From dream to reality: when craftsmanship calls!

To begin with, we always tell ourselves, "I'll start with what I have and we'll see later." The reality is that the shoemaker's craft requires machines that, even if quite basic—sanding belts, polishing rollers—are very imposing. They are often second-hand and have been passed down from shoemaker to shoemaker since time immemorial. They are made of extremely heavy steel, manufactured in Germany in the 1980s. Probably in this metal to continuously use up the remnants of the war? My workbench weighs 300 kilos, dates back to 1982, and thankfully, a freight elevator and 3 strong men managed to put it in its place! Next, we'll need an iron last (him again!) to nail our heels, and a shoemaking sewing machine. My machine is a Singer that one might imagine in a Dickens novel, with a hand-cranked handle and a tiny seat to get to its height!

Even as an artisan, entrepreneurial questions arise in exactly the same way as for any other business: VAT or no VAT? Regime, status, APE code, invoices, declarations... Ultimately, an artisan will still have a PC and an ultra-connected life to ensure they don't forget any deadlines or lose track of their figures. During my internship at Atelier Minuit Moins 7, Louboutin's cobbler shop, we had to log the progress steps for each pair of shoe repairs. One pair, one verification of services, associated prices, and a progress status. The little cobbler of our memories, in his dimly lit mini-shop, is also a business, with its own constraints of margins and hourly rates. At My Pretty French Shoes, we are cobblers and e-commerce sellers, so we are immersed in all these challenges! It makes us happy, and we're sharing it with you :)