Startup of the Month: Brand Your Shoes

Founder and creative director Guillem Soldevila, 45, Vic

Although my grandparents owned shoe stores for over 50 years, nobody in my family was interested in continuing the business, and eventually they had to sell the shops. Then about five years ago, when I was working in graphic design and communications, a friend of mine associated with castellers (human towers) came to me and asked if my brother, Ferran, and I could make shoes to fit their specific need. That’s when it all started, when we got the idea for the startup Brand Your Shoes.

We started by talking to our partners—manufacturers, suppliers and graphic design studios—to develop what we call our Full-ID Customization System. Customers—companies, schools, universities, clubs and teams—can choose one of the four shoe models we created (Vintage, Urban, Retro or Classic) and customize it completely. This is why we define ourselves as a white label brand of sneakers. Everything we sell is designed in Barcelona and made in Spain.

At the beginning, when we defined our business plan, we decided to position ourselves as a branding project. We knew that nobody else was doing exactly what we wanted to do, and that people would value our project because it would allow them to brand apparel like sneakers, which aren’t typically customizable. For example, we have clients that are used to spending some of their budget on merchandising, but usually caps or T-shirts, not sneakers. We’re giving the market new opportunities to put their logos or designs on a different product.

We’re a small company but we’re growing. We’ve been traveling to various marketing and technology fairs around the world to promote the brand. It’s fun, everybody loves the shoes. Our minimum order is set at 30 pairs of shoes, which is very low, but effectively attracts a larger funnel of potential clients. We’ve made shoes for companies big and small, from a chiringuito in the Costa Brava to KLM, the Dutch airline. With our new website, you can design your shoes from your phone, tablet or desktop. Customizing is a trend of the future.

What I don’t like about the entrepreneurship sector is that everybody is focused on developing apps. To combat this, I think there should be more government support for people who are running industrial projects. There are some very innovative things happening in the industrial sector and I believe these types of projects should be prioritized over apps.

Being an entrepreneur is harder than people think. The easiest part is having an idea—it’s figuring out how to monetize that idea that’s the real challenge. Luckily Barcelona is a great place to be; it’s a creative city with a concentrated, innovative community.

To brand your shoes, visit brandyourshoes.com.