Can Government Grants Support Your Shoe Fetish?

Well maybe not in the manner Imelda Marcos was accustomed to. BUT for women in business for themselves? You BET!

Oh I love this story.

Before we get going, who are we talking about?

Madison Harding.com, a three year old company based out of New York City. Their first shoe collection came out in 2007. Hilary Rosenman and Barri Budin met in their junior year at Skidmore College. Just a few years later they started designing shoes for their own shoe company. Now Madison Harding Shoes is presenting their fifth collection in three years.

Before it all got started, these two young women had been based out of NY/NJ. At that time Hilary began by working for Charlotte Ronson, a young American/british designer (2000) whose design consisted of vintage tees and lingerie then went into adding wedge heels. This is where Hilary got her “shoe contacts”.  Barri began by working in a sales showroom , a job she deeply disliked and wanted to get out of. She then got work at NYU. The two young women began working toward their dream while keeping their  jobs.

They wanted to design shoes. Between the two of them they owned over 80 pair of vintage shoes. It was this common interest in vintage shoes that caused Hilary and Barri to become fast friends at college. “The idea ( of starting our own business) just kind of flourished when we were having lunch one day (in NYC), and it just kind of happened. ”

They began by figuring out their price point. If their line was going to be addressing the young and hip,  it had to be affordable designer shoes. According to the two designers, this meant having them made in China. But that also meant huge runs, batches no less than 10,000 per shoe style. There was no way these ladies had anything near that kind of money to begin with. They had no experience in running a business and no experience in designing shoes. This DID NOT STOP THEM.

At first they met with a lot of opposition. People in the shoe and fashion industry, the “Steve Maddens” of  the world literally laughing at their dream. They found that shoes are mostly made by older men who got their business passed down to them generation to generation. Hilary and Barri admitted being intimidated, hearing they would never make it, that the shoe industry was all about connections. They were told that to make this thing work they would have to have strong connections with the likes of Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdale’s, which at the time they were far from having.

Hilary and Barri, however, didn’t buy it. They had seen how Charlotte Ronson’s line had flourished in just 8 years.  Her former employer’s line of clothing and shoes, whose humble beginnings  only dated back to 2000, got picked up by a Japanese company. Charlotte Ronson now has fourteen stores in Japan and one prime location in NYC. CR has since been featured in Vogue and Elle and appeared on runways alongside Jill and Diane Von Furstenburg etc.. Knowing this, Hilary and Barri were not to be stopped. They got down to business.

They resolved to find a shoe builder who would agree to make batches of just 300 shoes, an unlikely and expensive deal in the production side of fashion in China. This ofcourse meant the per pair price skyrocketed. It was where they had to start.  Starting with their own collection of vintage shoes, the women presented various shoe combinations to the production unit in China, describing the shoe they wanted to design by saying “take this heel and that toe, these colors and this texture”. As they continued to try different combinations, the warehouse in China advised them as to when a shoe was not feasible. Eventually they designed 9 styles for their first collection (Spring 2007) that they really liked and could produce in small batches of 300.

If you look on their website at the Spring Collection 2007, you will see Polaroid snapshots. Those are Hilary’s and Barri’s legs, their apartment, being the models for their first collection, shot in their living room. Way to keep it as low budget as it you can!   This worked just fine for the mood and client base they were aiming at.  Turns out, it was their favorite shot series and they haven’t been able to improve on a collection series of pics since.

Now for the financing. Neither had they ever experienced applying for loans nor had either of them any clue as to how to draw up a business plan. They approached a bank for the loan for the beginning batch. The young man with whom they met for the loan just happened to be someone who had attended their college years prior and knew many of HR’s and BB’s friends. Thanks to their Alma Mater creating a tighter than normal bond, the loan officer was motivated to help them get the appropriate business plan, etc.., drawn up so as to help make things work.

The three of them worked together to draw up a business plan. The banker knew of SBA loans available just for this kind of things. What he recommended first, however, was to look into government grants to help them get their start. And so they did.

They looked into government grants to help WOMEN specifically, with their start up business. Hilary noted “There are grants you can get for women starting businesses. I’ve done research about grants there are lots of women based companies that are eligible for financial support.” They said at the beginning Hilary’s brother gave them $5,000. They made sure to keep costs down. Their bottom line was limited in the beginning by their own earnings from the jobs they did not leave until things were hopping. Government grant money, and loans eventually go the first collection funded.

Now it has not been a bed of rose petals all the way. One time they showed their shoes to a hopeful new client when the pump literally crumbled right before their eyes. Another time, a Brazilian shoe productions company convinced HR and BB to leave their China connection and get the work done for less in Brazil. The Brazilian company turned out to be a fly by night operation and ” (he) basically stole our money”, according to Barri. They lost their entire fall collection opportunity, some vendor clients and much of their mometum.

If you look now, they are going strong with their 5th collection in three years and they have never looked back. China is still their best connection for building good quality shoes and the results are showing. Hilary Rosenman and Barri Budin are doing well, their products are selling at such places as ShopBop, Anthropologie, Nordstrom’s, Free People, Ron Harmon in LA, American Rag, Singer22… and of course their own website, www.madisonharding.com.

Well… What’s that business idea you have …. is it going on? Is it on the shelf ..  hm? As women, women of color even more so, we qualify for support from government grants and loans for our small business start-ups. Look into it and get it going! Above all, do what you love. And get excited about the help that’s out there.