EP 377: 6M Shoes Designed, $24M Raised, By Customer Shoe Maker Shoesofprey.com

Jodie Fox, a woman who has solved the problem of constantly hunting for the right pair of shoes. Her company Shoes of Prey has raised over $24 million for its system that allows every pair of shoes to be completely customized.

Famous 5:

Favorite Book? – Getting Things Done
What CEO do you follow? — Tom Ford
Favorite online tool? — Slack
Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No
If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — Do everything before you’re ready.

Time Stamped Show Notes:
01:13 – Nathan introduces Jodie
01:50 – Shoes of Prey—Women can design their own shoes
02:20 – Peer play
02:55 – Women wanted a physical interaction with their shoes
03:15 – First offline store
03:40 – Costs for stores
04:14 – Launched in 2009
04:20 – Funding to date is $24M
04:35 – Every pair is custom made
04:58 – Their website has a gallery for inspiration
05:10 – It’s a social interaction about shoes
06:05 – Customization can start with an inspiration shoe or from scratch
06:40 – Customers have complete freedom
07:25 – How much time people spend making a shoe
08:15 – Acquisition costs
09:45 – Mass-produced shoes are cheaper to produce
10:30 – Pairs of shoes sold
10:55 – Some people design and never buy
11:15 – Their investors
12:00 – Competitors
12:25 – Average sale is $225
13:03 – Team of over 220
13:30 – Production in China
13:40 – They built their own factory there
14:15 – A video of the process at their factory
14:40 – First-year revenue was less than $50k
15:00 – Jodie was not in the fashion industry when she started her company
16:40 – She was brainstorming with friends on the beach
17:15 – Her cofounders are her ex-husband and their groomsman
18:10 – Shoes of Prey wants to eventually grow to other clothing
19:20 – Pay per customer
19:40 – 75% is word of mouth
20:05 – Campaigns
20:50 – Testing offline methods
21:25 – youtube.com/jodiefox
21:35 – jodieannfox on Instagram or @jodiefox on Twitter
23:40 -- The Famous Five

3 Key Points:
Find a niche and you’ll have a business with no real competitors.
Don’t let complicated relationships get in the way of your business’s success.
Make your business a unique experience for the customer.

Resources Mentioned:
Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
Slack – Jodie’s favorite online tool

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives