100UE Fundee Blog: Size 12

Founders (from left): Toni Hall and Natalie Prather

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October 31, 2011: A Lesson in Supply, Demand . . . and the Power of Good Publicity

By Natalie Prather

We’ve gotten lots of press, phone calls and e-mails since we became one of the winners of 100 Urban Entrepreneurs’ business-pitch competition at Howard University in April. It’s been an amazing ride, and often overwhelming. But the good kind of overwhelming!

One of our most significant challenges — and I admit that this is a good problem for any entrepreneur to have — was not having enough supply to meet customer demand. In May, we were featured on the front page of a local newspaper. More than 100 people stopped by our store and mentioned that they had read about us, and we ended up nearly running out of shoes!

The mentoring classes we’ve been taking with the rest of the 100UE fundees in our group have been priceless, and we’re ready to take full advantage of them. Size 12 is at a point where we’re getting approached by investors, partners, celebrities, athletes and more. This is a crucial time for us: We very much want to expand by opening more stores around the world, so we’re looking forward to receiving more knowledge and guidance — as well as making sure our inventory always matches up with consumer demand — as we continue our 100UE mentoring.