more costly, but this time the guy that designed 800 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,760 our website in the agency is a freelancer now. 801 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,640 So we're working with 1-2 freelancer, SO1 freelancer that 802 00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,240 does the design and one freelancer that will do the 803 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:02,560 programmation. So I would say this is the most 804 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:07,160 effective costs in terms of costs to do your website. 805 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,560 So we find a way to do it and like a really effective way and 806 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:14,800 I think it's possible today. Yeah, absolutely. 807 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,200 We've got a smiling because we've got about 5 freelancers we 808 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,040 know who used to be ex big agencies. 809 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,200 We don't build sites ourselves, but we bring in people that have 810 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,560 been there and done it and everything from I'll buy a theme 811 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,240 and then modify it for what you want, right? 812 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:29,000 The way up to complete custom build design. 813 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,080 And it, I find it tends to be you need an agency more when 814 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,360 you're bigger and actually there's more communication going 815 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:35,360 on. There's more stakeholders, 816 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:37,120 there's more people with skin in the game. 817 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:41,280 And I, I think I think probably the worst web build we did from 818 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,760 a kind of project management perspective was about 80 to 90% 819 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,400 of all the cost just went on communication and project 820 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,680 management internally. And actually the site build 821 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:53,280 looked beautifully clean and minimal at the, at the end of 822 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:54,760 it. But there were so many things to 823 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,040 consider to get onto the site. And eventually someone quite 824 00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:00,480 senior said, look, I'm so bored of all of this. 825 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,200 Just cut all of that, just put the simple thing out, get the 826 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,480 new site live and, and we'll put more money behind advertising if 827 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,320 we have to. And it was the best, the best 828 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,720 decision anyone have made after about 18 months of pain. 829 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:13,840 So, I mean, it sounds amazing. And I want to first, first and 830 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:15,680 foremost say thank you so much for your time and also your 831 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:17,640 honesty telling us what some of the challenges you've been 832 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,040 through, where you guys are at. If anyone's listening to this 833 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,640 and thinking this sounds amazing. 834 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:23,240 Miriam, I, I really want to check out the brand. 835 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:25,720 I want to follow you guys. What's the website URL? 836 00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:27,600 How can people follow you on socials? 837 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,360 How can they get in touch? How can they find the shoes if 838 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:31,320 they want to buy a pair and try them themselves? 839 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,240 Yes, so you can find us at mcguireshoes.com and our endo on 840 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,840 Instagram and Tiktok is McGuire shoes. 841 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,320 So on all the platform were McGuire shoes. 842 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:44,120 Amazing, amazing. Well, thank you so much. 843 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,320 I appreciate all your time, your honesty, and also thank you for 844 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:47,920 jumping on the show. And as I said right at the 845 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:51,040 start, giving me so many notes to talk about as well as it was 846 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:53,440 nice to know what was coming. And certainly some of the things 847 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:54,720 we spoke about I think were really beneficial. 848 00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:57,600 So thank you so much. Yeah, no problem anytime. 849 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:00,880 Amazing and we might get you back on the show in the next 850 00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:03,120 year or two, Miriam and see how see how things progressing see 851 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,400 how Europe's going for you once things have settled down with 852 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,880 all the all the tariffs for everybody else listening at 853 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,120 home. Thanks again for tuning in. 854 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,200 We'll be back on Tuesday. Well, I'll be back on Tuesday 855 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:15,600 with my Tuesday tea break talks and surprise, what cup of tea am 856 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:16,520 I going to be drinking this week? 857 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:18,880 And what news are we going to talk about from Shopify Back 858 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:20,400 again on Friday with our main episodes. 859 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:23,240 If you haven't already and you are listening to this on Apple 860 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:27,040 iTunes or Spotify, please leave us a comment on Spotify if 861 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:28,280 you're on there. Been replying to the comments 862 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,360 and also so give us a little review and follow if you could 863 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,080 as well. I've heard our reviews are quite 864 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:35,040 out of date, but there's literally 10s of thousands of 865 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,000 you guys tuning in every week. So leave us a little review 866 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:38,520 because it helps other people find the show as well. 867 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,200 Thanks for tuning in. We're back again on Tuesday. 868 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:43,440 Our partners at Saguna have released a brand new app for 869 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,160 Shopify and it's called Shopify Connect 4 Canva. 870 00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:48,800 You can essentially look at all of your product images from 871 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:52,000 Shopify directly in Canva and export them straight back. 872 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,120 This can save you a lot of time. If you want to find out a bit 873 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,320 more about this or go and find the app yourself, you can go to 874 00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,480 saguna.com forward slash camper. Enjoy.