Let me tell you a few things about the story behind the now well-known Cambridge Satchel Company. The story of its success is an incredible one, if you take into consideration the different odds that were against it, you will have to admit it yourself. I was personally recently inspired by Julie Deane's (Julie Dean is the founder of the firm) who is a very optimistic and motivating person, that's why I wanted to mention it here, and also because I am doing a lesson on companies with my students tomorrow, and so it will be a great opportunity to introduce them to Cambridge satchels, to the idea of presenting a company and all this while putting across the wait- a- second-i -could- do-it-myself message.
Just listen to some of the facts:
The company was created in 2008 in Cambridge, England with 600- pounds budget (no, it is not a mistake, six hundred, that's right). The budget was enough to produce six bags. Six years later the company makes 500 bags every single day.
The business idea grew when Julie Deane was a full time mum and when she realised that her daughter was being bullied at school. She then promised her children to put them in a private school, where the tuition fees amounted to some 15,000 pounds.
She was determined enough to sit down and come up with 10 ideas that could earn her this sort of money. And this is how she decided to go for the satchels.
On her own, without any prior knowledge, she created her website using the Microsoft web tutorial in three nights. She is also behind the creation of the logo (some copying and pasting of various online images), which proves that what we need most of all is not money but resourcefulness.
For quite a while her own kitchen served as the company's office, which led to some funny situations, like those when she was clinching deals with Harrods or Selfridges while cooking dinner, or when, in her reply to a journalist's question, she gave the name of her dog - Rupert as the security agent in order to give the impression that the company was bigger than it really was (at that time, there were only two people in the firm - Julie Deane and her 70 year old mum).
Her bags have reached the top end of the market, and these days, Julie Deane often visits schools to egg young people on and help them believe in themselves and their ideas, spreading the message that the fact of being at school doesn't prevent them from setting up their own ventures.
Doesn't it give you wings?
Below, two videos you may want to see, one was made by Google, the other by Fedex. They both present Cambridge Satchel Company in two different ways:
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