About Business Concept, Customer Relations, Organisation and Operation of our future company.
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Business Concept
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Design, production and sale of beautiful and comfortable woolen shoes according to individual measurements.
Every business must cover a need. In an increasingly changeable world, where technology develops in an exponentially increasing curve, it can be difficult to select the exact need that you want to cover with your company. I decided at a very young age that I wanted to create my own business. But, first I had to find the perfect product on which to build my asset. By chance, it was my mother who found the product for me.
My father was a trained farmer, and had started keeping sheep as a hobby. My mother then began carding and spinning or felting the wool from these sheep. One day she had felted some woolen boots which proved to be popular with friends and family. Thus we found the basis for the company Glerups, which we established in 2003. Glerups covers one of humanity's most basic needs, namely; warm footwear.
Felted wool boots made of pure natural wool have proven to be a product in demand, and we found in Glerups a technique to produce them on an industrial scale at an attractive production price. This technique can be improved so that production can be automated and the production price lowered further.
New patented felting machines, together with 3D designed lasters, can produce single pieces of footwear according to individual measurements.
New software makes it possible to measure one's own body with one's mobile phone, so that a precise avatar can be generated and archived in a customer archive.
By combining all these new production techniques and data, today it is possible to produce an individually adapted collection of footwear in pure natural wool, at industrial production prices.
It will make the cobbler's handmade, custom-made footwear accessible to the masses, and that is exactly what we intend to do.
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Glerups is still increasing sales and there is a large and unsatisfied market for warm and comfortable footwear. The secret ingredient in Glerup's success is wool's very special properties as clothing.
Footwear (and other clothing in general) made of pure natural wool is extremely comfortable because it keeps the skin dry so we can keep warm. In addition, wool is easy to maintain because it contains lanolin, which repels dirt and odors. It is light and durable, and it is also a natural and renewable material that can be disposed of and taken up again in nature's own cycle.
We will take advantage of the fact that clothing made of wool is environmentally friendly and very comfortable to wear on the body. Modern manufacturing techniques have given us even finer qualities in textiles and my patented felt system gives us even more possibilities for new ground-breaking footwear designs.
In other words, we can produce a complete collection of footwear in 100% natural materials, which are environmentally friendly and extremely comfortable to walk in. Both outside and inside, summer and winter.
With new digital sales and production processes, we can ensure that our footwear fits our customers.
We therefore want to supply comfortable footwear made of natural materials that suit our customers. (Instead of finding customers who fit our products.)
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In the last 20-30 years, we have built retail stores that can be easily and quickly set up for trading in everything from shoes to cars. We have built standardized and efficient distribution systems, inventory management and accounting. Thus, anyone can now, without significant prerequisites or training, establish their own web shop, and outsource the operation right from production of the products to stock management, pick & pack, delivery, on-line marketing and bookkeeping..
We are currently facing another wave of automation. Customer inquiries are already answered by robots, and artificial intelligence will bring us more efficiencies.
Especially in the fashion industry, returns are a significant cost. There is a lack of tools that can more precisely illustrate what customers should expect when they order. Real-time renderings of targeted avatars, dressed in the current garments, will soon show customers exactly how a purchase will suit them.
The designer will beforehand develop, visualize and present the products with 3D software. As retailers, we can thus get a feel for the demand even before the first sample is sewn. As a manufacturer, we can get precise patterns and recipes for products that we can produce on digitized machines.
In other words, the fashion industry is facing a revolution similar to what the graphic industry went through when we got desk top publishing. A lot of design processes are optimized and a lot of employees are made redundant.
Some companies will either get excited and invest too early, or completely overlook the development and fail. Others will take over the market by understanding and exploiting the new tools and opportunities.
Some will concentrate on individual processes in the value chain, while others will try to master the entire value chain.
We will master and control the entire value chain, from the raw material to the end user.
We will be able to design, produce, market, deliver and service our products. For each efficiency improvement created in the chain, we will be able to reap the benefits ourselves, and for each change we will be able to adapt ourselves.
We will be able to use our designers' 3D models in our marketing as well as in production. We will use our dialogue with customers to develop the products. We will ensure this dialogue with customers via our web shop and software that can support customers in their purchasing decisions. We will produce our products in digitized and automated processes that we design ourselves.
We will start by designing and producing felted wool footwear with natural rubber soles for both men and women.
We will also make our design and production capacity available to other brands, serving them with sustainable, high-quality products at competitive prices.
In addition, we will develop a completely new production technique for the production of these products. We will then build our own production capacity, based on this technique, and we will then build finished production facilities and offer the capacity to other brands.
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We will design and produce footwear for community supporters. We will deliver quality goods at a price which is primarily profitable, but which also signals achievable and solid quality.
The good middle-class citizen must be able to feel comfortable in our products, and at the same time strengthen his prestige. We will turn to those who do well. Our leaders in everyday life, at work, in the sports association, culture and in our families.
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We will possess a patented technology that enables us to produce cutting-edge designs of footwear in pure natural wool. Designs that will change the possibilities and break with previous limitations for the production of footwear in pure natural wool.
Until now, woolen shoes have largely been limited to shoes used in the home. With our new production technique, we can suddenly produce designs that can also compete in the other market segments for footwear, such as sneakers, everyday shoes, winter shoes and boots.
It will open a Blue Ocean and the market will be limited only by our production capacity.
We will be the biggest news in the industry since Crocs launched lightweight EVA molded shoes.
We have the opportunity to secure a unique position on the market for hand-felted woolen shoes from Nepal.
Via my network in Nepal, we can buy up the producers who deliver to Denmark and Germany.
Customer Relations
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We will make use of our entire network in the organization. This means that we will first of all update each other, on our common current situation and on our future plans and wishes as a company. If we need help, we will reach out for it in our entire network. This presupposes openness and honesty in our business operations, so that we do not fail the trust the network shows by providing the help we ask for.
Over time, our network will grow, and by far the largest grouping in this network will be our customers. We will use our customers proactively to test our ideas and initiatives. We simply want to ask them what they think about our new products and services before we launch them. We believe that our customers want the best for us if we want the best for our customers.
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There is no longer any reason to discuss whether marketing has gone digital. By far the largest part of the sales takes place online, and thus also the marketing.
The big media are Facebook, Instagram, TicToc and Google in B2C, while LinkedIn is also involved in B2B. Direct marketing via emails can also play a big role.
In addition, sales via the large trading platforms such as Amazon, Zalando and the like. be of great interest.
Via these media, we must build effective lead generation.
We must then guide our new potential customers through their decision-making process so that our efforts are converted into sales.
We must know the price we can (and will) give for a sale, and we must constantly strive to convert at as low a cost as possible.
Part of this cost consists of so-called content. So the advertising material including images, graphics and video.
We should strive to have a permanently attached staff of employees who can not only manage media consumption, but also write texts and visual material. In this connection, we should take advantage of the fact that our products already exist digitally, and that for relatively little cost we can create our own 3D-rendered product presentations in our own unique environments and virtual 3D-generated worlds.
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An often neglected discipline in modern web sales. When we have spent money to get a sale, we must also do everything we can to ensure that this first sale leads to more sales. Both to the same customer, but also to new customers who buy on the recommendation of the same customer.
We must offer safety and security for satisfaction, in the form of long return periods, full satisfaction or money back, fast and free delivery, etc.
Next, we must live up to these promises by doing everything we can to satisfy our customers. Even if this can lead to extra costs here and now, which may feel unfair.
It takes many satisfied customers to create a good reputation, and having dissatisfied customers damage the same reputation.
It is therefore incredibly important to answer all customer inquiries. Also the unpleasant ones, from dissatisfied customers. Therefore, there is no point in hiding behind automatic bots, which must be able to answer trivial customer inquiries via AI. They are almost certain to guarantee dissatisfied customers.
Human contact cannot yet be replaced by robots. The knowledge and learning about the customers' experience of our company, which is obtained by talking to the customers, will also only benefit us if we actually, - yes; talking to customers.
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You can get to the end of the world on a lie - but you can't come back again!
We believe in honesty, and we believe that others will reward us for honesty. Therefore, we say what we do and we do what we say. If we make mistakes (and they do happen), we acknowledge the mistakes and correct them as quickly as possible.
We are not naive, and we know that we live in a world that contains both good and evil. We choose to believe in the best until proven otherwise. Therefore, we will also expect to be disappointed now and then.
We will communicate directly with our customers on the channels where they know us. We will express ourselves generally via our web shops and via the media we use in our general marketing.
We are a Danish company that will always express ourselves in Danish, but will also communicate officially in English because we see ourselves as an international company.
In addition, we should aim to adapt our communication to the specific recipient to whom we are addressing. There can therefore be a difference in how we express ourselves to men who are over fifty and younger women under thirty.
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All marketing should be based on a story that explains why?
Why we exist!
Why we should be taken seriously!
Why we should be part of our customers' lives!
That story should be about beautiful design, extreme comfort, natural materials and high quality. Designs that suit our customers, and not customers that suit our designs.
We believe that you have to do good to feel good.
We strive to leave the world a little better than we found it.
We want to improve the way we dress, and we want to improve the way we produce our clothing.
We believe that we can fulfill not just one but two of our most basic needs. Namely, the need to be able to keep warm and the need for social recognition. We also believe that, in order to fulfill the latter need, we must define and tell our story so sharply and precisely that our customers will perceive us as a desirable brand.
Organisation
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We believe that we have the potential to create a truly significant company that will have an impact on our own lives, but also on the lives of many employees.
We believe that our business will generate very large values, and large values often trigger fights. Therefore, we will already try to secure our own future influence over the company we are founding. Although these may turn out to be wonderful wasted dreams, we would like to exercise due care and ensure a fixed ownership structure and purpose for the company for the future.
We will therefore already now prepare a stable ownership structure.
We will place the majority of 60% of all the company's activities in the parent company dialogo.dk ApS. The owners of the parent company (Hereinafter called Founders*) will establish a board of directors to safeguard the company's purpose and assets.
An ownership in the parent company is therefore equal to a permanent board position, with influence in relation to the size of the ownership, which the owner can transfer to a representative of the owner.
For each of the parent company's subsidiaries, a board of directors will also be formed, with representatives for each of the owners and with influence corresponding to the ownership shares.
* FOUNDERS
Our visionary founders throw energy, experience and/or money into the project, and they will therefore always be referred to as founders, and will hold the majority of the ownership shares in the company, as well as a number of privileges. Including a permanent seat on the company's boards.
Our Founders have built up the company's various functional departments with its infrastructure and purpose. At the same time, it is expected that they not only build the basic structure for their current functional department, but that they also manage and employ the future employees in this department. A Founder will thus have responsibility for the next employees who must work in their area of responsibility. They will act as mentors for new managers and employees in the company, and they will look for our ethical values:
We are not lying. Neither towards each other, our business partners or our customers.
We believe that good work pays off and in timely care.
We will always strive not to pollute. Both in our production and with our products.
We will not discriminate in relation to gender, age, skin color or religion.
We believe in democracy, human rights, laws and equality before the laws.
In short, we believe that you have to do good to feel good.
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We need employees in all the company's work areas. We will invite new employees via our network, and we will offer co-ownership in the form of shares in the fixed pool of employee shares.
We expect a constantly growing workforce in the company. Every organization needs a hierarchy, fixed lines of command and divisions of responsibility. From the start, we will build the organization with a clear division of the employees into only 2 layers. For each function in the company, we will hire a future manager who will run the department.
We expect to hire employees all over the world. Therefore, we will often not be able to meet them physically. Therefore, we often only have to communicate via video or text. You can therefore either work at one of the company's fixed addresses or from your own address, but everyone will be connected by digital communication lines and common software and server space.
However, we will try to gather all employees at least once a year. These gatherings should be used for general socializing and celebrating the company's achievements.
At the same time, they should be used for small sprints on current projects, and briefing on, or preparation of, new projects and goals.
Finally, the company's general meeting should be held during such a gathering.
We will pay our employees in relation to their local salary level. We will always look for the best qualified employees, rather than the cheapest, and we will make sure that they understand and live up to our ethical values:
We are not lying. Neither towards each other, our business partners or our customers.
We believe that good work pays off and in timely care.
We will always strive not to pollute. Both in our production and with our products.
We will not discriminate in relation to gender, age, skin color or religion.
We believe in democracy, human rights, laws and equality before the laws.
In short, we believe that you have to do good to feel good.
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All business processes are in principle always up for negotiation, and should always be evaluated on an ongoing basis and optimized if possible.
We will automate and digitize as many business processes as possible, and we will try to copy and reuse best practice in all our processes.
Our Founders will be responsible for all business processes being developed, described and handed over to new employees in the organization.
We will always strive to master as many links in the value chain as possible within the circle of subsidiaries.
This means e.g. that perhaps one day we will grow our own rubber on our own rubber plantation, or our own wool on our own sheep farm. However, such companies are currently outside our focus, and it should be a requirement that we can make such companies profitable.
We will e.g. build our own production apparatus for the production of woolen shoes, but this does not necessarily mean that we ourselves want to run a company that builds machines. We will most likely design and/or specify our machines ourselves, and then source them externally.
We will build our own production apparatus and we will of course also run it ourselves. Therefore, we will need to be able to process our raw materials and be able to master the production of our products in detail.
We will e.g. design our products ourselves, and we will do this continuously because we will continuously launch new products. Thus, we will run a design business as a subsidiary or sister company. This design company may also be able to contribute to the company by selling its skills to other external customers.
We will therefore have to master a very wide range of skills in our company. We want to be both a design company, a production company and a sales company. For all these companies, we will have to manage, manage and run all business processes efficiently and optimally.
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In addition to permanent employees, there will be products and services sourced externally. We will seek close, transparent agreements with these suppliers and business partners.
We want to make sure that our suppliers live up to our demands for quality and price, but also to our ethical values.
We are not lying. Neither towards each other, our business partners or our customers.
We believe that good work pays off and in timely care.
We will always strive not to pollute. Both in our production and with our products.
We will not discriminate in relation to gender, age, skin color or religion.
We believe in democracy, human rights, laws and equality before the laws.
In short, we believe that you have to do good to feel good.
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We want to secure "firm ground" for our company.
Therefore, the ownership structure, the company's articles of association, owner's book, ownership agreements, all employment and trade agreements must be comprehensively described in the form of written documents.
We will seek protection of our intellectual rights, and we will defend them if necessary.
The patenting of the felt technique on which we will base the production of the woolen shoes will be registered personally by Thomas Glerup Kristensen, who will make this patent available to the company via a special contract.
We will register our company in Denmark and operate it according to Danish law. All subsidiaries must be registered in the country in which they operate and follow the law of that country.
We will pay the taxes prescribed by law, and we will not seek to avoid or reduce our tax payments by speculating in special legal constructions for this purpose alone.
As a starting point, we will try to get a Founder into the ownership circle who can take responsibility for our legal contracts, and build a strong legal department. Otherwise, we must use external legal advice until the company reaches a size where it makes sense to hire a legal department.
Operation
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An account must be kept for each CVR number.
All accounts must be kept digitally and all documents must be posted immediately and as automatically as possible. Banks must be reconciled daily so that all accounts are up-to-date and current at all times.
It must be possible to automatically extract current key figures and reports, which can be used as a decision-making basis for the management of the company.
Bookkeeping and financial management must be done internally by the Founder or employees for all the company's CVR numbers.
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At the time of writing, we have an idea, and we must realize this idea into reality. Everything is created twice, and the first is when it is conceived, so we are off to a good start, but it is obvious that we need capital to launch our start up.
We need capital for the development/purchase of machinery, raw materials and facilities.
Next, we need capital to purchase labor and software.
We don't actually know exactly how much capital we need, and this is where the biggest risk lies. We do not yet know how long it will take to build the first felting machines. We will not know the actual production capacity until we have built and tested the first production plant. And, we don't know how long it will take to reach the revenue that gets us past break even.
On the other hand, we have good experience of what we can earn from selling woolen shoes, what it costs to sell them and what it costs to build up the sales channels, logistics and administration.
We can also calculate our cash flow quite precisely once we establish a sale and break even. All fixed and variable expenses are known, and seasonal fluctuations will also quickly prove to be fairly stable in revenue. Thus, stock commitments for raw materials and shock stocks will determine the most significant burdens on the overdraft.
Therefore, we will pursue a strategy where we establish as much of the company with founders Sweat Equity. We will therefore invite our Founders to establish the company's infrastructure and make it operational without paying them any salary for their work, other than an ownership share and thus a chance for a large future gain when the company becomes profitable.
The fastest route to profit will probably be selling hand-felted woolen shoes, made in Nepal. Perhaps a takeover of Wool2fit could be negotiated, with a view to continuing the brand and the webshop. A rapid scaling of this sale could finance the development of the other activities.
Next, we can invite investors to contribute start-up capital for up to 10% of the company's shares.
Finally, we may be able to raise liquidity by selling goods on order for back-delivery, or by brokering production orders to Nepal for other brands.
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We can start by buying the production of woolen shoes in Nepal, or alternatively, mediate production capacity for a commission. Production in Nepal will involve an advance payment of 50% of the production price. This will mean that the production is pre-ordered for at least 6 months and that it is divided into monthly partial deliveries, which are finally shipped home together after the 6 months. Replenishment orders may be delivered in 3 months including shipping time by air from Nepal. Container freight is possible, but time-consuming and takes an additional 3 months, which must be added to the delivery time.
Thus, production in Nepal requires thorough and careful planning and forecasting of both sales and storage capacity. On the other hand, both quality and price are attractive compared to production in Europe.
We will establish our first in-house production in Denmark.
We will automate our production so that the wage share is lowered sufficiently for us to become competitive in relation to the existing production of woolen shoes.
We want to make sure that we can scale our production so that it can double annually.
Therefore, we also want to ensure that our deliveries of raw materials can be scaled at the same speed.
We must be able to produce so that we just cover our sales, and preferably no more. Therefore, we must be able to continuously forecast the growth in sales.
We must therefore operate with LEAN production, and reduce our delivery times to a minimum, without setting limits on how quickly we can grow.
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We want to become a company that is controlled by data.
Cash flow is crucial in the start-up phase, and must be continuously calculated based on data in our digital accounting system.
The design of our new production facilities will take place in 3D software, and all files must be collected securely on our own server.
Development of our software for defining and producing individually sized lasters will of course also be digital, and must be secured on our own servers.
The production forecast must also be calculated based on historical sales data from the same accounting system and shop solutions.
All product calculations are embedded in our product data on each individual item.
Production orders must be generated from our inventory and item database.
All orders are received and delivered via our shop solutions, which must be integrated with our accounting programs.
We will compose our IT of smaller independent applications which are integrated via APIs and which are hosted in the "cloud".
We will possibly develop individual databases yourself and adapt applications that can receive and process customer data, such as target-fixed avatars.
Our Founders will be responsible for collecting, managing and processing all this data so that it becomes available and usable where appropriate for the operation and development of our company.
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Office facilities for administration, meetings and design and development will initially take place on Founders' laptops or own desktop PCs.
When the company becomes profitable and has built up capital, you can invest in or rent property.
IT will be hosted in the cloud.
Production facilities must necessarily be provided for the location of the physical machines and warehouses that are needed. We will only know how much is required when the production apparatus is finally developed.
However, there is no doubt that financing these facilities will be a major task. Therefore, it makes sense to start with a production of hand-felted products in Nepal, so that the investment can be offset by savings on the purchase of production in Nepal.