Lucy Knight profiles
BEN WALTERS
– founder of shoe company OSPOP
Born in New York in the summer of 1975 Walters was the youngest of three with two older sisters. He grew up in North New Jersey where the family ran a petro-chemical business.
Upon graduating high school in 1993 he started at the University of Michigan. “When I was starting University I thought about taking business. I took some classes but when it came to submitting the application I changed by mind. The theoretical education that you get out of taking such a degree wasn’t motivation for me – a liberal arts education suited me better. History was something that I thought would give me skills, a sense of organisation.”
After completing his studies he went back to New Jersey where he started working as a driver but quickly progressed to working as a trader “I was there for a few months. Then I decided to leave and I packed up a car, without really thinking about what my aim was, and drove towards Jackson, Wyoming.”
Walters found it difficult to settle, preferring to ski and take various jobs in order to let him pursue his passion. “I was always living a life that was a means to an end, a basic lifestyle. I wanted to ski all the time.” Taking jobs in construction and restaurants Walters eventually began to work in real estate. “I thought I was just going to stay for the first winter and then it ended up being two years. I was still skiing a lot but I was working as a realtor full time by that point.”
The travelling bug bit again in 1999 and he took himself off down the West Coast down to South America through to Chile.
After yet another long trip he went back home to begin working for the family petro-chemical business. He started at the bottom, learning how everything functioned and then he ended up travelling selling commodity materials around the US. It was at this time that he sensed a good business opportunity emerging from the East, specifically in China.
“In 2002 it became clear that the basic goods business was starting to transfer overseas, it was becoming hard to compete with imported goods. There were now two global markets and my thought was that it would be wise to have a presence in China. I wanted to be able to integrate China into the business models of companies we were working with in the US.
“We were a small company but we had to compete with the big players so we had to add value. I knew we had to provide an on the ground window into the Chinese market.”
Walters decided to take it upon himself to be that window. “I had been to South East Asia on vacations a few times, Vietnam and Cambodia, two years prior to moving out here.” So, in 2003 he relocated to Shanghai.
It was not long after arriving in China that Walters became aware of the workman’s shoe that he has since transformed. Identifiable as a Chinese product says Walters, “the shoes are everywhere. They are sold on stalls and in construction type shops and they cost a couple of dollars.”
Walters bought himself a pair of the shoes and soon realised he had a potential product for the Western market. “The brand concept was industrial and commercial work wear, combined.”
For a Westerner to be making business inquiries was a shock for those Walters approached. “I contacted one factory. They had no export business and it took them by surprise.” This was the only factory Walters approached and they were the ones that took up his offer. Impressively all of this was done in Chinese. Shortly before going to Shanghai Walters had been taking Chinese lessons and then on arriving had spent five months spending up to seven hours a day practising. “I can speak it well, but it’s hard.”
The Tianlang shoe factory is based in Wen County, about 450 miles southwest of Beijing employing 400 people. The name of the shoe OSPOP stands for One Small Point of Pride. The workers here are paid more than the average for a factory and they get overtime. “It’s mostly miners and farmers out here. I first came to the factory in 2006 and they had no export business at all. The area was 97 per cent based on agriculture and mining, there was no industry really. This, for them, was a good opportunity.”
Walters then set about changing the shoe for a non-workman’s foot. “The shoe itself was a fairly poor quality product; work had to be done on modifying the shoe in order to sell it to Westerners. This was the biggest part of the process. We also had to educate the workers on making a cleaner product.”
But, he insists, this isn’t just a hammer and sickle on a t-shirt. “Authenticity is a huge deal to me. These shoes are the same but with more lasting ingredients. It’s a Chinese product that is used here and it’s marketed as such.”
It was Spring 2007 by the time Walters left his family’s business and concentrated full time on the shoes. Their current range was launched in the Autumn. Already they have sold more than 8,000 pairs.
For Walters, working in China, is an exciting opportunity as well as a social study: “This is a fascinating place to be right now while it’s experiencing growth. Watching increasing wealth and change, to witness the impact on people is very interesting. “The government is actually currently doing a fantastic job in creating the infrastructure needed to allow industry to grow, to bring business here.”
What about the future? Walters tells newstatesman.com that he’s not sure what the future holds, whether there will be other avenues for his business or other ideas, it is too soon to say.
As part of the process of change some of the revenue of OSPOP goes into an education fund for students at the high school near the factory. “Last week we had a ceremony where I met the 10 new recipients of the education programme that we have going. They will get help from us to go to University.”
It is apparent that he sees his business model as not only making profits but also helping people, as part of the process of change. In an area where the workforce is made up of predominantly miners and farmers, this is much welcomed help.
Maybe he represents a new breed of entrepreneur who sees not just profit margins but finds a way to help a local community.
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