Mavericks Laces co-founder Luke Schoknecht shares exactly how to turn an idea in to a business. Graphic designer by day, Luke and his business brand consultant partner decided they needed a product of their own which would allow them to walk their talk (excuse the pun!) … so Mavericks Laces was born.
As Luke says: “We all loved shoes and were spending far too much money on good kicks so we wanted to do something about that. We thought shoelaces were a cheap entry product but we wanted to do something different – so coloured shoelaces was born. We got some samples made and started wearing them. Then three things happened:
- We couldn’t believe how many comments people made about them and asked where they could get some, they loved the colours
- The coloured laces made our shoes look different every time we wore a different colour – they transformed our shoes – no more money on new shoes
- We felt like renegades, when we walked out the front door in the morning wearing our coloured laces we felt like a lone wolf and totally individual
This is a wonderful story of entrepreneurism, about having a crack when those around you think you’re crazy and about how to turn the seed of an idea in to a successful business.
Plus I share 10 business learnings from a recent speakers retreat I attended. It was absolutely amazing.
Let’s get stuck right into episode 219 of Australia’s #1 marketing show. Go!
Episode Timeline
- 0:28 Summary of what we’ll cover in this episode
- 2:24 A quick whinge about the size of confectionary these days
- 4:57 5 (of 10) business insights I learnt at a recent speakers retreat I attended
- 13:40 Mavericks Laces founder Luke Schoknecht introduction
- 16:30 Luke shares his favourite pumps
- 17:55 Colour anxiety is real!
- 18:30 Mavericks Laces website is incredibly helpful
- 20:05 Luke’s made something out of nothing – it’s all about an emotional connection
- 20:50 Soft porn for marketers
- 22:50 Where the idea for Mavericks Laces came from
- 26:00 When people don’t like your idea
- 26:56 Elevating a functional object in to a desirable fashion accessory
- 28:00 Coming up with a pricing strategy
- 30:40 The power of offering one product
- 35:15 Mavericks Laces marketing expenditure
- 36:45 How Mavericks laces got in to Country Road
- 38:19 What to do when people copy your business idea
- 41:29 Examples of going that extra one percent
- 47:54 Top 5 learnings from my chat with Luke
- 49:55 5 more business insights I learnt at a recent speakers retreat I attended
- 53:58 Motivational marketing quote of the week – from Henry Ford!
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
- Netregistry: Get your online marketing sorted!
- Mavericks Laces – The official website
- Hit up Luke Schoknecht on Twitter and tell him you heard him on The Small Business Big Marketing Show
- Join the The Small Business Big Marketing Forum now
- Crank My Marketing
Tweetables
My Top 5 Learnings
This week’s top 5 learnings from my chat with Mavericks Laces Luke Schoknecht:
- Continue to build emotion in to all your marketing touch points.
- Stop worrying about your competitors. Turn that energy in to telling your story in an even better way.
- There is no business in the world that can’t be interesting. Listen up accountants!
- Have a helpful website – one that solves problems for your customers.
- Put social media buttons in the footer of your website.
Over to you!
Let me know YOUR #1 takeaway from this episode by leaving a comment below.
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