Balancing Style and Storage: The Making of the Becket Multifunctional Bag

Welcome entrepreneurs and startups to Art of the Kickstart, the show that every entrepreneur needs to listen to before you launch. I’m your host, Roy Morejon, President and Founder of Enventys Partners, the world’s only turnkey product launch company. From product development and engineering to Omni-channel marketing, we’ve helped our clients launch thousands of inventions and earn more than $1 billion in sales over the past 20 years. Each week I interview a startup success story, an inspirational entrepreneur or a business expert in order to help you take your launch to the next level. This show would not be possible without our main sponsor ProductHype, the weekly newsletter that goes out and shows you the best inventions that just launched. Make sure to check out Producthype.co and join the Hype Squad. Now let’s get on with the show.

Welcome to another edition of Art of the Kickstart. Today we are talking with the founder of Becket London, Ms. Ali Roberts. Ali has been designing this amazing bag. It is active on Kickstarter right now as we speak. There’s only a few days left, but we already pre-sold over $20,000 worth of bags, so any support that you can do even after the campaign ends on December 3rd. But Ali, I am super excited to have you on my show today, so welcome.

Thank you. Thank you very much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Absolutely. So, if you would, for our audience, let’s just dive in and give them the elevator pitch for your product and why you created it.

Yeah, absolutely. So, Becket London is a type of bag, basically it’s a premium bag that we’ve designed to improve the daily routine and transitions between the work, gym, and weekend travel. And we’ve done that through organization, hygiene, and sustainability.

Amazing. So, let’s describe, or if maybe you could describe some of those unique features that Becket has that clearly sets it apart from all the other bags that are on the market.

Absolutely. Yeah, so I think the main thing for us was that our workday and our gym workouts converge into two. Yet on the market you can get work bags, which are fantastic and you can get gym bags, but which don’t, there’s not a bag yet that combines both, which caters for maximum functionality in the gym. So, you’ve got somewhere for sweaty gym kits, your trainers, your clean clothes, but then outside looks like a suitable work bag that you can take into meetings and take out after work. So, that’s basically why we set about designing Becket. It started from my own frustrations that I just had one big holdall, or I had a small rucksack and I simply didn’t have enough space. So, we basically designed a holdall with compartments on the inside, so everything’s tucked neatly, discreetly away from everything else, and then it converts to a backpack. So, you’ve got the convenience as well.

Amazing. So, I know hygiene today is certainly a growing concern for many. Obviously not wanting your sweaty gym clothes next to your expensive MacBook. Doesn’t really work in today’s market or busy cities like London, but how has Becket addressed this with the design and the materials that you’re using in it?

Yeah, so that’s a great question. So, we basically there’s a laptop pocket, so a padded laptop pocket, which is completely concealed, and then next to it is another pocket for a reusable wash bag and also your sweaty gym kit. So, it’s got its own dedicated compartment and you put it in its own laundry net, so it can sit within the bag for the day when you’re in the office and not basically contaminate the rest of your bag. I think one of the key points of a Becket Bag is that it’s actually got antimicrobial technology. The hygiene protection against bacteria and germs is up to 99.9%, which I think as a commuter and in the city, I go from being on the tube, I pack my bag on my bed, and then you take it into the gym, change rooms in the office. So, the possibility of accumulating dirt and bacteria, not just on the outside but on the inside too, is huge. And so, that kind of just gives you that extra protection and promise that the bag will last for longer and stay cleaner.

Amazing. Well, I know one of the other factors that a lot of people look at, especially in new products that are coming to market, is the sustainability of the product and how it’s made. So I’d love to hear some of those factors, especially for our modern consumers, right? What are those sustainability practices that you’ve incorporated into Becket’s design and production?

Absolutely. So, it’s very multifaceted for us and we were lucky enough to find a manufacturer, Veshin Factory who are based out in China, who purely work with sustainable materials and sustainable vendors. And so, if we start with the materials of the bag, we use non-leather alternatives, but with the durability of leather, but the non-harmful practices. Our distributors, we work with people who are carbon-neutral to make sure we’re shipping all around the world, but we’re not adding to the planet.

And then in terms of the bag itself, we really looked at how we carry our belongings and a lot of people use plastic bags and gyms give away plastic bags for wet swimsuits, or I used to use them for my toiletries, et cetera. So, what we did within Becket Bag, we’ve created its own wash bag, which fits in it as well as the laundry net. So, you don’t have a need to use plastic bags in that kind of environment. Again, you’ve got it all encompassed in one bag. So, it’s very, very much a multifaceted approach, and we will continue to look at our production cycle and the materials we’re using and the waste, et cetera, and really try and make sure that we’re reducing our impact on the planet wherever possible.

Well, with all of this, price is certainly one of those things in terms of a deciding factor for most buyers, and it sounds like you’ve built in so much amazing innovation into this bag and a ton of thought has gone into it. How have you gone about balancing the quality and the affordability for this item?

Yeah, so it’s an interesting one because if you’re looking at the bag, people will only pay a certain amount for a gym bag, but then if you’re looking at a weekend holdall, people often pay a lot more for that. And then you look at brand name and you’ve got the bags where people are paying 500 plus for the name essentially, but the quality isn’t much better, you’re paying for the brand identity. And then you’ve got probably lesser expensive bags on the market, but again, great brand names and we saw there was a space in high end, but accessible and the price point is where it is because you’re not just getting a bag, you’re getting something that is multifunctional and versatile for your day. So, it does anything from taking you into your weekend travel or on a daily basis, you can use it for that gym to work transition with the antimicrobial technology and the sustainability as well, that’s all encompassed within that price point.

Quite amazing. What I’d love to dive into now is maybe more of the developmental journey that you’ve been on with this, because a lot of our listeners and a lot of the people that show up to the show or ask questions, they’re always the wantrepreneurs, right? And they want to do something, but they don’t know that first step. And I know launching a product always comes with its challenges. So, maybe you could share part of your journey and maybe how you’ve overcome some of the skepticism about your product.

Yeah, so it started many years ago now, from my own frustrations with I think I had an old school holdall and everything was just kind of inside it and I didn’t have the compartments, so that’s where the first idea came from. And then I looked on the market and at the time there wasn’t anything compartmentalized that I could find, which had the space that I needed. So, I went about designing the bag with no design experience from that side of things and just, I actually used a cardboard box and tape and made the bag to the size I thought I needed it.

And at the time it was kind of huge. It was absolutely massive, and I realized it definitely doesn’t need to be that big. So, reduced it quite significantly to a smaller size. And it was a really good learning curve because I didn’t have access to designers and I didn’t have access to factories, so I really had to do it by myself. And then a lot of cold calling and turning up to meetings with a cardboard box, trying to convince people of your dream in a cardboard box essentially. So yeah, it was a very humble beginnings and it took us a few years to get to where we are now, but I’m hugely grateful for all the learnings that I’ve had across the years.

What might be some of those nuggets of wisdom that you’d be willing to share with our audience in terms of helping them, let’s say, get off the couch and launch the thing that they have an idea for?

Absolutely. So, I would say the biggest learning that I’ve had is have a team, find a partner that wants to do it with you, join forces, play to your strengths, and do that together, definitely. I’ve done a majority of, I’ve had a lot of consultancy from people, but I started out the journey by myself and I went to VC meetings and angel investor meetings and things, and they always said, “You can’t do it alone.” I was like, oh, I’m a solo investor. How do you get someone else on board when it’s your idea from the beginning? And that has never rung true more than ever now I’ve launched is that I look back and think, oh, would I have made that decision if I’d had someone in a position to actually advise me differently? And from failure, you learn. So, I don’t regret any of it, but it is a case of I would’ve had, I think it would’ve been better positioned if I had a team around me with different expertise, definitely.

Sure. Well, I know it can be difficult, right? Finding the design team or a manufacturing partner because this is critical for a product like this. So, maybe talk to the audience a little bit about how you went about finding a factory that aligned with your values and why that was important for Becket and for you as a founder.

Yeah, absolutely. So, we actually were really lucky back in the day when I got a lot of no responses and people not interested in helping when you just want one sample built rather than a thousand or a hundred thousand. But a factory, a medical factory actually in Birmingham took on board the task and helped me make my first sample. And that’s actually where the idea for the hygiene protection came from because medical bags are all treated with this great technology that resists bacteria and germs. And then from there, it built on it in terms of connections and networking and making sure I got out there and were talking to the right people.

And eventually through connections I got in touch with a designer who helped me make the actual cards of the bags that I could then send to factories and say, listen, this is what I’m doing. Would you be on board with designing a sample for us? So, I think we moved, I want to say around about five plus factories because there were some that at the beginning they weren’t fashion focused enough, so they didn’t understand that aesthetic element to the bag. They got the compartments totally, the facts, functionality inside was great, but that aesthetic part on the outside was really a sticking point that we needed for that work transition and weekend travel look of the bag.

Talk to me a little bit about how you found crowdfunding first, maybe backing or supporting or knowing that someone else was running a campaign and why that was the decision to launch Becket with Kickstarter.

Absolutely, and I think it was actually a friend who recommended to me at the time. She started a jewelry business many years ago now, Florence London, it’s fantastic. And I remember her talking about it and it was the way that you could basically raise funds based on your product rather than giving away equity. And I think at these early stages, because you don’t have a bottom line and you can’t prove the worth of your company, you can kind of say what it is, but you can’t prove that because you haven’t had any sales. You’re often in a position than having to give up more equity than you would have for a smaller amount of cash. So, I thought if I can initially sell product and get that social proof that the bag is viable on the market, Kickstarter basically was the perfect platform for that. And I’ve seen some great successes of projects on there, including bags as well. So, it seemed like the right platform for us.

What’s been the hardest part of this journey so far?

Launching, I thought that over the years it was hard finding the factories, getting started getting this far, but nothing prepared me for launching. And the stress that you feel every day relentlessly just based on you can never do enough and you’ve got to keep going and keep going. And yeah, I would say that it was definitely, well, it is launching it. It’s currently now.

What’s been the best part of this process so far, Ali?

The people I’ve met, the people I’ve met along the way and the support I’ve received. When you talk to people about the product, I mean, not everyone’s the same. Not everyone’s as positive as everyone else, but definitely the support and the people I’ve met and the encouragement you get as a female entrepreneur as well, and people being in, even the fact that I’ve got this far to create a bag, get it to market, have bags on their way and that kind of support and it really makes you want to continue and make sure that you’re successful in that.

Absolutely. Well Ali, this is going to get us into our launch round where I’m going to rapid fire a few questions at you. You good to go?

Yeah, hit me.

All right. So, what inspired you to be an entrepreneur?

My dad.

Amazing. So, if you could work out with any entrepreneur throughout history, living or dead, who would you want to have a workout with?

I’m going to stick in modern day and stay Steve Bartlett.

Steve. Nice. He is a new one to the show, but definitely not new to the entrepreneurial world. So, what would be your first question for him as you’re working out in the gym?

What do you bench? No, I’m joking. I think my first question would just, honestly, it’s so interesting when you meet an entrepreneur asking them how they started, where did the idea come from? How and how did you get your company from being a small business that you started at home to kind of you’re selling out in billions and becoming this huge entrepreneur. So, I think that would be my first question is the journey I think is always interesting to hear.

And it’s always unique, right?

Yeah, exactly.

So, what advice would you give to a new inventor or new entrepreneur who’s looking to launch their product?

Don’t give up. And on the days when you feel as though you regret the decision or it’s not going to be successful, remember why you started. I think that would be just staying positive and just reinforcing because you’ll have ups and downs, days when I’m thinking, oh my gosh, this is great, I can absolutely do it. And then you think, how am I going to do it? And you’ve got to just remember why you started and the reason where you’re going.

It can be a roller coaster ride, not a good one, right? All right, last two questions. What do you think the top skill every entrepreneur needs to be successful?

I think I was going to say that’s not really relevant if you’re not client facing, but I was going to say those people skills whereby, and maybe that is also something for someone who’s not client facing. You’ve got to be able to network and be able to talk to everyone and anyone and I think improve those relationships. And I think that’s I guess a key part of any role. Even if you are doing tech in your back of house and you’re not talking to people, at some point that product has to be sold to someone. So, you’ve got to make sure that you make those connections and you meet people and get your face out there for your brand.

Absolutely. All right. Last question, Ali, you’re doing great and I know this is your first crowdfunding campaign, but I do want to know what you’re envisioning of the future of crowdfunding, what does it look like?

I would like to see it bigger in the UK. I think something that I’ve really learned from this was I’m based in London and a lot of my backers are initially friends and family that kind of got the campaign started. And I’d say most hadn’t heard about Kickstarter. So, it’s a different buy-in, whereas in the US it’s very well known kind of thing and it’s great position. So, I think just making crowdfunding, product crowdfunding especially we have equity platforms here and bigger, I’d say in the UK space for entrepreneurs.

Awesome. Well hopefully we can do that with this podcast and getting this published and launched. But I’d love to finish this out with you telling all of our listeners how they can get involved and support the launch and you as an owner.

Thank you. Yes, thank you all very much for tuning in and listening. I really appreciate it. So, Becket London has four days left to go and we’re just under our target, so I’d love for you to check out the campaign and share if it resonates with you. And if you’d like to back us, we’d absolutely love your support. So, we’ve got some great deals on there at the moment, thirty-four percent off on the main product price and that includes the accessories as well, the wash bag and the laundry net. And I think the winning thing on that is also anyone who backs on Kickstarter gets lifetime warranty on the bag. So, no questions asked. If you join us now on our journey, we would love to thank you forever for your support and getting the brand off the ground.

Amazing. Well audience, thanks for tuning in. Make sure to visit Artofthekickstart.com for the notes, transcript, links to the campaign, everything we talked about today. And of course, huge shout out to our crowdfunding podcast sponsor over at ProductHype the top newsletter for new products that just launched. Ali, thank you so much for joining me today on Art of the Kickstart. This was a pleasure.

Pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Thank you for tuning into another amazing episode of Art of the Kickstart, the show about building a better business life, and world with crowdfunding. If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode as much as I did, make sure to show us some love by rating us and reviewing us on your favorite listening station, whatever that may be. Your review really helps other founders and startups find us, so they can improve their craft and achieve greater success like you. And of course, be sure to visit Artofthekickstart.com for all the previous episodes. And if you need any help, make sure to send me an email at info@artofthekickstart.com. I’d be glad to help you out. Thanks again for tuning in. I’ll see you next week.