First of all, I want to start by saying thank you! It has been a wild seven months since we launched Barons of Copenhagen. I never imagined the reception we have received. It means a lot to get a good start, so all the support we have received is something we truly appreciate.
I have chosen to write a bit about why and how we created Barons of Copenhagen.
Well, back to the “why”...
We were well on our way up the career ladder at Deloitte, where we worked with buying and selling companies. During our time, we worked with many inspiring entrepreneurs, and we had the privilege of getting a small glimpse into their businesses. It has been incredibly exciting. Gradually, the urge to create something ourselves became stronger and stronger. In our view, the real rock stars are all the entrepreneurs and owner-managers who keep the wheels turning in society.
But what should we focus on? - We didn't have any brilliant idea.
When you think of entrepreneurship, you quickly think of apps or software that will revolutionize a market. The problem was just that neither Kristian nor I had any expertise or particular interest in apps and software. We actually just agreed that we wanted to make a cool product that you could see and feel, and that we could understand and stand behind. Additionally, we agreed that we wanted to create a business that generated revenue from day one and not a platform that only makes money when you have reached many millions of users (but hats off to those who do).
That it ended up being shirts was probably more of a coincidence than part of a big plan.
It all started on a high-speed train outside Shanghai...
Kristian and I had coincidentally worked together on the sale of a Danish cable company's Asian business. We had a tough and hot week in an industrial suburb of Shanghai and were on our way back to Shanghai. As we stood there in a 30-degree hot train packed like sardines, the conversation turned to why my shirt had fared so much better than Kristian's. They had both been ironed in the morning. Could it really be that there is such a big quality difference in a white shirt?
We agreed that it's super frustrating when you spill brown sauce on your new white shirt costing over 1000 DKK. It was something we thought many men could relate to. We thought this could be done smarter, for example, by cutting out unnecessary middlemen and focusing on classic designs. Out with all the strange stripes and dots that end up on sale anyway.
Let's be honest - we come from a culture with a lot of work, and we know better than anyone the demands a long day at the office places on a business shirt.
That it would take 2 years to get to the start, we did not expect!
After our trip to Shanghai, we got started. Weekends, evenings, and nights were spent researching our way through the jungle of textile production. Trade fairs were visited, and we quickly found out that all manufacturers had hundreds of types of fabric that looked good at first glance but still didn't feel quite right. It ended with us entering a partnership with a German fabric manufacturer who fortunately took us under their wing. They could see the meaning in our vision. The final result was our own signature fabric, something normally reserved for the big players in the market.
When we finally had the fabric in place, the next challenge came. Production, distribution, logistics, packaging, marketing, etc. There were many things to start with, and everything was new to us. How do you build a modern e-commerce business without experience or knowledge? I will tell you a bit more about all this in the next section...
//Joachim
