EXPERT OPINION

Ever wonder what it would be like to start your own footwear brand? Susie Freedman Tapper, a footwear industry outsider, did. Last year she and her partner Mara Zipursky had a bright idea for an infant shoe line and began working on Sweet Pedtooties. We asked the fledgling entrepreneur to share her adventures, triumphs and missteps with us. This story continues from our February issue.

With our new shoe designer, Tara Sugar (AKA “Sugar Mama”), by our sides, the design process could finally begin. We would finally get to see the designs we had created in our minds come to fruition… or so we thought. Before Sugar Mama could sketch out some designs for us, we needed to pick our colors and create the last shape for the shoes. And in order to finalize a last shape for the shoes, Mara and I needed to select a manufacturer to help create the last.

The manufacturer hunt originally started in February 2008, when we were conducting our research for our Self Employment Program application. How did we search for manufacturers? Why, Google, of course! How else does one find anything? We searched for manufacturers in China who were producing high quality soft-soled baby shoes. I sent e-mails out to several of them, but only heard back from a few (which certainly helped narrow down the list).

Once in the program, we got sidetracked from our original quest to find the perfect manufacturer on our own and started working with a sourcing agent. A local businessman and friend, who manufactures apparel in China, recommended that we work with a sourcing agent to help us find a reputable Chinese manufacturer. He gave us the name of a particular agent who specialized in sourcing shoes. He thought he would be extremely trustworthy, so away we went.

It all started out so wonderfully with Mr. Agent Man. He courted us, offering to source some manufacturers and get some samples of their work. During this honeymoon phase, he asked for nothing in return. That’s right, not a dime, a design detail or a commitment. Mr. Agent Man was very nice. He had a fantastic sense of humor. We clicked, and we thought it would mean happily ever after. But then something changed.

Mr. Agent Man’s calls and emails began to slow in frequency. He often failed to return phone calls and emails for days (I think the record was over 2 weeks), only responding to our questions after we hounded him incessantly. We deduced that he was either extremely lazy, had lost interest or became consumed with other clients. Either way, it was clear that this was a relationship that had to end, so we broke it off. I’d like to say he was heartbroken about but, to be honest, I’m not sure he even noticed. At least we never signed anything with the agency or revealed our unique shoe design. While there might have been some precious time wasted, nothing else was.

So, we were back to our original solo search for a trustworthy and reputable manufacturer. In the meantime, the pressure was mounting, since we were running out of time to meet a fall ’09 launch date. We wanted to be sure to take our time to make the right decisions, but we didn't want to miss our fashion boat to success, either! Permanent lines of worry began to bore themselves into my forehead (so much so that I got taken-in by a late-night, anti-aging/beauty product infomercial). I decided to get in touch with one of the manufacturers I had originally contacted through my Google search months before. This company was one I remember having been particularly impressed with, and they certainly did not disappoint the second time around. The contact person, Jean, had remembered me, and had been patiently waiting to hear from us again. Our relationship with the new manufacturer was very reassuring. Jean was prompt in her responses, professional, believed she could meet our deadlines and was a pleasure to deal with all around.

So, now that we had found a manufacturer, we could get right to work on making those shoes, right? Not so fast. There was still the little matter of that all-important thing called the last… the LAST! We had a lot of work to do!

Susie Freedman Tapper is the co-owner of Sweet Pedtooties Inc. Find out more about her soft-soled infant shoes www.sweetpedtooties.com.

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