The sisters who created their own corporate gift company collaborating with Mexican artisans

July
10, 2021

5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When Sharon Siano was going to university in 2016, she was studying Design and began to generate profits by being part of a retail sales system for products imported from China, when presenting them at exhibitions the clients who approached raised the idea of creating personalized items. ; reason why it began to sell gifts of this style to the retail.

On the other hand, her sister Michelle did market research in a company, her work was sometimes exciting, but she wanted to do something that had a greater social impact.

In January 2018, Sharon decided to undertake, which would be a very important turn for her sales, here it was that her sister Michelle decided to join forces with her to create Bartons : a company of corporate and personalized gifts that works with designs by Mexican artisans. “We are always very aware that first we are sisters and then partners,” said Michelle during the interview with Entrepreneur en Español .

What they mainly seek is that all gifts have a useful life so that they are not instant garbage or end up in a drawer that never opens. At the same time, they support the communities with which they work, “we buy the designs of Mexican artisans, we digitize them to print them on our products and, in addition, they are given 15% of the sale of each product,” explained Michelle.

^{Sharon and Michelle Siano, founders Bartons. Courtesy photo.}

Establishing this business model with the first designers, a family from Guerrero they wanted to work with, was arduous because the artisans distrusted this type of agreement due to not so pleasant experiences they had had. Bartons wants to collaborate with more causes, so he is currently working with a foundation that supports women scavengers and women deprived of their liberty to help them in their social reintegration process.

When they started, it was difficult for them to get high-end customers, until the Google Ads service became their first channel to attract corporations. During the interview, the Siano sisters recalled their first presentation in front of a company interested in their gifts and mention that what helped them too much not to be intimidated was the fact that they trusted their 100% Mexican products and with a good cause.

Today Bartons has created unique and special projects with Twitter, Sharpie, Bos-ke, Victoria147, Formula 1, among other companies; Likewise, the organic voice-to-voice channel has also been of great help to them to continue growing as a company, to such a degree that they already have their own printing machines.

It is from their website that you can view the projects they have carried out with these brands, in the case of being interested in their corporate or retail gifts, Bartons is in charge of offering a close service to their customers, according to what you are interested in. , the brand will personalize your gifts according to your budget. But, giving a 50% advance to start production.

^{Photo: Courtesy Bartons}

During the pandemic, the first convenience that corporations cut back were partner gifts, and many projects they had had vanished. But, at the same time, they invested more in their clients to make themselves present in their daily lives.

“Corporate clients have come to tell us that they had staff who cried when they received their gift because it is very different to receive something with the company logo, of which they made 200 the same, than to think of each person and give them something with your initials or your name ”the sisters pointed out.

“Our main goal is that each product is made or has some design for some cause or some vulnerable group”, clarified Sharon, co-founder of Bartons. It is a very representative aspect because they mention that their product goes far beyond price, it gives Mexican designers a constant income that is not limited to their production capacity.

^{Courtesy Bartons}

The creators of Bartons recommend having as much information as possible about their clients in order to approach them and give them a very humane treatment. For Michelle and Sharon Siano “undertaking is a constant challenge because you don’t know that it will surprise you tomorrow, whatever you want to do you can achieve if you are willing to sacrifice and work hard,” they explained.