From School Shoes to Exit | With Lincoln New

On this episode of The Evolve to Succeed Podcast, we're joined by Lincoln New, co-founder of Term Footwear, who shares the full story behind launching, pivoting, scaling and eventually exiting a school footwear brand in one of the UK's toughest retail sectors.

Lincoln takes us back to the early days of starting the business with little more than industry experience, belief and £700 worth of stock in a garage. He talks candidly about naivety, self-belief, dealing with doubters, managing supply chains across continents and the emotional toll of constant pivots. From distributor to brand owner, Amazon setbacks to Costco breakthroughs, Brexit to Covid, Lincoln's journey is a masterclass in resilience.

The conversation explores how relationships carried the business through its hardest moments, why strategy matters most when things aren't going well, and how Lincoln approached exit planning with honesty and clarity about his "why".

This episode is packed with hard-earned lessons for anyone starting, growing or thinking about exiting a business.

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What The Episode Covers 

• Where the idea for Term Footwear came from

• Starting a business with limited capital and big ambition

• Entering an overcrowded, brand-dominated market

• Overcoming self-doubt, criticism and scepticism

• Managing overseas manufacturing and supply chains

• Pivoting from distributor to brand owner

• Navigating Amazon failures and Costco opportunities

• Surviving Brexit and Covid through strategic pivots

• Building trust-based customer relationships

• Planning, executing and emotionally navigating a business exit 

Chapters / Timestamps 

00:00 – Where did the idea for Term Footwear come from?
03:00 – What motivated you to start a business in such a crowded market?
06:30 – How did you deal with self-doubt and early scepticism?
09:50 – How did you manage sourcing and supply chains overseas?
12:40 – What forced the pivot from distributor to owning the brand?
17:00 – How did Amazon and Costco shape the business model?
23:50 – How did Covid change your strategy and market focus?
30:00 – When did you start thinking seriously about an exit?
36:00 – How did you make the business attractive to buyers?
39:00 – How did it feel to finally complete the exit?
42:30 – What advice would you give founders starting today?
49:00 – What does success mean to you now?