In The News

According to the Globe & Mail, the story of Toronto-based startup Shirtpal Co. provides a lesson in successful entrepreneurship. The company, which allows customers to order custom-made dress shirts online and at live purchasing events, owes much of its success to the co-founders' commitment to extensive industry research. Western University graduates, Winnie Cheung and Noorneet Singhwas studied the best practices of Maxwell's Clothiers--a world-leader in the customized shirt industry--before building their own business model.

"Winnie Cheung was studying at University of Western Ontario to be a chartered accountant when she discovered several of her classmates were ordering customized shirts and suits from vendors who measured customers on home soil but manufactured their products in Asia."

"Ms. Cheung and a colleague from university, Noorneet Singh, started doing some research in January, 2009, and investigated probably the best-known player in the market, the first travelling tailor to come to Canada, Hong-Kong based Maxwell's Clothiers."

"Based on the Maxwell model, Ms. Cheung and Mr. Singh, now both 25, came up with the idea of starting Toronto-based Shirtpal Co."

"Our sales and marketing initiatives come from Toronto, our digital and Web development from Singapore and manufacturing from Thailand," Mr. Singh said. "And we shuffle in between. But we are all Canadians."

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original source the Globe & Mail