As two American women decided to pour water into the bags and earned $ 85 thousand
'02.07.2018'
Source: The Penny Hoarder
San Francisco resident Fallin Smith often goes to festivals and other public events. She always took a bottle of water with her, which she had to press against her hand or put in a backpack. It was uncomfortable - but I was always thirsty.
The girl tried other ideas, for example, she wore a CamelBak (a backpack with a reusable liquid container) on her back, says The Penny Hoarder. However, the water bottle rescued in all cases, but with a big and important reservation: the bottle was plastic. And by the end of the event, under the feet, as a rule, an impressive layer of plastic containers was formed. Smith dreamed of finding a solution to this problem.
“I wanted to be able to dance, drink water, hold a drink in my hand,” says Smith. - I was very upset when, leaving the festival, I made my way through the plastic and thought - this can be changed.
And she came up with a solution - a fashionable bag with a water tank. A convenient way to take liquid with you without buying plastic. And don't look like you're going camping.
This is how Smith & Starr appeared
Smith, 34, had no experience in the fashion or manufacturing industries, so she came up with the idea on a website dedicated to raising money through crowdfunding. The idea is this: if the idea gets enough votes, they will help to implement it. Smith also shared the idea on Facebook, inviting people to vote for it. The publication was spread by friends until one of the “friends”, Chelsea Starr Alexander, asked Smith to remove the post. Assessing the potential of the idea, 30-year-old Alexander was sure that her friend should bypass crowdfunding sites and create a bag on her own.
Smith deleted the message and contacted friends who expressed interest in helping her project. But when she organized a meeting in a cafe about working together, only Alexander came.
“If we thought we were starting a business, we would likely burn out quickly. So we focused on one step at a time and decided that we would make a single sample, ”said Chelsea.
They first reached out to the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center in their native San Francisco and took business and fashion classes, then added online classes on how to run successful Kickstarter campaigns. As their knowledge and confidence grew, the girls used $ 8 of their own savings to start developing. They hired a fashion designer to design the bag and were looking for a factory to make it.
In Los Angeles, the girls were told that the bag was best made in China, but they wanted to work exclusively with American production. After weighing all the pros and cons, the colleagues realized that they would not be able to do business with manufacturing in the United States, and went to Guangzhou, where they found the right factory as a result of a series of trial and error. This was the first bag they wanted to sell: The Conway.
In October, 2016 launched a campaign to collect 30 thousand dollars
“We really wanted enough funds to be able to work for a year or so,” Smith says. - Our goal was to use Kickstarter to find interest in the market. We wanted to set a fairly high goal. ”
The girls managed to collect a key amount for 35 days. A few months later, they launched their website and started selling bags directly to consumers. In just one year, they sold about 1000 bags with water tanks and a drinking tube and made gross profit of 85 000 US dollars.
Marketing matters
Smith & Starr's business is primarily driven by regular customers who return to them and recommend their products to others. According to Alexander, the novelty attracts attention by itself - when a person takes a pipe with a drinking spout out of his purse, it arouses interest. But that is not all. Unlike many fashion brands, Smith & Starr has a more noble mission beyond the stylish look of their customers.
“Plastic bottles are bad for the environment, your body and your wallet,” Smith says. “Besides, drinking enough water is very important, and not everyone can cope with it. We made the process easier; you don't even have to lift your head up to drink. ”
In addition to direct sales through the website and events along with the Water for People charity partner, to whom the company pays 1% of the profits, Smith & Starr promotes the product at wellness fairs, yoga festivals and music events. As a rule, there is always a shortage of water. Smith and Alexander offer to bring free cold water and become a kind of hydration station. “This is a good guerrilla marketing tactic,” say colleagues.
In search of balance ... together
All this time, Smith continued to work full-time in elementary school, and Alexander - as a marketing and PR consultant. They spend about 20 hours a week working for Smith & Starr.
“We talk a lot about wellness and want to make sure we can handle it ourselves. We also need rest and short breaks from work. And we are definitely celebrating our victories. "
As the girls admit, they both had difficult periods and moments when they wanted to quit. But they tried to support each other.
“It would be impossible to go through all this alone,” says Alexander. “We really trust each other and believe that we can push each other to move forward. We never thought we would go this far. ”
And no matter how far they go, and even if one day they decide to leave their main jobs, both retain a fresh look. Young and successful women have big dreams, but they still try to live every day to the maximum, and then think about the following.
