A boring pair of boots led Amy to an “aha” moment and the creation of Kuhfs. Each unique design is produced in small-batch quantity and allows women to show off their sense of style and personality.
Tell us a little about your background…
I am 44 years old, married for 19 years to a wonderful man. My husband, David, is Vice President of Sales for ConAgra foods and for the past 12 years I have chosen to stay at home to raise our boys: Jack, 13, and Matthew, 11. We live in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago.
Before we had children, I was a Physical Therapist Assistant for many years. I worked in a nursing home rehabilitating the elderly population, working with them after strokes, hip/knee surgery, a general decline in health, etc. I loved my job, but wanted to earn more money and have more control over my future so I decided to go into medical sales. I was successful and enjoyed the freedom and increased income that a sales job offered. What I liked about sales was the fact that the harder you worked, the more return you got. It was up to me; it felt like my own mini business.
Prepping vegetables with my mom for a cooking session
While I was a stay-at-home mom, I did try my hand at my own business based on a new concept in the food industry called a meal assembly kitchen. This was a commercial kitchen that was set up with stations/carts so customers could come in and prepare 12 meals in about an hour or so. We’d create the menu each month and have all the ingredients on hand. Customers would follow the recipes to make the meals, then take them home for easy prepared dinners. My mom, sister, and I named our meal assembly kitchen Entrees By You and worked at that business for almost five years, but it was an epic failure and never turned a profit. Still, I learned a lot about running a business, which would be valuable for my next act.
When did you start to think about making a change in midlife?
I have always had the entrepreneurial bug. I love creating, design, and fashion. After the failure of my meal assembly business, however, I was not looking to start something new. But an “aha” moment led me to my next act.
It was late winter and I was tired of my standard black fashion boots. I had worn them for two to three seasons already, but I was not in a financial position to afford another pair of $250 boots. I thought, “I wish there was something I could put on my boots that would change their look.” I searched online and did not find anything to meet my needs. One day, the idea to wrap one of my scarves around the top of my boot came to me. The boot looked completely different! I loved it. Now I just had to create the product.
I drew out my first prototype. The original design was just for boots, so I spent time researching boots—how wide the openings are, how long the shaft is, what styles are popular. I knew from the beginning that I wanted one size fits most; I did not want women to have to measure their calves to see what size to order. I played around with the length and width until I had a size that would work on most boots, then I borrowed my mom’s sewing machine and started to sew the pieces together. I quickly decided each cuff had to have three critical components: fashion fabric for design, interfacing for stability, and broadcloth for a nice finished look on the back.
I struggled the most with figuring out how to make the closure adjustable; I tried snaps, Velcro, elastic, buttons. I finally settled on a sturdy, bobby pin. (I added my logo onto the cuff last year in the form of a tag so people would know they were purchasing an original, if and when my idea got copied.)
Eight months later, with a good working prototype in hand, I started to wear my boot “cuffs” around town and made some for my friends. Before I knew it, people were commenting on how cute my boots were and were amazed when I took the “cuffs” off the boots: “What a great idea! How cute is that! I want a pair!” I decided to start selling my products at a small church craft fair to see if anyone besides my friends would have the same reaction. They did!
What is your next act?
I am the founder and owner of Kuhfs, a design accessory meant to be worn on your boots, jeans, leggings, workout pants, and capris. I have 19 designs on offer right now and would like to keep it around that number; too many products can get hard to keep track of and expensive to produce. I only produce about 100 of each Kuhfs design; once they are sold out, they are gone. I want to make sure my customers have a unique experience wearing their Kuhfs and showing off their personal style. I do not want my customers showing up to an event or party and three other people have the same Kuhfs on! I would describe my line as classic, upscale and fun.
I am running and growing my accessory company one day at a time. I am connecting with my audience, building brand and product awareness, as well as working on additional products to add to the Kuhfs brand. I love my job, despite the challenges of running my own business.
My favorite part is designing new Kuhfs. The inspiration for my designs comes from sourcing fabric; I could spend hours browsing through the fabric warehouses. I do not go in looking for a specific color, pattern, or idea; I just see what catches my eye. Then I think about how that fabric will fit into my line, who would wear it, where they would wear it, and if this fabric will be easy to incorporate and pair with someone’s existing wardrobe. Is it preppy, classic, bold, fun, elegant? My patterns have not really changed that much over time. I stay true to my taste, what I like, and what I think my customers will like.
Why did you choose this next act?
At the time, I really didn’t have any other ideas or passions I was following. I was happy at home raising my two boys. I did not have any intention of launching a fashion brand. I came up with a great idea and chose to turn it into reality because I was passionate about it and it was a great outlet for my creative energy. I took it one step at a time.
How did you turn a prototype into a business?
I had no experience in the fashion industry and I had no idea how I was going to get my product from idea to reality. I had to start from scratch with zero experience, but I did not let that deter me.
I had to figure out a lot of things: how to hire a sewing contractor, get a pattern made, source fabric, build a website, market a new product, engage on social media—all on my own. Google is my best friend. When I started Kuhfs I didn’t even know how to sew: I Googled “how to sew a straight hem.” I was willing to ask questions, connect with people in the industry, and learn from them.
I decided early on that I was going to let Kuhfs grow organically. I took a year to test the market and attend a few small selling events, working on Kuhfs part time. Then, I was able to enlist the help of a marketing firm,Thinker Ventures. I had won an entrepreneurial contest they had in May 2013, to help launch new products and I received $5,000 worth of their services. They helped me come up with a name; the unusual spelling was chosen so that it would stand out and give the product an upscale feel. Together, we developed a brand identity, a new website, a promotion strategy, and marketing materials. After three months of their help, I was ready to set out on my own. They gave me a great kick-start to launch in the right direction. In August 2014, I officially launched Kuhfs and started working full time.
How is Kuhfs doing?
I am still in the investment stage of building my business. I am not selling a scarf or something that people are familiar with, so a lot of my budget goes to building brand and product awareness through social media, advertising, and marketing; this includes Facebook ads, promoted Pins on Pinterest, paid sponsored posts from bloggers, ads through Google Adwords, etc. I have had a steady growth in sales from month to month. The majority of my sales are at in-person selling events, not over my website. Attending trade shows and sales events gives me the opportunity to connect with new customers and introduce the brand to new audiences.
I really want Kuhfs to be an e-commerce business but I struggle to get the message across on my website since Kuhfs is such a new concept.
I decided on my price once I had all of the costs factored into the product and what I thought was a fair mark-up for me. I target middle to upper income women with my product so I priced it at what I thought they (and I) would be willing to pay. Kuhfs are made in America so my prices are a bit higher for the quality of work and the craftsmanship that goes into producing the product. Just last month, I decided not to pursue retail; by selling directly to consumers, eliminating the markup required to sell at wholesale, I was able to lower my prices. I think Kuhfs being priced at $32-$38 is fair and affordable to my market.
This spring, I introduced the new application of Kuhfs for jeans, leggings and workout pants, which was practically a relaunch. This helped me eliminate the seasonality of my product but required more investment in educating the public: new photography, an updated website, and new marketing materials. I anticipate Kuhfs will be profitable by the end of 2015.
How supportive were your family and friends?
My family and friends have been, and still are, extremely supportive. My friends were the first people to test the Kuhfs prototypes and work at the craft fairs with me. They encouraged me to keep going and were proud of every little success and they were there for me when things didn’t go my way. My husband has been nothing but supportive, not only financially, but emotionally as well. A lot of the events that I attend are at night and on the weekends, so that means I am away from home a lot. It is a sacrifice, but we are working it out together and he is extremely proud of me and what I have accomplished so far.
My boys (Jack, 13 and Matthew, 11) have helped in every aspect of the business, from production to shipping to social media. They are a pre-teen and a teenager so it is hard to impress them, but they are very proud.
With David and our boys
What challenges have you encountered?
I encountered many challenges a