Ambitious students - Eleanor customizes sneakers

How did you get into customizing sneakers?  

I am quite creative, and I wanted customized shoes for a while. The shoes I had seen online were €220. My parents didn't want to buy such expensive shoes for me, and I wasn't working myself yet, as I was just fourteen. So, I thought, "I'm just going to do it myself." I bought some different things to customize, had a pair of old white shoes at home, and started to work on those. I enjoyed doing that so much that I wanted to do it more often, also for clients.  

I didn't know where to start, which rules applied to entrepreneurship, and how much I could earn before having to file a tax return. I didn't even know I had to register with the Chamber of Commerce.  

My father is an entrepreneur, so he helped me with those questions. We started very slowly and asked family and friends if they were interested. Luckily, they were! And that's how the ball got rolling. My parents saw that I really enjoyed doing it and supported me. With my father's entrepreneurial experience, he could always help me when I got stuck. 

I started by painting the shoes and looked at what others were doing. Some people painted very thin lines or small details, and I wondered, "How do they do that?" I bought very expensive brushes, hoping that I could do that as well, but found that, above all, I had to gain a lot of experience.  

The most challenging commissions are baby shoes because they are very small. For this work, you have to have a steady hand, and on those small shoes, it can be complicated sometimes, especially if a customer requests a very detailed design. One time I had a customer who wanted Cookie Monster on size 17 shoes. For such detailed designs, you can use a sticker, which you have to melt on the shoe with a sort of mini-iron. I still want to learn more techniques to customize shoes because there are many other techniques besides paint and stickers.  

What did you learn from being an entrepreneur?  

I provide a full-service package, so I provide both the shoe and the customization of it. I like working on Nike Air Force 1 the most. The paint I use is specifically made for customizing shoes and works best on that type of leather. Even though I am not the one producing the shoes, I am responsible for delivering a good product to the customer. That's why I don't work with any other type of shoes; I'm not sure if it will hold up well on those. I am quite precise, so that's why I opted for these shoes.  

One commission that became a great lesson was when I customized a shoe for a wedding with rhinestones all over the Nike logo. I had vastly underestimated that. I didn't know beforehand that rhinestones were so expensive. When I received my order, it was such a tiny bag of rhinestones that I had to order another one. That's when I did learn that before deciding the price, I needed to check how much the materials cost.  

I would like to be able to do this more and combine it with my studies. Eventually, I would also like to expand my collection, for example, with personalized hoodies. At some point, I would love to make an order for an entire group of customers. To be able to take a picture with a row of shoes that all match, I think that would be cool. 

Do you have any tips for people who are thinking about starting their own business? 

My tip to people who want to start their own business is just to do it and let yourself make mistakes. After all, they're going to happen anyway, and that's totally okay. You just have to do it and experience it because otherwise, you will later regret not doing it.  

Curious about Eleanor's work? Check out her website and Instagram.