In less than five years, from an idea to a company with 40 employees, tens of thousands of customers in several countries and millions in annual sales. Martijn and Floor van Rooy pulled it off with Parfumado. "We wanted to challenge the traditional perfume industry by letting customers discover new fragrances online. We succeeded. In this niche market, we are the biggest player in Europe and we want to maintain that position. We are going to expand our sales market outside the Netherlands and focus on Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and Scandinavia for now," says Martijn, who took his first steps in the perfume business after studying psychology and business administration at the luxury perfume brand YVRA 1958.
Digital innovation
There he soon discovered that the perfume industry was very traditionally minded. People bought their favorite perfume in large vials at chains like Douglas, ICI Paris or De Bijenkorf and wore the same scent for years. Digital innovations were few and far between, which gave Martijn an idea. Together with his sister Floor, he started Parfumado, an online subscription service a la Netflix and Spotify,where customers can try out a new fragrance every 30 days for a monthly fee of €14.95. At their own convenience, to suit their needs. The collection includes more than 450 classic and niche brands in 8 ml vials. Enough to "spray" four times a day for a month.
"Like many start-up entrepreneurs, in the beginning I did almost everything myself. Together with one or two interns, I filled the vials for the first customers, who mostly came from my circle of family, friends and acquaintances," says Martijn. Soon he was so busy that Floor, who had a lot of experience in business, joined him full-time.
Fire Safety
They first conducted their business from a shared workspace on an Amsterdam canal. When the number of customers and thus the trade stock increased, a conversation about fire safety with one of his shareholders advised him to think about insurance. "The perfumes and packaging we work with are highly flammable. Through his network, we took out inventory insurance and, shortly thereafter, corporate liability insurance."
Parfumado has since moved to a multi-company building in Amsterdam's Amstelkwartier, where - how could it be otherwise - it smells great. Since 2021, Martijn has been getting advice as far as insurance is concerned. "I know advisor Willem Touw from my student days. As an entrepreneur, I don't get a lot of energy from insurance, but every time I talked to him, he told me how important good insurance is. Without being pushy, he explained which risks we really needed to cover anyway."
Martin praises his personal, open and transparent approach. "Entrepreneurship is about taking risks; I'm not concerned with our risks on a daily basis. We mainly focus on taking opportunities and growth. Willem visited the office regularly to take us through the risks and possible insurance solutions in plain language. But he also advised us not to take out some insurances (yet). Because the risk was not yet very big or because the insurance still cost too much money."
Dragons'Den
In 2020, participation in the television program Dragons' Den provided €300,000 in funding. The sum increased Martijn and Floor's European ambitions, which included successful collaborations with influencer Fred van Leer and companies such as L'Oréal, LVMH, Rituals and The Perfume Shop. The customer base grew explosively, and with it the risks increased. "Earlier, we didn't think about cyber insurance. When we were hit by cybercrime, it hurt us financially and organizationally. But it also made us aware that risks increase as you grow. We took all kinds of measures internally to reduce our risks and in consultation with Willem we expanded our insurance package ".
Complementary
Martijn enjoys the development Parfumado has gone through since its inception as well as the cooperation with his sister. "We are very complementary to each other and know exactly what the other is good at. Floor works in a very structured way and takes care of the commercial partnerships, the B2B propositions and the operational activities. I have less structure and am mainly concerned with marketing, growth and technological developments. We know each other through and through and can sense when the other is under pressure. Together we are going to realize our ambitions."
