Pricing problem or market problem?
I was cutting celery to put in my soup when it hit me.
‘What if my pricing isn’t set right?’
A week or so ago, I’d launched the 4th and final model on the Everyday line of boots. A take on a chunky saddle loafer, named Afterhours.
Ever since starting the company, people had asked about loafers and I’d finally gotten around to it. After 6 months of design and test that is. Reception on launch was great, the best for any launch. Engagement on social media was high – but where were the orders?
This, and a dozen other questions and problems are what fill my head everyday.
But first, let’s backtrack a little.
People think I’m a Bootmaker.
My name is Matt, and I’m the founder, owner, bootmaker, chief marketing officer, procurement executive, product manager and customer service representative of Outstation. As well as doing any other role that needs doing in an independent boot company. A one man show. For now at least.
So why do you care? Well, maybe you don’t. But I gather if you’ve been here this long, you’ve either got nothing better to do, a boot nerd, or curious.
Regardless, what you think is irrelevant. I’ve so many thoughts buzzing around that I figured it’d be a good idea to jot them down to a) relieve stress b) not forget and c) perhaps entertain whoever out there that is interested.
I plan on penning down whatever is in my head, reflecting on what’s been going on every 2-3 weeks or so if I can. It won’t be particularly formal, polished or eloquent. I simply don’t have the time to also become a chief editor in addition to all the other hats I wear.
What will the topics be?
What it’s like to build, run (and hopefully grow) a bootmaking business. No particular order or structure in timeline or topics. I see it almost like a journal for me. And for you to be a fly on the wall. What you take away from it is up to you.
Maybe from time to time I’ll touch on specifics bootmaking techniques, but that’s not really the point. There are plenty of articles and YouTube videos out there that do this already.
Maybe I’ll add the odd picture here and there, maybe I won’t. There’s something cathartic about long form text for me.
If you want pictures, find @Outstationboots on IG or TikTok.
I’m not a Bootmaker.
When people meet me, they often remark something about following my passion; bootmaking. This is followed by shock after I inform them that bootmaking isn’t my passion. I simply happen to make boots, which in turn enables me to do what I really enjoy.
Which is, building business. And by virtue of that, problem solving.
As you’ll find out, it seems everyday there’s a new problem to solve. And usually nothing to do with actually building a boot.
Fast forward 1 year. Suddenly here I am, cutting celery for my lunch, worrying about pricing problems.
That’s right, 1 year. I incorporated the company around mid 2025 in Malaysia, my current home base, after having lived in Kuala Lumpur since 2014 or so. Born and bred in Melbourne, Australia, how I came to be here is perhaps something for another post.
To cut the long story short, I never imagined living here, much like I never imagined running a boot company.
How deep are my pockets? Not very.
Having been in Malaysia for some 12 years at the time of writing, I’ve observed the country macros, trend of the emerging middle class, and changing consumer behaviour over the period.
The conclusion? It was just a matter of time before the market would want higher quality footwear. Or at least pay more attention to what they buy.
It was just a timing topic. I needed to be there when the market reached this point of maturity. And this means starting now, when it isn’t (yet).
Today, the Malaysian footwear market is dominated by low cost (by developed country standards) cemented footwear. Either locally branded, overseas manufactured products, dropshipped footwear with no retail presence, or vulcanized rubber safety shoes and work boots.
Most people won’t spend anything above USD 50 for a pair of shoes.
And this is fair, because the majority of the population simply doesn’t have the purchasing power for higher quality products, let alone the awareness of what higher quality actually means.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reigns supreme in developing countries.
For those that can and are prepared to pay higher prices, the marketing machines of big overseas brands is what people know – regardless of any investigation of whether brand=quality.
The amount of times I’ve been told on social media that my ‘price is too high’, and for the same price, people can buy Timberland or Doc Marten, is testament to the level of marketing money being spent over many years by big brands.
Salute to thee, overlords of propaganda.
How do you convince when nobody is listening?
And here I am. Trying not to cut off my fingertips into a pile of celery, wondering if my loafer price was too high. Of course it was. But from a quality comparison viewpoint, it’s probably priced 50-100% too low. So how the hell do I explain this to customers who don’t want to listen?
The answer is, I don’t.
Time will pass, and the market will mature eventually. The question will simply be, ‘are my pockets are deep enough to sustain the business until it does?’. Is this 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
It’s a classic investment horizon question. But instead of ‘how do you make your savings last your lifespan?’, it becomes ‘will my pockets be drained before the market matures?’.
For you startup bros out there. It’s cash burn versus runway.
Questions like these stress me out, but I can’t complain. This is what business is at it’s core. An shifting puzzle. Customer preference, suppliers, procurement of materials, whatever. You name it.
Curiosity has been the intrinsic motivator my entire life, so a puzzle that can never be solved is a fire that will always keep burning.
Even if at times you wish it wouldn’t burn so much.
Unwinding the perception.
It’s a misnomer in the Asian market that ‘boots are too hot’. And that’s because of the visible boot products existing in the market. For Malaysia, these are Red Wing, Timberland, CAT and Doc Marten. All very ‘boot-y’ type of boots.
My product is completely different. It shocks people when they experience it for the first time. They don’t know that boots can be like this.
Mostly 4 inch and below. Unlined, lighter 1.8-2mm leathers, lighter 3-3.5mm midsole leather. EVA or light rubber compound outsoles. But still constructed like a heritage boot. 5mm leather insoles, 3mm heel counters. Single row stitchdown. Minimal break in, no stiff welted constructions.
It needed to be resoled easily. So I cement the outsole to the rubber slipsole, which in turn is hand stitched to the midsole.
There are no outsole stitching machines in Malaysia. Again, a strong indicator of what the local footwear industry manufactures.
I needed to make sure that customers could go to any roadside cobbler, one who only knows how to do simple cement repairs, and be able to have a new outsole attached.
No stitching required.
Boots for ‘normal’ people.
Putting this all together, my boots were designed to target a specific consumer base.
Young, white collar workers, first time in management, graduating from the sneaker game. Growing up, so to speak. And since formalwear is dead in this part of Asia, these young people don’t really have anything to wear that isn’t a sneaker.
The data that I collect shows that my customer base is who I targeted.
They’re T20 (top 20% of income earners in the country), generally mid to late 20’s or early 30’s, often overseas educated, beginning to be aware of and search for quality in their purchases.
Increasingly I see that this younger generation is also turning away from big brands. And want to build a story with their belongings.
It’s popular for my customers to buy Outstation boots to travel with.
They travel to ‘cold countries’ in the region. Japan, Korea, China. Where they may need a boot, but one that fits well with the fashion conscious mindset of the Asian customer. Looks good in pictures. Can slip on and off easily in houses, shops, onsens, temples. Lightweight. But still functional.
Lunch is served.
I put daikon into my soup with my celery. And miso paste too. Sitting at the table with it and some toast, I put my pricing problem to the back of my mind. I can only control what I can control.
Time will solve this problem hopefully.
Right now, I’ve got other shit to do.
