Turning a personal need into a product

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For Siobhán McCarthy, starting a business began with a simple treat: after receiving a work bonus in 2023, she set out to buy herself a luxury handbag. But despite all the research and window shopping, she couldn’t find one that truly met her needs — it had to be both stylish and functional. That’s when the idea struck: what if you could customize a handbag to fit your lifestyle, not the other way around?

Siobhan McCarthy
Siobhan McCarthy
That moment planted the seed for Póchette, a brand built around handcrafted, customizable handbags designed in Ireland and made in Portugal. With a background in tech and a desire for more creativity in overseas data her life, Siobhán began sketching ideas and researching the market. Her first design, The Danu, featured a removable, interchangeable cover.

Her business journey began with small but meaningful steps: registering a domain, setting up a landing page and email address, and building her website — using several Namecheap tools that made it easy to get up and running. Since the .com domain she originally wanted was taken, she quickly pivoted to the Irish domain pochette.ie, which now hosts her ecommerce site. She also uses pochettedesign.com for email and consulting work, helping other founders get started in ecommerce.

After registering as a limited company in early 2024, she spent nearly a year developing her product — refining the design, prototyping with a manufacturer in Portugal, and preparing for launch. In November 2024, Póchette officially went live.