Isn’t being a Bootmaker.
My week had a bit of an incomplete feeling to it.
Not because I didn’t get things done though. As usual there was more to do than I had time for. But rather, it was Golden Week in China.
You may be thinking, what on Earth does Golden Week have to do with my week in Malaysia? The answer is simple.
Supply chain.
If you’ve been following the ride so far, I’ve been 3d modelling outsole designs throughout this year, ready for the Everyday line facelift and Ambassador line.
I’m at the stage where I’ve narrowed down potential manufacturers in China, received samples and did some testing. Now I’m about to go into deeper discussion with a preferred supplier.
And then Golden Week happened, so the entire of China shut down.
Nonetheless, although incomplete, the workweek was still fulfilling. Because a lot was done.
Customers were dropping by, I was putting work in on some test builds, doing a large batch of finishing on outgoing boots. Nonstop as usual, just incomplete somehow.
This made me think a little. How can my week feel incomplete, yet satisfactory at the same time?
Upon reflection, the reason seems to be whatever the hell is going on, I tend to be enjoying myself.
So let’s go a bit deeper into what I particularly enjoy.
Product development is pure creativity.
I’d mentioned this before already. When it comes to the various processes in bootmaking, product development is the most stimulating for me. You can find the dedicated journal entry for a deeper dive if you’re interested.
The tldr is that I enjoy the challenge of finding solutions. Because that’s what product development is. It starts with unfiltered creativity, which is bent to fit into real world constraints.
Or more crudely put, how to fit the square peg into the round hole.
For example, I may have an uppers design in my mind, but maybe it can’t be sewn due to machinery limitations. Perhaps I have an idea for a boot, but it doesn’t fit into my product lineup. Or maybe I want a build with a certain chassis, but I can’t find the material in my supply chain.
Creativity creates problems.
This isn’t a bad thing though. Because if everything was easy, well, that would be boring. By placing boundaries (whether self imposed or otherwise), problems are created. Which then need to be solved.
I enjoy this problem solving. It’s the puzzle of trying to keep an original product idea as close to what I had in mind, whilst bending it as little as possible to fit into real world limitations.
It came up again this week as I was working on an Ambassador line chukka pattern.
For context, currently I’m testing two dress lasts for the line, one has a lower volume instep, the other has a higher volume instep.
I’d already designed and built a boot to completion for the lower instep last. After testing it a little, I wasn’t happy with the easy of entry; I knew it was going to be a problem for people with high insteps. So, the way to bend the creativity (aka. the design) was to change the pattern slightly.
By doing so, it would fit into the real world constraint (aka. people with higher insteps).
I wanted to change the pattern so ease of entry into the boot would be better, yet at the same time didn’t want to change it significantly. Because I was already happy with the design lines I saw.
Alternatively, I could just use the higher instep last, but this would change the idea I had my mind for what a dress boot should be. Sleek.
So, by modifying the pattern for the lower instep last would create another problem. Because the original idea would be bent too far.
You see my point now.
Fast forward a little, I currently have a WIP with the solution, but haven’t built it out yet. I pushed the facing anchor point 5mm towards the toe, whilst adjusting the topline angle to keep the sleek profile of the original design.
All on the lower instep dress last.
Hard to imagine without visuals, but that’s not the point.
Rather, the point is that I enjoy product development and all the pain and problem solving that comes with it.
The full circle moment is even more interesting.
After the tens of hours designing a product, pushing it through testing, manufacturing and launch, seeing the reaction of the customer base is relieving, fascinating, nerve wracking and thrilling. All at once.
It’s the culmination of everything that went into product development. Essentially, I get to see if I hit the goals of what I imagined for the product, after adjusting it for real world constraints. The use case. The target customer. The colourways. The pricing. The ease of manufacture.
I have clear hits and clear misses so far. This’ll be a journal entry for another day.
For the product misses though, luckily I’m not so attached that there will be problems doing a cull at some point.
Which leads me to my next point of enjoyment.
Running a business.
I always describe myself as a business person first, bootmaker second. This is perhaps somewhat the opposite of most craftspeople.
Out of the two very separate roles, I enjoy running a business more than sitting down and making boots. And frankly speaking, I’m probably better at running a business than being a bootmaker.
It’s likely because of this, I don’t have so much attachment to my product lineup.
I tend to view it as a means to an end in order to have a successful business. And that’s what I’m attached to. The business.
So, in order to make the business succeed, I have no issue changing products, processes, whatever. Because if I don’t, well, then the business will die.
And with it, my enjoyment.
I tend to compare product reviews to tree pruning. The tree needs to be cut back from time to time in order to make room for regrowth. And then when it does re-grow, it gets bigger and stronger. Right?
Root cause of enjoyment stays the same.
Why I enjoy running the business is similar to why I enjoy product development.
It’s about problem solving again. How can I position the brand? What do customers actually want? What’s the best timing for product rollout? What are the trends in the market?
These type of philosophical questions I enjoy thinking about. In fact, so much so, that every year around December, I turn off my Meta ads and dedicate a week or two purely to them.
Think of it like a strategy offsite within the corporate world. Except it’s just me. The facilitator, participant and note taker.
During these few weeks I go back to the drawing board, revisit what Outstation is, how it’s developing, whether I’m happy with direction, what may need to change and where it needs to go next.
All the answers to these questions I use as a basis to plan upcoming launch timelines, products and internal projects for the next year or two. Essentially, my goals.
Overkill? Maybe.
In some ways though, this reminds me how I was taught to play basketball. My coach would say ‘do your practice drills at game speed, so that when gameday comes the muscle memory is second nature.’
Well said coach.
Full circle once more.
Similar to product development, seeing how the business grows (or not) due to my decision making is fascinating.
Decisions not just at the product level, but now also decisions for marketing, branding, media, manufacturing, procurement and the rest of it. Essentially the decisions for everything not boot related.
The best part is that there are no other idiots that will play politics, block, backstab, have own agendas, play God or just be a dick. I’m the only idiot here, so when shit goes wrong, there’s nobody to blame but myself.
And I have no issue with that.
Everybody needs boots.
This brings me to the third item that I enjoy. Meeting people.
Everybody, and I mean everybody, needs a pair of boots.
Whether everybody needs a pair of Outstation boots is a moot point, but my point here is that through operating the business, I meet a wildly diverse base of people.
I really enjoy this.
It doesn’t matter their background, race, religion, income, age, title. Everybody has feet, and everybody needs boots. It’s the great equalizer.
I recently had a customer that said I’m the equivalent of a barber. Yeah, I guess it’s similar. (Almost) everyone needs haircuts.
Funnily enough, I don’t particularly enjoy making effort to meet people. I’m an introvert. But if people naturally come across my path, then sure, why not.
As a Bootmaker, this happens because they’re sitting in front of me, trying on boots. Or because I’ve no choice but to find and talk to them, as is the case in my supply chain efforts.
A low effort, high reward system.
Because of all this, I get to meet people, offset the loneliness of being a one man show, and at the same time get to chat about a diversity of topics.
I’ve talked about gardening with judges, dew with farmers, listing fees with suppliers, tariffs with bankers, ramen with teachers.
Some are named characters in society, some are just the average NPC. Both are equally as interesting, because both are human.
In another life, I think I’d enjoy being a Sociologist.
Reflection equals refocus.
By sitting down and gathering my thoughts in the Journal every week or so, I find that it pulls everything back towards a single direction.
A scheduled refocus so to speak.
Irrespective of whether it’s about the business, what I’m feeling at the moment, or a very technical bootmaking topic.
Don’t get me wrong, I find it a real chore to start writing. It’s a similar feeling to building a gym habit. If the habit isn’t there, it’s a real pain to start. But when the habit is established, well, it’s relatively easy to keep on going.
Do I even enjoy bootmaking?
Funny right. The things I enjoy most of all don’t mention bootmaking anywhere. The heart of the business.
Relax. Don’t read into it too much. Many people are good at jobs that they aren’t passionate about. My Dad was an incredible boilermaker. He even had passion for it – a passionate hatred.
Not to say I don’t enjoy bootmaking, I definitely do. The feeling of making something from nothing still shocks me. Despite this feeling, it’s just the simple fact that there are other parts of the business which I’ve always enjoyed more.
Many years ago, I had a boss that told me ‘you need the right person, in the right place, at the right time, in the right role’.
It was only with much experience later that I understood what he meant. And now, applying it in my small business, it still holds true.
It’s simply that at this point in time, I’m the only person available for every role. So even if I’m not the right person, or it’s not the right time or place, there’s no other choice.
Luckily for me, I don’t mind at all.
