WHAT A YEAR

Ben and I started our very first business more than 2 years ago. Drink Big was the side project that led us to found Merchery in April 2020.

Little did we know how crazy 2020 would be.

Here is the story of our own little rollercoaster.

THE BIG JUMP

In October 2019 I quit my job with the goal to revamp the entire side project we were working on for 18 months, Drink Big.

The goal was to create a new bottle, a new brand, a new website and it was all supposed to come together and launch in January 2020.

COVID, WAVE #1

But we were producing in China, and by the end of December the production of our samples stopped due to our dear COVID.

We had no stock left, no clear timeline, I was unemployed and Ben already gave his resignation.

BUT WE HAD AN IDEA

Initially, we were selling our Drink Big bottles on Instagram, through our website and with retailers. But something quite unexpected happened: companies and large organisations started to contact us.

They wanted to customize our bottles for their clients, their employees, and even as office supplies.

That’s how the idea of Merchery was born. What if we split our corporate offer from Drink Big and add other beautiful and sustainable items?

LAUNCHING MERCHERY, MID PANDEMIC

So we’re in January 2020, and it appeared that Drink Big would be paused until May 2020, at least!

We already had the idea of Merchery in mind for months, but given the circumstances we decided to give it everything we had.

Quite frankly that was our last chance.

In March, Ben joined the project full time, and we worked our asses off to source the first 40 products. We created the brand, developed a website and in mid-April merchery.co was live.

COVID, WAVE #2

Ben and I experienced the pandemic a first time when our production of bottles stopped in January. Then the wave moved to Europe and just before the launch of Merchery, the whole continent stopped. We couldn’t believe it. But we had no choice.

On April 7th, Merchery was live and the rocket took off.

IT FELT GOOD

At our own surprise, the success was immediate. We were not ready AT ALL, but right after day 1, we made our first sales. It was a mess. Ben and I were working from home. We launched too soon, and we were clearly not ready operationally.

But it felt good. Oh god it felt good. After the first month, we reached profitability.

THEY TALKED ABOUT US

When we launched, we had absolutely no GO-TO-MARKET strategy. But we had a selection of products and a point of view on this industry.

So I started emailing journalists. I sent them LinkedIn messages, Tweeted them and never stopped trying to catch their attention.

And it paid off. Right after the launch, we got mentioned in media like Courier, Thing Testing, L’Echo, Trends Tendance, RTBF, Skucast and many more.

WE SIGNED 5-STARS CUSTOMERS

We knew that the hardest would be the first ones. But we fought hard to close our first deals. Since April, we acquired more than 100 clients, including amazing organizations in variate sectors and across two continents. Among others, we’re happy to partner with Organic Basics, Seedlip, La Comédie de Genève, Crosstown Doughnuts, Deliciously Ella, Kimai, WeTransfer, Siemens, Caraway and many more.

That’s what I am the most proud of. We help beautiful brands to shine in real life.

SELF-FUNDED & PROFITABLE, TAKE THAT ;)

Before launching Merchery, we worked our asses off, in the evening and weekends and never paid ourselves a salary. That’s what allowed us to finance the launch of Merchery.

Our business is sane. We don’t hold stock, clients pay upfront, we have good margins and in April 2021, after a year of existence, we will most certainly reach $1 million in sales.

We’re free to grow slow, well and beautiful. And it feels good.

A HUGE & UGLY MARKET

We started Merchery without knowing ANYTHING about the industry. We’re the worst students: we didn’t do any market research, nor financial plan.

Little did we know that we’re attacking a $125b industry.

There was never an intention to revolutionize anything when we launched. And we still don’t pretend to do so. But we realized along the way that maybe there was something bigger. A huge industry made of smoke and mirrors, full of low quality products distributed in mass, is waiting to be changed for the better.

A DREAM TEAM

In August, Thelma was the first to join the adventure. Then followed by Nathalie and our 2 interns Floriane and Pauline.

Nothing would have been possible without you. Thank you so much ❤

WHAT’S COOKING FOR 2021?

What frustrates me the most when discussing with entrepreneurs or investors is how much they value fund raising. Either you raise funds and go big, or you don’t and build a lifestyle business. I believe there is another way.

Our plan for 2021 is simple: products products products. That’s the core of what we do, we source the best products for the best brands. You can expect us to double the size of the catalogue, explore new product categories and partner with amazing brands.

Beside the products, we’ll transform the whole customer experience, apply to become a BCorp, double the size of the team and finally prepare our expansion to the US.

Stay tuned!

Greetings from the Merchery family :)