Successful market research and yet another store opened in Brussels
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
After last week’s announcement that a new store was opened in Brussels after a successful market research, we are also proud to report (with some delay however) that yet another store (this time in the HORECA sector) was opened by…
Franchise Expo Paris : what’s new and what we liked
The professional fair “Franchise Expo” has been organized for 30 years in Paris. The 2014 edition took place from March 23rd until March 26th and more than 500 companies were presenting their franchising concept. Several sectors were represented : services,…
Stop asking a NDA when asking an offer for a market research
We have recently a series of inquiries for market research assignments in Belgium where prospects asked for DNA to be signed before the first meeting. Here is why it makes no sense and why we’ll always refuse to do it.…
Which perspectives for firms’ bankruptcies in 2014
More than 11000 firms went bankrupt in Belgium in 2013. Will 2014 be as bad as 2013 ? Bankruptcies all-time high in Belgium 11052 bankruptcies and 27912 jobs lost: those are the sad figures of bankruptcies in Belgium for the…
How to: define your pricing
A question that comes always back from our clients is how to set up the prices of their products (this is less relevant for services). What I'm really astonished about is how some entrepreneurs go candidly about defining their sales…
The criteria used by banks to give or refuse loans to entrepreneurs
By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab •
The post we dedicated to our latest experience with banks led to many reactions and –this is also an interesting byproduct- to a peak in terms of visits. We’d like to thank here the readers who retweeted or shared our…
Crowdfunding: the consequence of banks not financing startups
We have dealt already several times with crowdfunding on this blog. As I explained in a post not so long ago several alternatives exist (in terms of business model). I explained the model of Look&Fin (a relatively –yet with good…
Lessons learned on starting up a new store
On Nov 4th 2013 we attended the Grand Opening of Ethnik, a client’s project which became reality after 13 weeks of intensive work. In lower-ranked locations, leverage customer loyalty Ethnik will enjoy an AAA location that we found near the…
Meeting with a great entrepreneur, Alain Milliat
If you wonder what it makes to see his name printed on millions of products, just ask Alain Milliat how he feels. He’s managing the Alain Milliat company which produces 2,5 million bottle of juice per year. Alain is one…
Positive return for subsidies to innovative SMEs
A recent press release by the European Commission has brought some interesting statistics about the effectiveness of subsidies to SMEs. More specifically the European Commission measured a series of performance indicators in eco-innovation SME which had received funding via the…
Is crowdfunding the best option for your savings ?
Several crowdfunding platforms have emerged in the last months in Belgium. One of them (MyFirstCompany), although very promising, already ceased operations earlier this year. The legal problem mentioned on their website seems not to have impeded another platform (Look&Fin) to…
Do High-Tech startups deserve so much support? What about Low-Tech firms?
Hi-tech startups receive a great deal of attention in the press and from official authorities; they are sexy, make cool products, are usually launched by talented young guys with excellent engineering / business degrees. The purpose of my post today…
BSE Academy: first prize awarded to bugs’ food project
The first prize of the BSE Academy was awarded on 12 June to Brecht Vanhecke and Jasper Peeters for their novel food project. Brecht and Jasper’s project revolves around insects and aims at transforming them into food that can be…
“42” School: why Xavier Niel’s initiative may fail
Non-French people are likely not to know Xavier Niel. He is however a famous tech entrepreneur, a billionaire and the CEO of Free, the telecom company that has been shaking the grounds of telecom competition landscape for years. Xavier Niel…
An illustration of why you should quickly get back to leads if you want to close deals
To follow up on our post regarding the correlation between speed and the probability of closing deals, here's the comment of a friend -and customer- of us. In his business Michel sells goods and services for 5-digit prices. And believe…
What you need to do to make your clients sign a contract within 24h
If you want to do business and land new customers, time is of the essence. Yet I see that very few entrepreneurs have this culture of responsiveness rooted in their DNA. Here is a story that happened to me last…
The secrets of market research: how to avoid pitfalls when creating a new venture. Part 2
In our first article of this series of 3 on market research, we dealt with the methodology of market research and with trends and competition analysis. Today we move to the analysis of demand and will go in depth on…
“Les Causses”, an example of successful retail concept
Sometimes I feel fortunate. I do a wonderful job, have a lot of wonderful clients, advise a lot of very different businesses. And on top of that I meet inspiring entrepreneurs when going on market research tours. The story of…
What’s new in 2013: more advices for entrepreneurs with a focus on market research and innovation
Looking back over our shoulders Looking back at 2012 we’ve written a lot (like in 2011) but took a pretty long break after the summer. With a sudden increase in workload we had to concentrate on clients’ assignments. This is…
Meeting with a genius: Enric Ruiz Geli
Sometimes you meet up with people that can inspire you for the rest of your life. This happened to me when I met Enric Ruiz Geli, the architect of the MEDIA ICT building in Barcelona 2 weeks ago. I’ll not…
Sabine Laruelle, Belgian ministry of SMEs, on the importance of entrepreneurship
I was listening on Dec. 13th to an interview of Sabine Laruelle, the Belgian Ministry in charge of SMEs, on a local Belgian radio (Twizz). In a crisis context like the one we are currently going through, it is perfectly…
Impediments in business transfers (#rentconference)
Yvonne Slots and Loek Swelsen presented at the RENT XXV conference in Bodo, Norway, a piece of research on business transfers. Their research was conducted in the region of Parkstad, The Netherlands, at the borders with Germany (Aachen) and Belgium.…
Bankruptcies vs. business creations
During my latest weekly session at the Brussels Agency for Enterprises (BEA) I mentioned the record level of bankruptcies in Belgium. Since January 2008 the number of bankruptcies has increased by 35% as readers of this blog may have already…
Cerdan Heritage: a very professional SME
Generally I’m not easily convinced by new businesses and I rarely get enthusiastic about a young SME. Well, I think I must make an exception. I was in Paris this week where I met up with Alban Cordier who co-founded…
Do you know Archiduchesse
Just like Michel & Augustin (whom I’ll meet in a few weeks), Archiduchesse is also a brand that receives much attention currently thanks to its products, 100% Made in France men socks. Archiduchesse is a pretty good example of a…
Interview with Marc Alagem, CEO of Freedelity
Freedelity is a company established in Brussels and which got pretty much press coverage this summer. Freedelity launched a service based on the electronic ID card used in Belgium; namely, Freedelity proposes to use the ID card as a loyalty…
Why sme’s go bankrupt
Why SME's go bankrupt is a topic that fosters a lot of myths. I attended last week a workgroup at the University of Liege (Belgium) organized by entrepreneurship researchers from Aachen, Maastricht, Eindhoven, Hasselt (B) and Liege (B). Bankruptcies were…
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