Area 31 interviewed Gonzalo de la Fuente to get to know more about his startup, Barbery Shop, which aims to achieve that personal care becomes a simple and pleasing routine, through the selling of products that connect with the customers needs and that fulfill three simple premises
High quality products with observable results,
Designed specifically for men needs,
Easy to use, without complications.
Barbery Shop started as many young entrepreneurs ideas start around here, in one of IE Business School’s classrooms during Gonzalo’s MBA program. The idea has considerably evolved since its original concept was born, in which they were focusing on the very specific segment of “Hipsters” and the caring of their beards. There has later been an evolution from their first concept to what Barbery Shop is today, which has resulted in a focus on a more “Snobby Hipster” with an increase in their product offering, expanding from the caring of beards to the introduction of cosmetics products among others.
What makes Barbery Shop unique is both the branding and the buying experience for the customer. The brand Barbery Shop has been designed by a Design Consulting company who was inspired by a peacock for the creation of the corporate image, linking it with our target customer. On the other hand, what is special about our buying experience, is that it eliminates any type of commission, besides providing the possibility of tracking the purchase and the elegant painstaking package which is part of our identity as a brand.
Regarding their Business Model, it is based in the importing and selling of products targeted for men, through a marketplace which is designed to attract customers with the provision of confidence in the buying experience. Barbery Shop has managed to achieve this through the counseling and branding. Financially speaking, achieving a positive cash flow takes time. The most important part and at the same time the most difficult part, is to make realistic assumptions that will get you to achieve a positive cash flow 6 months from the launch of the product. Gonzalo explains that even though all ideas are innovative at first, in 3 or 4 months time they stop being so, given that Benchmarking is a common practice for all markets. If this period of time has lapsed and the entrepreneur has not been able to deliver a positive cash flow, it would be the moment to do a new analysis of the business model. In terms of international expansion, Barbery Shop intends to expand internationally thanks to a partnership with Amazon, which will allow them to open their frontiers
As an entrepreneur, Gonzalo claims that one of the greatest learnings that he says to have acquired is the fact that you always have to be ready for change. The management of change is a fundamental ability that nowadays entrepreneurs should be able to deal with. In a rapidly changing world, in which technology plays a crucial role, ii is of incredible importance to understand this fast-paced environment and be able to adapt your business model to it in order to increase your startup’s productivity. Moreover, the entrepreneur has to know that tendencies are what determines consumer’s preferences, and this should always be kept in mind. For all these reason, the adaptation to change is something continuously present in Barbery Shop’s strategy.
“Mistakes are part of the learning. Our biggest mistake was to hire people uniquely basing our decisions on their profiles, without taking into account whether their personality was properly aligned with that of the culture of the company. It is as important to have a good professional profile, as it is to be fit into the company’s culture. Each startup has their way to do things, they values and believes, and if these are not commonly shared by all employees, conflicts will eventually appear.”
“I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I believe every entrepreneur knows that kind of thing from a very early moment in their career. There are some entrepreneurs that manage to launch their project earlier than others, and after having had a corporate experience, they make the most out of this experience by launching a new business. Barbery shop is our first project but hopefully not the last.”
What keeps Gonzalo extremely motivated about the project is that their products have the best quality/price. They import those products whose quality makes our customer repeat the purchase. Even though they deliver competitive prices, they explain that it is not enough to have a customer repeating a purchase, but rather a happy customer becomes a loyal customer.
“Follow your dreams. If you do not follow your dreams, someone will hire your to work for their dreams. The entrepreneurship journey is hard, however the excitement that you get when people like your idea, they like your startup and they use it; that feeling, is indescriptible.”
Instagram: @barberyshop
Facebook: Barbery Shop
Madrid, 21 July, 2016.
Tess de Gregorio Herraiz.
Comentarios