How a moto-wear start-up survives over big brands

Two years ago I was sitting at my seafront veranda, after a long day at work. I was of course admiring not only the sea view but also my brand new bike i just bought. It took a lot of sacrifices to buy that bike. I was looking at it, dreaming of the upcoming rides and adventures. And then it stroke me, I need to get nice jacket. Adventures and rides just don’t happen with just a t-shirt or a simple synthetic jacket. I have already had an accident with my previous bike and since then safety factors are seriously taken. So I began the web search looking for options.

Few googling days later, I found myself puzzling on the choices I had, as most jackets were too pricey for me. I have invested most of my money on the bike and I didn’t have much to give on a jacket. I was hoping that I could get a good jacket at around 200 euros. To my despair all jackets were juggling around 300 to 600 euro. Big brands, small brands; all highly overpriced to me. I have seen prices up to 1500 euros for a jacket. I was shocked and disappointed. I figured it will take me forever until I can afford a proper touring jacket. The more I researched, the more I realized that the illusion of ‘safety’ and ‘comfort’ is getting more trust as the price gets bigger and bigger.

Without further ado, that’s how SIIMA MOTOWEAR came to life. Me and my creative partners have recognized a market ''gap'' for a simple but highly functional and reasonably priced yet equally safe and comfortable motorcycle jacket. After a lot of research I produced the first model which was as simple as it could be, meeting of course all the safety standards a motorcycle jacket should have. I am not going to lie, I got a pretty rough star but after few months the jacket proved to be a success. And then the gloves followed which are very competitive compared to top brands. Now I have a solid business that it can only grow bigger.

And that brings us to the latest showcase and pride of SIIMA. The SIIMA MOUNTAIN VIEW TOURING JACKET. It has come to my attention that motorcycles tours and voyages is an emerging trend. Many motorcycle groups have reached me asking for a jacket that could be more suitable for their activities. And these people were more than you could think. Asia, North & South America, Europe. From anywhere you could imagine. Motorcycle Touring is a THING and its growing faster than I could imagine.

I have decided to change a few things before I finally end up with the design and functions. I got my research buddies creating questionnaires through social media and offline. I found better manufacturing facilities with more communication and stricter supervision. I have found better materials. Tested functionality over comfort. All these have let to the final product. SIIMA MOUNTAIN VIEW is made by you for you.

The first shipment of the MOUNTAIN VIEW prototypes has arrived and it got me exited as a kid building his first ever Lego toy. It is a straight up touring jacket as it is supposed to be with a price tag that is at least 2 times less expensive from the least expensive one, and way below the average price you would normally pay for a touring jacket. The new SIIMA MOUNTAIN VIEW TOURING JACKET is here and I have a really good feeling about it.

Thank you for all your support and comments, and I hope we can make business together in the future. For anyone interested, there is a new business option at http://www.siimajackets.com/ which you can get wholesale prices depending on the product and quantity you are interested in. In case you interested, email me for the password to access this information.

Talk soon,

Giorgos