'Don't sit on your idea like a broody hen'
They literally grew up in the supermarkets of EMTE. The twins Paul and Robin Maijers (37) seemed predestined for a future on the store floor. It turned out differently. They started their own business. But supermarkets are, not coincidentally, now their biggest customers.
In a distant past, grandfather Maijers was the greengrocer at supermarket EMTE. As a small man, father Maijers helped fill the shelves and became a board member of the retail chain. Meanwhile, in the fresh produce department, he met his future wife. Their two sons Paul and Robin almost literally grew up in the supermarket. 'I had a lot of positions at EMTE,' Paul recalls. 'From order picker to cashier. At the table, we talked about A-brands, marketing campaigns and other retail matters. Yet I knew at a young age that I did not want to follow in my family's footsteps, but wanted to become an entrepreneur. Well, call it a kind of freedom drive, wanting to do something for yourself.
Smartphone
Paul and Robin went to study in Tilburg. And, as it befits identical twins, they also studied the same subject: Business Studies and Strategic Management. 'When I was a student, I worked in the marketing department of EMTE,' says Paul. 'It was the time when the smartphone emerged. Supermarkets realized that mobile was a huge opportunity, especially to provide customers with targeted product offers. At the same time, they were struggling with it. How could they pull that off? My brother and I came up with an electronic coupon system. Customers can print out a coupon with offers via the Internet or put it on their cell phone and loyalty card. The trick is to link that e-coupon to the cash register system in real time. That way, the discount can be processed immediately at checkout. We are not technical ourselves, so for the technical part we immediately went to TU Eindhoven. Our strength lies in conceptual and strategic thinking and then bringing the product to market. And of course we know the supermarket company inside out. We understand their challenges and speak their language.'
A nice trip to the office
It was only during their graduation that Paul and Robin heard about the Entrepreneurs Center of Tilburg University. On the one hand, it's a pity we didn't get there sooner because then we might have been able to enter the market sooner,' says Paul. On the other hand, the Entrepreneurial Centre was crucial to the development of Boxplosive. It was here that we were put on the track of Starterslift, the predecessor of IQONIC (ed.), which provided a loan of 35,000 euros. With this money, we rented office space and developed the product further, among other things.' That was in 2009. After three years of further development, the first major customer was won. This brings Paul straight to one of his recommendations to other starting entrepreneurs: 'Don't keep writing plans in your attic room. Entrepreneurship is about doing. And move, as soon as you can, to a real office. The current trend of working from home is heartening. But in the office, it's much easier to connect with people who could be important to you. As a start-up, you have to step out. Literally and figuratively.'
Going outside
A nice anecdote illustrates what Paul means. Boxplosive sold its solution to a number of retailers, including Sodexo, which does the catering at Tilburg University. But the brothers didn't dare approach the big Ahold. Paul: 'We thought: Ahold will have developed something themselves long ago, they don't need us. A misconception! Ahold did indeed have its own solution, but is always looking for innovative ideas. So at a certain point they came to us. They had heard of us through the grapevine and were interested in our product. Ahold is now a major customer. I'm sure they wouldn't have heard of us if we hadn't gone to market with Boxplosive so quickly.' Still, as an entrepreneur, he seeks to connect with others. Paul is a networker and among other things co-founder of 'The Tailors', a think tank of digital companies many of which have their roots in Tilburg University. He sometimes detects a certain fear in other entrepreneurs to go public. 'Start-up entrepreneurs sometimes think they have come up with a unique concept. They sit on their idea like a brooding chicken, afraid that someone else will make off with it. I don't believe in that. If you come up with something, others can too. You should not want to distinguish yourself in your ideas, but in their development and implementation. And you always need others to do that.
Explosive
Paul wants to grow explosively. 'I think rapid growth is crucial for start-ups and scale-ups, the stage Boxplosive is in now. In this world it's all about pace, otherwise you'll be overtaken by others.' Good employees are indispensable for growth. But then dare to build on those good employees, give them responsibility. Paul: "A pitfall is that as an entrepreneur you want to run the entire company on your own for too long and have too little time to do what you do best. Paul himself wants to focus mainly on the strategy and further growth of Boxplosive. Yes, that's also because of my studies. During my Strategic Management master's, the central question was how to create a constantly distinguishing capacity as a company. That interests me enormously and that is exactly the question that is now being asked at Boxplosive. We are looking for the answer in data analysis and the optimization of customer loyalty: what can retailers learn about their customers on the basis of their purchasing behavior? How can they use this knowledge to create customer loyalty? And how do you increase the success of a loyalty program? With the answers to these questions we want to cross the border in the near future.
CV Paul Maijers
Born: 1984
Studied: Business Studies and Strategic Management
Entrepreneur since: 2009
Opinion: 'Working from home is here to stay, but at the office you meet other people. That is crucial for the growth of your company.