Every brand starts with a moment — an idea, a frustration, or a spark. For us, it began with a U7 football match blighted by a downpour, cold wind and unhappy players”.
This is the story of how that moment became Athletherm.
1. The Problem We Noticed
A rain swept Sunday morning, wind swirling across the pitch and shivering kids started a lightbulb moment where I realised that my players needed something to keep them warm and dry: pre, in game and post matches. School coats, hoodies and the sports coats the kids were wearing simply didn’t cut it, they needed something waterproof, warm and simple to take on and off… This is where the idea started to take shape!
2. From Idea to Sketchpad
The first idea was drawn in pencil on a blank piece of A4. An idea put down as a rough sketch. It’s amazing to think from one simple sketch our poncho would become a reality. This is where the first challenge came - who could manufacture this for us? With a full time job and a family, evenings became longer with research required to find the right partner. However, the internet is a wonderful invention and finding manufacturers was relatively straightforward. After a few simple clicks and a few form completions, enquiries were made with selected suppliers. Within a few minutes a personal response was received from a supplier and this put me at ease from the moment the reply landed in my inbox. Initial discussions, a lot of email tennis, planning and product plans were put into place with a prototype being created.
3. Building the Brand
With a product in place the next thing to create was the brand. Quite a daunting task. Lots of different names were under consideration, we wanted something that resonated sport but also an undertone of keeping warm. After lots of deliberation Athletherm was born - Athle comes from the word Athlete and Therm was the warm element… Two elements coming together to create our brand.
4. Launching — and Learning Fast
With any new business you need to be visible online and socially. I needed an e-commerce website that was right for the business and also an expert to build it. Again more online research was needed to find the right solution and partner to work with. Shopify was the chosen ecommerce platform and a freelancer built the website based on a brand brief.
Socially, accounts were created across the usual platforms - Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. A company profile was also added to LinkedIn.
With a list of jobs being ticked off, the next step was really making the business feel real…registering the business with Companies House.
Whilst quite daunting, registering a business can be completed online relatively quickly. The process was followed and all the necessary information completed.
Everything was falling into place and Athletherm was an actual company.
To get the business live and ready to trade our first stock needed to arrive from our manufacturing partner. Naively the assumption would be that this would be a quick process. Once the prototype was signed off the manufacturing process commenced. Sourcing the right materials and producing our ponchos - each individually made to our specifications has a specific leadtime.
One big stumbling block arose and that was UK customs. Our stock got stuck for longer than expected which put the official launch back several weeks. It also meant the spring weather started to kick in which meant more sunshine and less rain. These are just things we had to take on the chin.
Fast forward to launch - website was live, social content posted and the business was officially live!
5. What’s Next for Athletherm?
With the business functioning we’re delighted to have received our first official order through the website. Next steps are continue to promote the brand, build the business and enhance the product. Lots to be done but we can’t wait to see how Athletherm will grow throughout 2025 and into 2026.
If you’re a parent with active youngsters or a coach of young kids who want to keep them warm on game day, give Athletherm a consideration.