Inspiration for a new business can be found in an endless number of sources. For Derrek Cooke of Newburgh, inspiration came from his personal experiences.
“I was born with a birth defect called spina bifida and I carry a bag with catheters around when I go out in public,” Cooke said. “And I thought to myself, ”˜Well, there are other people with spina bifida who do the same, and there”™s other people who weren”™t born with spina bifida but who also need to carry catheters.”™”
Cooke is co-founder and co-owner of Soldiers and Commanders, an e-commerce business that sells apparel, mugs, posters and bags featuring designs celebrating the U.S. military. For a new business line on catheter bags, he felt that a different visual approach was needed.
“I thought there”™s not enough positivity in the world,” he continued, “so, why not put positive messages on them?”
In March, Cooke launched Derrek’s Bags on the Etsy e-commerce platform. Working with Photoshop, Cooke tests designs to determine if they convey the right style and message. After creating a mock-up of a bag design, he posts the item on his Etsy store.
Cooke is starting with 20 bags, some featuring slogans, including “Don”™t Let Someone Make You Feel Less Than You”™re Worth!” and “Be Nice Or Go Away.” He borrowed a couple of iconic images from the Soldiers and Commanders line to create inspiration: A serious Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer includes the slogan “Believe in Yourself” while a bicep-flexing Rosie the Riveter has a dialogue balloon that says “You Can Do It Spina Bifida Warrior.”
Cooke has two different bags, one that can carry a 33-pound weight limit and the other with a 44-pound weight limit. He is considering an expansion with a smaller eco-tote bag for those who would not need a larger carry-on.
Cooke is promoting Derrek’s Bags via paid advertising on Etsy and through new Facebook and Instagram pages promoting the business. However, while his Soldiers and Commanders business has been going strong after seven years in operation, Derrek’s Bags has been off to a very slow start in its first four months.
“So far, I sold just one bag to a lady up in Ontario, Canada,” he said. “It is a bag that says ”˜Think Positive”™ that has a head silhouette with a brain inside the head. She left a five-star review on my Etsy store page and also sent me a direct message on Instagram the other day thanking me ”” she said she and her boyfriend are going to travel throughout Canada this summer and use it as a beach bag. Of course, they can be used for anything besides bringing catheters along.”
Cooke is focusing on tweaking his sales and marketing outreach, working with search engine optimization on the Etsy site while planning to set up both a standalone site and an eBay store. As sales begin to come in, he is pledging to donate 10% of his proceeds to the Spina Bifida Association.
Besides his two e-commerce endeavors, Cooke has a third pursuit with a freelance typing and transcription service, which takes up a great deal of his time ”” often with funky assignments.
“There was this teacher who contacted me because she wanted me to type out Shakespeare”™s play ”˜Othello”™ for her students,” he said. “And there was a medical student who wanted me to type out like 10 test answers for him so he could study. So, I”™m doing that as well as trying to focus more on both businesses.”
