Sneakers are expensive but easy to wear
He sensed a business opportunity
The first time he met Jiao Shaohua was at 2:30 pm on July 8, at the "Shoe Dog" in Wangdong Market At the entrance of the "Inn", he got out of a car with the Air Jordan logo printed on it and said with a smile that he would probably never be able to live without basketball and sneakers in his life.
The "Shoe Dog Station" store is not big, and there are repaired sneakers waiting to be mailed in the basket at the door. On one side of the wall, Michael Jordan wearing No. 23 Chicago Bulls uniform is hand-painted; on the other side, the shoe cabinet against the wall is filled with basketball shoes that need to be repaired. On the top of the wall is written "Shoe Dog" One wall, one apartment in Zhengzhou" are the words. A Jian and A Biao, apprentices from Guangdong in the store, were deeply touched by this seemingly joking statement.
"Yesterday, my aunt was cleaning the room and threw away my shoe box. She thought the shoe box was waste and helped me get rid of it. She didn't know that my shoe box was worth 5,000 yuan." Seeing everyone's expressions, Unbelievable, Ajian took out his mobile phone and clicked on a trendy online shopping app. There was a clear price tag on this pair of limited edition Nike Dunk series sneakers: the one with the original shoe box was priced at 19,999 yuan, and the one without the shoe box was "only sold" for 14,000 yuan. !
With the help of social networks and big-name celebrities, sneakers have become hard currency in the eyes of young people, and limited-edition sneakers are as popular as luxury goods.
"A pair of signature sneakers starts at 1,000 yuan, but once the air cushion is damaged and the soles are worn out, the uppers will no longer be wearable." Anyone who plays basketball knows that the concrete floor of a basketball court is difficult to wear. Sneakers are very unfriendly, and the soles will often wear to varying degrees after just a few games. Jiao Shaohua said that every time he heard the friction between the soles of his shoes and the concrete floor, his "heart bleeds."
Why can’t the worn soles be repaired and brought back to life? In 2018, there was no formal business location that could repair basketball shoes in Zhengzhou. If you wanted to repair your shoes, you could only send them to other places. Seeing his "killed" Kobe Bryant 6 basketball shoes on the cement court and being reluctant to throw them away, Jiao Shaohua smelled a business opportunity.
"Rip" shoe repair
He lost 1,000 yuan to his friend
Jiao Shaohua graduated from Henan University of Science and Technology in 2017, majoring in automation. After graduation, he worked as a management trainee Working in a well-known company in Zhengzhou, I earned a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan right after graduation, which is considered a high-income earner.
In the second half of 2018, Jiao Shaohua came up with the idea of ??entering the sneaker repair industry. In order to have more time to learn the skills of repairing, color changing and refurbishing sneakers, he simply left the above-mentioned company and applied to become a counselor at Zhengzhou Technology and Business College. Although the monthly salary became 3,000 yuan, he got more time to study as he wished.
At first, Jiao Shaohua learned sneaker repair skills from videos on Station B. I learned theoretical knowledge from the Internet, but it was difficult to practice it in practice. Since there were no customers, he could only practice on his friends' shoes.
"I told him that I would refurbish the shoes for you for free and make them look like new ones." But the reality is cruel after all, because it is difficult to touch up the color of the patent leather material and there is a lack of practical experience in repairing sneakers. This pair of navy blue AJ11s bought for 1,700 yuan showed uneven color and stained uppers after repair.
"I paid 1,000 yuan to make up for his loss." Jiao Shaohua placed the pair of AJ11s in the most conspicuous position in his store, always reminding him that sneaker repair and refurbishment is a craft. It requires strong theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
In January 2019, while the school was on winter vacation, Jiao Shaohua went to a shoe shine shop on Guangdian South Road in Zhengzhou City to learn leather care. The shop did not charge tuition fees, and he did not receive a salary. “Apprenticeship is free. Just work, I’ll be satisfied if you don’t charge me tuition.”
In July 2019, the summer vacation came and Jiao Shaohua had more time to study. He was planning to go to Panjin, Liaoning. "There are many workshops for repairing sneakers in Liaoning." While studying in Panjin, Liaoning, Jiao Shaohua was like a sponge, absorbing nutrients around him like a sponge. Soon he became proficient in changing soles, changing air cushions, darning shoe uppers, changing colors, and replacing shoes. Core technologies such as leather.
With craftsmanship, you also need to solve the problem of raw material supply.
As a major town in the shoemaking industry, Putian was a must-go place for Jiao Shaohua. At that time, he would go there whenever he had time to look for reliable raw materials for sneakers.
In September 2019, Jiao Shaohua, who had completed all the accumulation before starting a business, made up his mind to quit his job as a counselor, registered a company, moved into a new studio, and started his entrepreneurial journey.
Expand customers through Douyin
Repair 5,000 pairs of sneakers in two years
For Jiao Shaohua, starting a business is a pleasant process of turning a hobby into a career. Because of his love for basketball, Jiao Shaohua met many golfers. After the "Shoe Dog Station" was opened, the golfers naturally turned into customers and introducers. Several nearby universities also provided a stable source of customers for the shoe store, and Jiao Shaohua's business was very good in the early days of his business.
But the good times did not last long. The sudden COVID-19 epidemic pressed the pause button on the entire society, and the start of colleges and universities was postponed. Jiao Shaohua's business was affected. Inspired by Douyin's live broadcast, Jiao Shaohua started his journey as an anchor to "explore customers online". From an ignorant novice, he turned into an anchor who calmly answered netizens' various questions about sneakers in front of the camera.
"Now every live broadcast is watched by four to five hundred people." Jiao Shaohua said that online has become the main source of business, and it has also helped this small studio that just started to survive the new coronavirus epidemic.
During the interview, there was a constant roar in the studio's operation room. The busy person was Jiao Shaohua's father, who was polishing the rubber soles. "I'm so busy at all. There are forty or fifty pairs of shoes waiting to be repaired today, and there are still shoes to be sent tomorrow."
While talking, Jiao Shaohua's father placed a pair of sneakers with new soles glued on them. Entering the air compressor on the side, "Bah!" the air compressor made a loud sound. When it was opened, a pair of "new shoes" reborn from the ashes came out. The cost of replacing the soles of this pair of shoes is 180 yuan, and the repaired new shoes can be packaged and sent back to the owner the next day. Since the opening of the shop, Jiao Shaohua has repaired more than 5,000 pairs of sneakers, and his monthly income has stabilized at more than 20,000 yuan.
Douyin live broadcast brought customers to Jiao Shaohua and also brought students. A Jian and A Biao came from Guangdong a month and a half ago to study with a teacher. The tuition fee was 5,000 yuan each. "I am in the business of selling basketball shoes. After I learned the skills of repairing sneakers and returned home, I started selling shoes and repairing shoes at the same time. My services became more diversified," Ajian said.
Adhering to the spirit of craftsman
He carefully repairs other people's stories
More than 5,000 pairs of sneakers are more than 5,000 stories.
Last summer, a girl in her twenties opened the door of the "Shoe Dog Station" on a hot afternoon. "She was very anxious and asked me if I could repair the AJ11 on her hand." Jiao Shaohua saw that the condition of this pair of shoes was not good. The heels and uppers were seriously worn, and the air cushion had collapsed. It would take a lot of work to repair it. repair. Seeing the girl's anxious look, Jiao Shaohua knew that these shoes had special meaning to her.
In the next month, Jiao Shaohua spent a lot of time repairing the shoes by shaving, coloring, and cleaning. When the girl came to pick up her shoes, she burst into tears when she saw the new pair of shoes. "She said these shoes were her favorite sneakers that her father bought for her before he was alive. With these shoes, it's as if her father had never left." Jiao Shaohua said emotionally: "What I repair is not shoes, but stories." ”
From a new youth to a new craftsman, Jiao Shaohua’s persistence has been rewarded. Not long ago, an investor came to seek cooperation, and Jiao Shaohua had already drawn up a blueprint in his mind: "I want to turn sneaker repair into a standardized assembly line and make this industry more formal and prosperous."
Source Henan Youth Times
Reporter Li Gang Trainee reporter Zhang Zhiyu/text
Editor Yang Yang
Review Tian Zhen