Dasha Kuznetsova's schoolgirl wants to save people from awkwardness to wear different socks - the idea was supported not only by mom, but also the founder of Dodo Pizza and manufacturers of protests "Motorika".
Single Socks are sets of single socks without a pair that combines design on topical topics. The idea came to the head of a ten-year-old Dasha Kuznetsova when she studied in a children's start-up school. The girl wants to do so that everyone was comfortable and not ashamed to wear different socks.
Together with the mother - director and screenwriter Ella Molzheva - Dasha lied support for entrepreneurs and is trying to scale the "family" project. The first batch of 200 boxes of 11 socks were already repented, and the project paid off.
What is the idea of Single Socks and how the project appeared
The idea appeared from Dasha when she participated in the business school Silicon Valley Camp. There, children and adolescents teach develop ideas, create a portrait of the audience, analyze competitors and present a project to investors.
According to Molzheva, Dasha's hit to school was a "chain of random events." Mom became interested in a silicon valley and entrepreneurship after the film Yuri Dudia, found Silicon Valley Camp and met the founders.
SV CAMP founded immigrants Natalia Cherkashin and Ivan Shamaev. They invited Mentors from the Silicon Valley:
- Nikolai Davydova, founder Gagarin Capital.
- Arsen Tomsk, founder Indriver.
- Maxim Nickotkova, the former owner of the "connected".
Shamayev told Molzheva that adult courses in SV Camp are not, and suggested to participate in Dasha in the next set - suddenly she will be interested. The girl agreed.
In the "camp" Dasha first invented the image of a girl who lost socks. Then the image "grown" to a full portrait of the client - a large mother, which instead of killing the time to search for socks of family members, keeps the collection of socks in one place and gets new every few weeks.
At ideally, each sock of the collection was dedicated to the results of 2020 - from Coronavirus and launch Crew Dragon to a trend for a remote.
Also, the girl was sketched socks, prepared a presentation for investors and invented ideas for the development of the project.
To determine the demand, Dasha with mom launched polls in social networks: whether users will wear different socks, as far as it is important for them, how many spend on socks, as they often change them. They found out that different socks wears the "most", but at the same time they are awkward. From confusion and could save Single Socks.
The project became the finalist SV Camp, the girl won six months mentoring mentors and continued participation in other start-up communities.
For example, Pitchila the idea of entrepreneurs in the VC Kitchen program, the Startup Kotiki community created by the investor Igor Shawifot. She told about the project Nikolai Davydov, Igor Ryabnyku, Igor Matsanyuk. Those gave advice and told about the problems faced by themselves.
First investment and assistance "Investor Angel"
One idea was little - the question arose where to produce a trial batch of socks and how to sell them. It took 100 thousand rubles for the launch for the manufacture of 200 boxes with socks.According to the magee, find a factory for the production of a small lot with different designs turned out to be difficult. Manufacturers refused to project: were either uninteresting or expensive. Typically order one design to the entire trial batch, but not 11 different.
Case helped: the correspondent Motoriki, Galina Malygina, came to the directorial courses. The company produces prostheses gadgets and developed a platform for the rehabilitation of patients in virtual reality.
Malygin became interested in the project and offered to become a "business angel", help investments and team to run Single Socks.
Thanks to the acquaintances, there was a factory - the wicker factory "Virtuoso". The "Motoriki" team partially helps with promotion and sales.
So far, the conditions of the partnership with the malga were not discussed, as "did a common cause", in the future the founders of "Motoriki" can get a stake in the project.
Who is the team
Now there are ten people in the team: besides Dasha, Moms and the founders of "Motorika", there is a developer, an employee for processing orders and a friend of the family, a designer-technologist Victoria. She is engaged in design socks.
Separately Molzhev notes the founder of Dodo Pizza Fedor Ovchinnikov, with whom she was familiar with the film projects. According to her, he "directly believes in the project", he liked the idea and he suggested supporting her on startup.
Successful sales and plans for the future with a subscription to "Actual" socks
Initially, the project was conceived as "family and friendly," was designed for friends and acquaintances. But thanks to the publication of Ovchinnikov, Facebook went to a wide audience. All 200 boxes from the first batch are sold out, the project paid off, and the new batch was ordered for revengeted money.
Since sales went through Instagram, due to high demand, there was a problem with processing orders - no correspondence messenger opened. The founders had to quickly redo Landing and sell sales through the site, mail and Telegram.
After starting, the project's audience has changed. If you first focused on a housewife, which is looking for children's socks, now Single Socks looks at the audience of entrepreneurs and start-ups that "want to be in fashionable socks."
The startup is trying to enter marketers to find a platform for scaling the project, plans to run advertising and create a promotion strategy. Plans to launch advertising through acquaintances of influenusers and friends familiar to the movie.
The final business model Single Socks is to sell socks by subscription: once a quarter subscribers will receive a box with 11 pairs of socks with relevant design and themes per person. 30 people are ready to subscribe to socks, Molzhev says.
Dasha with mom is counting on that 11 socks are five pairs that the buyer changes in three months, following the socks, the actual agenda changes. Thus, subscribers "forever go in trend." Old socks can be recycled and get a discount.
The purpose of Single Socks is "to be recognizable and broadcast the story itself, since the socks do not work without it," Molzhev believes.
Evaluate the demand and possible volumes of the production of the next parties, they do not risk. It is necessary to understand who and why bought socks and how many people will return after the new year.
Molzhev notes that while Single Socks decides "very cute" tasks: thinking about a new collection, marketers, advertising in infoensers. But if the business grows, you will need to or give him more time, or "give up" to another entrepreneur so that he scales the project.
But even if it does not work and Single Socks closes after the first batch, it's still a "good story." The main experience that Dasha received is: she came up with an idea, materialized her, received the result and response, met with interesting people, thinks Molzhev.
Competitions they are not afraid. Although the idea is easily copied, if it spreads and large factories will begin to produce "darling" kits, which means that "people will finally stop steaming that they have different socks."
# Startups #SingLesocks # Entrepreneurship
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