The story behind Bottlesoc

Introduction

Bottlesoc was started from the kitchen table by Clare Davis in a "Now or Never" moment during lockdown. With over twenty years of experience in design, Clare addressed a real problem for parents with school-age kids and created the perfect solution for water bottles.

How it began

Clare had the idea over ten years ago when her youngest child was still in primary school. He would come home without his water bottle or someone else's! Fed up with replacing them, Clare created her first water bottle carry sleeve. A few days later, Clare was astonished to get an order from five mums in her son's class wanting something similar, and so Bottlesoc was born.

Not all plain sailing

During the time when Covid-19 affected businesses, Clare saw it as an opportunity to put in extra work to grow Bottlesoc. She found an overseas manufacturer and ordered her first 12,000 units. However, when Clare tested the order back in the UK, she realized that the wrong clips had been used and they all had to be unpackaged and reclipped. Despite this setback, Clare proceeded to do her first trade show and managed to acquire 20 new customers with actual shops who agreed to take her products. Reflecting on her journey, Clare stated, "Building your business is a learning curve. If all you want to focus on is the bottom line then you'll struggle. You have to make some mistakes; otherwise, you don't learn anything!"

To the Future

Clare says, "People love personalized items, and it's something they are interested in exploring in the future. At present, customers can personalize their sleeve with individual letters and iron them at home. However, they aim to reach a stage where they can print the customer's name or company logo on the sleeve. Bottlesoc plans to launch a new range of sleeves in September, just in time for Christmas.

If you would like samples or to receive further press releases, please email: hello@bottlesoc.co.uk