Desde que el calzado es calzado que los cordones representan una parte vital de los pies, aunque no del todo valorada como es debido. Primero, porque casi nadie los ve como una tecnología -primitiva, pero tecnología al fin- que permite ajustar el zapato o la zapatilla al pie, para que no se mueva ni se salga. Y segundo, porque muchos imaginaron un futuro en el que se pudiera prescindir de ellos; o mejor dicho, con cordones autoajustables, como los de esa fantasía llamada "Volver al Futuro". Para mucha gente atarse los cordones es una molestia, y es una molestia cuando se desatan; y ni que hablar cuando hay que enseñarle a un niño o niña a anudar sus zapatillas. Los cordones, es evidente, no tienen buena prensa. Pero aún así, Daniela y Emanuel no se imaginan qué sería de su vida sin ellos.

"Cordonería" is the name of parallel entrepreneurship that both transformed into full time occupation.Emanuel Calvito had some Nike Air Force 1 detonated to which the sole had already changed, and the only way to print some vitality was with new laces.But the detail is that there were no good laces, and everything was limited to the small offer that is usually found in those small footwear composure businesses or in supermarkets.White, black, and not much more.And Emanuel, who had some rubbing with the textile avios sector (all that includes a garment except the fabric, such as closures, buttons and elastic) he thought it would not be bad to sell different laces, of good quality, of colors of colorsAnd with enough wave to revitalize a shoe.

Crisis that generate ideas

Ideas almost always arise in crises, and the crisis of Emanuel and Daniela Migueleto - the other protagonist of this story - was in the middle of honeymoon.A delay at the Cross of Christ Redeemer was not going to allow them to arrive on time to return to work."I'm stranded, I can't go back, give me one more day," Emanuel asked, but not.And he resigned.Back, they realized that you can't live from love."We arrived and we found that we lacked a complete salary.And that you had to pay rent, the expenses and live, "says Daniela, who until then worked as a receptionist in a company.And then, when what was most missing in money was time, Daniela and Emanuel began to manufacture laces.

A simple Instagram click on the hashtag #sneakers (English sneakers) returns a search for 41 million publications.And when the cordonería began to show its product the exposure was instantaneous."And as he already had the experience of selling avios, we started with the idea of selling wholesale, that is, the manufacturers, but what we had began to like the boys, and the public changed," says Daniela."We uploaded a photo to Instagram and showed a shoe with other laces and the boys turned on.They asked us, "they tell.

The mechanics of success

The mechanics was simple: after 19, when they returned from work, customers passed through their home to remove their laces, neatly wrapped in a Nylon folio.But one day, without folios and with a buyer waiting on the sidewalk, Emanuel put the laces in a sweet tube that they had given them in the candybar of a children's birthday.And the client loved.A clear example that packaging is as important as the product when generating identity."We knew that we had to sell the laces in those tubes," says Emanuel.

In June 2019, the first purchase in the eleven was ten tubes.The second, one hundred, to beat inflation.Today they receive shipments of ten thousand preform tubes (they are called), which somehow put in their department and operations base.

"The evolution was very fast," says Daniela."When we started selling and they came to look for them at the door of the building, we sold two per week, five in a good one".And while people began to consult them more and more, they kept losing sales because they had to be in their jobs.That is why they began to leave them in consignment in premises, so as not to lose sales.But since the presentation was so important, they had to look for an exhibitor.And they went to walk on eleven again in the search for something that adapted to what they wanted to show.They took them to their department - the same place where today they download the ten thousand tubes - and painted them with spray on the balcony.

Every Saturday, the day they did not work, the Sarmiento train guided them in their journey: Moreno, Paso del Rey, Merlo, Castelar, Morón, Ramos Mejía, Ciudadela, Liniers, Floresta, Flores and Caballito."We were lucky that the locals were close to the stations," they say.Always with the bag with the cordoner tubes to replace each exhibitor."Every time we arrived and we saw that they had sold everything we thought‘ wow, that's a lot for us, "says Emanuel.

The cordon is of national manufacture and with national supplies, except for a reflective material that does not occur in the country.Everything - from the design to the production, packaging and distribution - is own."We say that cordonería is like a family because everyone collaborates, everyone listens and everyone thinks," says Daniela."We learned that the laces have a soul that is hidden in the center, which is what makes them not unleash, but that some flat cords are better not to have it, than the acetate of the tips had to be stronger andthat in colors people have voice and vote ".

They knew that the product was good, and it seems that the competition too.One day another brand went to sell the same, in the same packaging."It's like when your homework was copied and the name changed," says Emanuel."They called me to tell me what had happened, and during the first four minutes I felt helpless, but then it was pure satisfaction.That showed that we were doing things right.There were four large associated brands to compete with us two, and the truth is that people continued to choose us, "they say."It doesn't seem bad to me that others get to make laces or do what we do, because they are giving our idea a little more life," adds Emanuel.

The initial objective - having a common project, to spend more time together, have an extra income - was fulfilled when both could leave their jobs and devote themselves to work in their business.To spend the entire nights filling tubes, hitting labels and putting orders, they took care of everything at more normal schedules."They started asking for a product inside, and with what we charged from Rosario or Mendoza we could buy more tubes, more thread and manufacture in more colors," says Daniela.And the growth was exponential.Today, in full pandemic, cordonería also has a clothing line."They asked us more, the biggest chains appeared, the boys shared photos, more people approached.".To sell in 12 stores passed to 100 and then to 300.Today they have almost 600 points of sale in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Spain.

And did they know how to do all that were doing?

Nope. Nope estudiamos ni nos capacitamos en esto.Neither networks, neither marketing nor marketing.We learned doing and being real.And working hard.

And what did they learn?

That there are many people who manage good principles and values.That if we help each other we can get ahead in many aspects.To work as a team.That if you want something and put everything you have, at some point it will arrive.See that people use those laces that perhaps we shake at some dawn, and the messages that send us happy with what we do...It makes us understand that the best marketing is our happy customers.