GENK - In barely two years to fifteen employees. That's the path the Genk-based BME of three young Limburgers can present so far. With thanks to LRM that granted a Klimoplening. Their big asset: they take care of your company's e-commerce from the webshop to the delivery of the packages to the customer. From A to Z.
The story begins in 2009 with Chris Pietermans (34) and Daniel Ciccodemarco (39), both from Tongeren. Daniel had been around in the online world for some time, earning his stripes at Ceva Logistics in Tongeren. Chris was a process manager at a large IT company. With BME, they will initially build websites.
Gradually, and especially at the café, they saw greater opportunities. "We found that a lot of start-ups, SMEs and organizations struggle to realize their e-commerce plans. With BME - Belgian Minds in E-commerce - we want to take all the worries out of their hands on that front," says Daniel Ciccodemarco.
"We take care of the web shop, the server, graphics services, translation, logistics, inventory management, payment service and even Google ads. Our customers no longer have to worry about that."
Greenpeace
They are testing out their idea in Geel, where they have a small warehouse. Greenpeace, which markets its merchandise through BME, was one of the first customers. "That's how we knew how to build up experience."
From then on, things move fast. Koen Vanderweyden (32) from Jeuk (previously active at BNPP Fortis and as CEO/CFO of the production house Hotel Hungaria) and Christoph De Preter (former lawyer and currently commercial director at the Leuven software house Luciad) join the founding duo as partners. Vanderweyden joins BME as the financial appointee.
LRM managed to secure a Klimo loan of 225,000 euros. Enough to secure additional credit from the bank. With the help of Locate in Limburg, they were able to acquire a much larger warehouse: the 5,500 m2 building of the former Vortex in Genk.
Occupy market
BME already has 15 employees. "No, we are not turning a profit yet. We want to occupy the market quickly with our innovative concept. This year we will achieve a turnover of 1 million euros. It is our ambition to reach 2 to 3 million euro turnover already next year," says Vanderweyden. "We continue to invest in people, space and more efficient processes. Yes, it could be that we will need additional capital again by the end of this year."
Besides Greenpeace, today Sanoma, Spa and Bicky Burger are BME clients. In addition, numerous SMEs that often operate in niches. Through BME, meanwhile, dates from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Tunisia are also distributed throughout Europe, especially in France and Italy. "We have managed to build a good reputation in a short time," says Chris Pietermans. "But our integrated approach to e-commerce is still our biggest asset."
Source: HBVL Newspaper, June 28, 2016, page 12 - By Dominiek CLAES
