Andrew Wachtel congratulates founders of Cobbler.kg

January 20, 2016

January 19, 2016, AUCA President Andrew Wachtel personally congratulated Umed Narzikulov and Baibagysh Nazarbaev, seniors in Business Administration and Economics, on the successful launch of their handmade footwear business in the Kyrgyz Republic.

At the meeting, the president wanted to buy a pair of shoes from the entrepreneurs to support local manufacturers, but Umed and Baibagysh decided to give him the shoes as a present instead.

President Wachtel commented, “We always have had a majority of our students graduate AUCA with job opportunities lined up. But, it is more important to create something in Kyrgyzstan. It makes us happy that you are brave enough to set up a company. I think your business will flourish. You are a really good example for our students, and I hope you are ready to share your experience and success with them”.

 

Umed and Baibagysh thanked Dr. Wachtel for his support, and told us about their new footwear brand “Cobbler”.

 

How did you come up with the idea of your business? With what team? And how did AUCA help?

Umed (U): It took long time to set up our own start up. There are many IT start ups, online stores, cafés, gadgets and others, but they no longer wow people. We wanted to create something urgent, something that would benefit someone every day and make people happy. So, it took a long time for us to decide what we should work on. In the end, the idea arose spontaneously. It’s all thanks to Raushan, Baibagysh’s girlfriend; she couldn’t find acceptable ballet shoes. The two of them travelled all over Bishkek, but weren’t able to find good enough shoes. In the end, they found Uncle Yura, and he helped them find exactly what they wanted. Afterwards, Uncle Yura became a good friend and partner in our business. We decided to create our own footwear brand the day we met him.

Baibagysh (B): It took about a week to consider everything and move from thought to action. We didn’t write a business plans, didn’t do any market research, and didn’t do any paperwork. We already had an intellectual background. I’m studying economics, and Umed is studying business, so, during our three years of studying at AUCA we built up at least a few skills for effectively using time and capital. We were sure about each other, and so we knew everything would turn out okay. Above all, we had to push ourselves to the limit. Besides us, our team consists of a few fellows from the AUCA Business Clinic. They always give us advice on how to improve our footwear, what to add, what to take out. They are our main critics and supporters.

U: I remember, sometime in the middle of November, the shelves in our room were fully stocked with shoes. It was some kind of mini-warehouse.

 

Why did you decide to work on leather footwear in particular?

B: Footwear made of natural leather is always sought after. It’s valued for its high quality, but nowadays it is uncommon. High quality shoes are often quite expensive. We do not restrict ourselves to just working with leather shoes. We have plans to launch a new collection of 20-30 models made of leather, suede, etc.

 

Why did you decide to begin your business with men’s shoes and not women’s? Do you know when you will launch women’s shoes?

U: It is much more difficult to make women’s footwear; in particular it is difficult to guess tastes, models, materials, etc. In terms of our limited budget, we decided to begin with only men’s footwear. Starting from February-March, as soon as we bring in additional materials, we will start to take orders for individual women’s, men’s and children’s shoes.

B: Our work enables customers to wear whatever they’d like. We have planned to launch women’s and children’s footwear at the beginning of the next year. People have to understand, we are still only at the beginning of our path, and now it’s not always exactly as we wanted.

Do you think your work was worth the effort?

U: All of our expectations were worth our efforts. Sure, we faced some difficulties in manufacturing, both with materials and time (it takes six hours per one pair). Shoemaking, especially by hand, is not as easy as it seems. We are only at the beginning of our path. We are frequently forced to go to Almaty or Moscow to arrange deliveries of leather, soles, or boot-trees. Considering we are also seniors, and that our thesis won’t write itself, at times it is hard to navigate both work and our studies.

B: But we knew where we were heading, we knew it wouldn’t be easy, and yet we were ready to face all the difficulties awaiting us. Our primary goal is to make inexpensive footwear, at the highest possible quality; we want to see our customers happy buying our shoes! We want to improve our shoe brand so that people can have high quality at a reasonable price!

 

What plans do you have to expand your business?

B: For the next year, our plan is to arrange for a regular supply of all the required materials for shoemaking. In the spring, we want to open our own shop. The shop will enable our customers to buy shoes and to order custom models. At the end of year, we want to expand and to improve our manufacturing, both in quality and quantity.

U: It is not yet the time for us to enter the international market--it just doesn’t make sense. First, we must do our best to satisfy the demands and wishes of our fellow citizens. Only after that can we think about new plans. At the moment, the main thing is to figure out the delivery of our footwear to Osh, Talas, Karakol and other regions of the Kyrgyz Republic. People want to buy our shoes, but they can’t. We want to create this opportunity for them.

 

What interest do your customers display?

U: Wow! The interest of our fellow citizens, our customers, exceeded all our expectations! Certainly, we knew that many people would like our shoes, but even then we didn’t expect it on such a large scale. Every day we hear a lot of positive opinions, well-wishes, and comments. These are our best motivators. We like to see the amazement in the eyes of our customers when they first see a pair of our shoes.

B: It is always a pleasure when your work is valued. It means we’re doing everything right. So, we want to express our gratitude to all our customers, our fellow citizens.

U and B: We are proud to make shoes for you, our friends, family, neighbors, and everyone else! We promise to improve our brand further so that you will always enjoy buying our shoes! Thank you so much for your happy faces and for your support!

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