This Kedger is a big success with his distribution company!

INTERVIEW 💬

1️⃣

Tell us what you did after your studies were finished. What positions have you held? What have you learned in those positions?

After I finished KEDGE Business School’s BBA programme, I was in Barcelona doing an end-of-studies internship and was looking for a summer job. Someone was looking for twelve salespeople to start his hoverboard distribution business. At the time, I knew nothing about it. Hoverboarding wasn’t as widespread as it is today. However, I appreciated meeting him and agreed to have an interview. A few months later, I got my first delivery of hoverboards in Marseille and started my first distributions. There was a growing interest in the product so I quickly became the most successful salesman of those recruited. As a result, the company’s director asked me to take over as manager of the entire sales team. In the beginning, our sales volume was satisfactory enough but was more of a "good job" than a real business. In fact, the prospecting techniques used at the time were quite rudimentary (advertise on the correct corner and close sales by telephone). Little by little, I became aware of the incredible potential of the internet in terms of the force of sales. I started looking for new distribution channels, which was the beginning of my adventure. Two years later, we were selling on all French online sales platforms and had partnerships with major event sales sites, such as Amazon, Ventes privées, Cdiscount, Fnac, Darty, Showroomprivé, and many others. In 2016, we employed about twenty people. We had a turnover of more than 10 million euros, and did this only through online sales, without a business website. Faced with a number of disagreements with management and, as I had developed those partnerships myself, I had the experience necessary to start all over, in my own way. That’s what motivated me to try my luck and start my own company.

INTERNATIONAL BBA - KEDGE

2️⃣ What are you doing/what is your situation today? What gave you the idea and why do you want to do what you’re doing today?

In January 2018, I went to visit suppliers in China and convinced them to advance a container of electric scooters with the promise of a quick and substantial sale. After negotiating the terms, they agreed. I created my company WE TRADE INTERNATIONAL SOURCING in March 2018 and the container arrived in France in June 2018. The Veepee website had a "flash sales" operation going on that summer, which was the ideal time to promote this type of product. The competitive environment in 2018 was favourable and, with maximum visibility, the 800 scooters were sold in less than 10 days. I was able to quickly pay back the suppliers and they wanted to do it again, so WE TRADE INTERNATIONAL SOURCING was finally launched! Today, we employ 7 people (including two Kedgers) and have distributed some 30,000 scooters in France and Europe. The turnover for fiscal year 2019 was 3 million euros. We have positioned two brands of electric scooters on the market: Voltek and Neoride.

WE TRADE INTERNATIONAL SOURCING

3️⃣ What are your development goals for the future?

In 2020, we’ll continue to expand our WeTrade indoor and outdoor furniture. However, the challenges we regularly face with WETrade led us to the creation of HaulPilot, a consulting agency that specialises in import/export and optimisation of the supply chain. Our clients are well-known brands such as Cdiscount, Habitat & Jardin, DeFacto, and Airton, who want supply representatives in France and in Europe. The business is off to a good start, so I have a lot of expectations for it. We have some 20 clients with an average LTV of 10k€ / yr.

HAULPILOT

4️⃣ How did your education at KEDGE Business School help you become who you are today, and what was it about its teachings helped you develop your project?

The teaching they provided at KEDGE gave me a technical background that was essential to my rapid advancement in my first job. Various university exchanges were part of the BBA programme, and were a real source of personal enrichment in terms of opening up to the world - an essential quality when trading internationally to make projects a reality.

5️⃣ If you had to give advice to any other KEDGE graduate who would like to do something similar, what would it be?

You usually fumble your way around with entrepreneurship. If you think you have something that meets a need, it’s important to get started. Too many entrepreneurs spend months or years perfecting their product before putting it on the market and often realise too late that their customers' expectations aren’t what they imagined. It doesn't have to be perfect. Establish a minimum viable product that will let you test the waters and make your product better per the reviews of your first customers.

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Contractor Entrepreneurship IBBA