Hey D2CVille community! Welcome to the second episode of D2CVille Stories, where we're excited to feature Maxim Gelmann (MG) , the Founder and Chief Stroodle at Stroodles .
Stroodles is a company that offers a unique range of edible tableware products, including their famous pasta drinking straws and ediple cups and spoons. Today, our host Bahadir (B) will be interviewing Maxim to learn more about the inspiration behind his innovative brand and the challenges he faced in bringing it to market.
Maxim will share his personal story, including the ups and downs he experienced while building his brand and the lessons he learned along the way. Join us for an exciting discussion about Stroodles, their incredible products, and their vision for a more sustainable future.
😂 Founders' life B: Where are you dialing from, Maxim? MG: It's embarrassing to say. Obviously, I'm based in London, but I'm at a trade show. So I found a family room, which is basically where you change diapers and, So any background noise is excused. Let's just hope fingers crossed. There are no families coming in with kids in the next, 20 minutes. It's I guess it's the founder's life there for you. So it's the only quiet room in this whole big trade show.
♻️ Stroodles: Redefining sustainability B: Tell us more about Stroodles! MG: As a company, we're redefining sustainability communication to make it approachable and fun. The current approach is often doom and gloom, and corporates use buzzwords without explaining their meaning.
Sustanability made tangible MG: We offer tangible solutions with our sustainable yet enjoyable products, like pasta straws and edible spoons. Our aim is to create a sustainability 2.0 that's inspiring and easy to use, offering touch points like sustainable bowls to make a lasting impact.
🤓 Brand personality B: Did you had kids in mind when designing Mr. Stroodle? MG: To be honest, my products appeal to a wide range of audiences, from kids to restaurants, bars, stadiums, and the hospital sector. While I am consciously trying not to be pigeonholed as a kids' brand, I do want to be associated with playfulness. The character, Mr. Stroodles, was designed with kids in mind, but it had to be universal, so it can be customized for different audiences.
Mr. Stroodles is playful and a spokesperson that makes people smile, and that appeals to everyone from kids to adults. The challenge for me as a marketing company is to reach such a wide target audience without being pigeonholed.
🏄 Starting with the business B: When did you launch this project? When did it become a real business? MG: I started the company 4 years ago and have proven the market through crowdfunding and my appearance on Dragons’ Den. We're now in the growth and scaling stage and have created sub-businesses under the Stroodles brand.
B: This is not your first startup, right? MG: I have a consulting background which helps me run a lean team and quickly learn new industries. I focus on finding unusual partnerships that create new content and interest for everyone involved. My experience spans various industries, which has helped me identify that most businesses face similar problems with sales, pricing, and marketing. I enjoy networking and hearing people's problems to find unique solutions that are out of the box for both of us.
B: Are you selling D2C or B2B? MG: In addition to selling our products direct to consumers through our website and third-party marketplaces such as Amazon, we also sell directly to consumers and B2B to restaurants, bars, and department stores. We are open to exploring additional channels as needed to reach our target audience, which ranges from two-year-olds to 80-year-olds hosting dinner parties, and from corner shops to big cruise ships. This broad target audience presents both challenges and opportunities.
B: Where do you stand today and where do you want to take it next? The goal is to establish the character and brand and create businesses under the Stroodles umbrella in different industries. We're building a licensing business with a blueprint that allows me to plug in any business that fits our company values. The aim is for Stroodles to become a household name synonymous with fun sustainability.
B: What was the biggest mistake in your early days? MG: One of the biggest changes I would make is to externalize more of the supporting functions in my business, such as warehousing and logistics. In the early days, I did all of this myself because I thought external warehousing was too expensive. However, I soon realized that this was taking up too much of my time and energy and that it would be more efficient and cost-effective to outsource these functions to external partners.
I also wish I had brought on a co-founder or partner earlier on in the process. As a sole founder, I was able to make my own decisions for the first few years, but eventually reached a point where I wished I had someone to share the workload and decision-making with. While I was fortunate to have a great advisory team and mentors, the journey of entrepreneurship can still be a lonely one at times.
Overall, these changes would have allowed me to focus more on what I do best, which is sales and business development. By getting rid of some of the supporting functions, I could have spent more time building relationships with clients and growing my business. While I don't regret my choices, I definitely learned some valuable lessons along the way that I will carry with me into future ventures.
🐉 Dragons' Den B: How was the experience? I would do it again and again, like Dragon's Den. It was a conscious decision and there's power in it. I can't reveal everything due to an NDA, but the edit afterwards is powerful. The show is different from investor meetings, it's all for views. A speaking coach helped me through it, and it's a great funding combination. It's definitely a great experience but you need to be ready. So it's nerve-racking and not for everyone, but worth it. But as I say the combination of Dragons’ Den and crowd-funding is perfect!
🚚 Logistics B: So when you first decided to go for a 3PL, did you make the right choice? MG: I don't think I know anyone who's working with the original 3PL. I actually have lots of my founder friends who just follow me. So when I go, they’ll go as well. I have switched at least four times over the course of my business. Each time, it was a conscious decision based on different factors such as logistics, pricing, and customer service.
Currently, for e-commerce, I am using one 3PL, and for my B2B stock, I have a custom logistics arrangement with my distributor. It's a bit of a unique situation, but it works for us.
However, a friend of mine posted about his subscription business and mentioned that he has space for logistics. I'm considering switching again and using his space for storage and distribution.
B: Like what do you look for when you're searching for a 3PL? MG: Cost is important, but not at the expense of quality. Initially, I piggybacked on a big marketplace's rates and experienced issues with wrong items being sent to customers and poor customer service. It's a balance between premium costs and avoiding mistakes while maintaining good customer service.
One of my first partners was actually a courier rate marketplace, which I still use for piggybacking on UPS and DHL rates. However, for proper 3PL services, I am switching companies. It's a balance between cost and service, but I demand good customer service and quick response times.
B: Do your products have an expiry date? MG: I am a product that falls through the cracks in every category. I belong to tableware, partyware, gifts, food, impulse purchase, and seasonal categories. This makes it difficult for me to fit into a specific department in a store or supermarket. My product has an expiry date, but it is a decent one. In the early days, I got pushed to the pasta buyer because of my pasta straws, which ended up being placed next to pasta. It is a fun educational challenge, and I am like a chameleon that can adapt to different categories depending on the pitch.
B: This didn't make your already difficult job easier when picking a 3PL, right? MG: Initially, I was only looking for packaging that could handle food, but I realized that the main requirement is for it to be cool and dry. This narrows down my list, but it wasn't a problem because my finished product is packaged inside a box and only needs cool and dry storage. It's a given tick box, not a major criterion.
📦 Inventory B: You have maybe more than 10 SKUs. How have you been dealing with those? MG: Using Excel spreadsheets for inventory management was hit or miss, especially for perishable products with short shelf life. Some money was lost due to expired products, even when sent as samples. It's an exercise that needs to be written off, but having a strategy consulting background helped with modeling. Unfortunately, there's no perfect solution, and some stock still needs to be written off, even for committed customer orders. This is a common story for many businesses.
B: What are the must-have tools that you have in your toolbox? MG: We primarily use WhatsApp for communication and also Slack. Our e-commerce runs on Shopify and we use other tools like the one that pulls in Instagram grids onto the website. Google and spreadsheet tools are also important. One interesting tool we've used is a plugin for Shopify is Upsell . It analyzes purchases and upsells to customers. It was suggested by a team member and was a no-brainer as it only charges for what it sells. We're not loyal to any particular CRM, it's more about who gives the better price as they all offer similar functionality but with different packaging. We're not big enough to need Salesforce.
👨💻 Marketing in a DTC b: Who is working on marketing for you? MG: I am in charge of marketing because it's everything I have and my main asset, but I try to stay away from day-to-day content development. My focus is more on strategic brand-level marketing. Everything I do is marketing-related, but in the past, marketing was more focused on awareness, while now it needs to meet sales targets. Any marketing activity that takes more than 5-10 minutes of my time needs to result in sales. That's a big difference now.
B: What was your biggest marketing “aha” moment ? MG: My business grows through partnerships with complementary products, lean teams, and shared resources. This involves giving away my product to partners who can upsell it and offering my product for use at events. It's a win-win situation and a secret to success for many companies. My ideal customer is a restaurant with a shop, but I'm a chameleon who can adapt to different industries and speak at different conferences. Eco is just a channel for brand building, and I'm not just chasing the last £5. I'm focused on creating a licensing brand and willing to spend time building relationships with customers for big deals. That's the difference between me and other people on the platform.
Last words MG: As a takeaway, for those thinking about pursuing their ideas, just go for it and don't let others discourage you. Even kids have great ideas that shouldn't be dismissed. Also, sustainability can be fun and inspiring, and it's important to understand that it doesn't have to be boring. Hopefully, people will be inspired to make a positive impact in their lives and their world.
If you reached this point, well, thank you! Please consider following D2CVille on social media and contacting us if you’d like to be a guest in one of these podcast episodes!
And if you’re based in the UK, check out Stroodles for healthy and sustaniable kitchen-ware !
.png)
%20(2).webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)