Luxury shouldn\u2019t have to cost you an arm and a leg, which is precisely why Ella Jade and Dominic Peter created Roobba, a high-end yet affordable furniture brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a membership model built into their business, they can offer even lower prices and have used this as a way to create repeat custom, becoming the go-to place for all your homely needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have a goal to modify their industry by incorporating AI and AR into their services, and they are even tapping into influencer marketing and collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this episode, we explore how to create affordable prices but remain a high quality brand, and we uncover all the logistical and manufacturing challenges a furniture business faces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s their unfiltered advice below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t wait to hear this story, because I feel like there\u2019s been quite a few brands that have tried to disrupt and revolutionise the world of online furniture retail, and yet you guys have done something slightly different, and you seem to have cracked it. Can you tell me a bit about why you started the business and what\u2019s so different about your approach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s take it back. My background is really in furniture, interior design, definitely the luxury element of it. I used to have my own brand called Ella Jade, and that was basically almost the 1% of the luxury interior design world, creating really beautiful, almost extravagant designs for a really luxury audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in that scene, you do elevate design. You do empower those people that you are designing for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We stepped back and we came together and we were like, \u201cWell, why is that not the case in the affordable market? The design concept is not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think from that point of view, we really came together, and we were like, \u201cHow do we create this beautiful luxury empowering design that you can get in the luxury industry, but somehow manage to create an affordable product?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s where we came together from our skill sets, and I think our skill sets are the founding measures of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for me and for Dominic, it\u2019s definitely about the behind the scenes of the affordable luxury market. For us, it\u2019s, \u201cWell, how do we disrupt actually what goes on behind the scenes?\u201d Not necessarily what goes on in front of the scenes in terms of what people see, but what goes on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how do we use our expertise in terms of the manufacturing side and the logistics side, that Dom is obviously very, very good at, to really lower the cost price for our consumers so that I can design on a higher level to empower, but really reducing the cost so we can give that affordable price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that\u2019s spot on. I don\u2019t need to say anything more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, that\u2019s it. That\u2019s exactly it. High end designs, being super smart to figure out ways to keep the cost as low as possible for our customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There you go. That\u2019s the conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how do you define affordable? Because I have to admit, I\u2019ve lost quite a lot of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m about to move house and I\u2019ve been looking at your looks and looking at everything from your ottomans to your kitchen setups, but I have noticed that a sofa is two and a half grand, so I was wondering, how do you qualify affordable? And who are your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The key thing here, and I feel like Dom\u2019s going to jump in in a second, but I\u2019ll jump in real quick, is that we off a members\u2019 price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for example, the \u00a32,500 is our regular price. But if you become a member of Roobba, which I think we\u2019ll move onto afterwards in terms of our membership, you can get a sofa for \u00a31300, \u00a31200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we\u2019ve definitely worked our way, over the past year especially, to really reduce the price for our members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think affordable is in terms of the value that you get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, sofas in general for us are the comfort, so we put the maximum level of comfort in the padding of the cushions and the backrests, but also in terms of longevity, so it doesn\u2019t, for example, sink after a year, which you don\u2019t want, you want to retain the shape of the sofa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And also, for example, all of our products, like our dining chairs and bar stools are fully assembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think affordability comes on a relative scale. When we\u2019re pricing products, when we are launching new products, we\u2019re looking at the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s years, years, and years of sales data in this industry. It\u2019s not a new industry, so we can look at, \u201cOkay, well, what is the affordable market? What is the top? What is the bottom? What is the middle? What do we want to sit with a particular product based on what\u2019s in the market already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The market is driving what is high, what is low, and then we always strive to go as low as possible. That\u2019s always the push, and I think we usually end up with a mid to low level for the product we\u2019re offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the level of quality, for the style, for the size, for example, and for what we think the longevity of it will be, then we kind of put all those metrics together, look at the market and say, \u201cWell, this, we think, is a fair price or a low price for that product.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you can always find a cheaper sofa, but actually, that sofa\u2019s probably not going to last. It\u2019s probably a lot smaller, not made with such good high quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s one of the things, even though we\u2019re going luxury affordable, it\u2019s not cheap materials and things like that, because that\u2019s counterproductive to what we\u2019re trying to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want to keep the luxury look and feel as much as we can. Obviously, there\u2019s certain materials which are just going to be too expensive, but we don\u2019t want to compromise on the quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But also counterproductive to the consumer. If you buy a sofa, let\u2019s say that\u2019s \u00a3700, and ours is \u00a31100, but that sofa is rubbish after a year and a half, you\u2019re going to have to pay another \u00a3700, you\u2019re already paying \u00a31400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My grandma was very wise, and she said, \u201cSomething cheap now is usually expensive in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be honest, some of our sofas and dining tables, some of the pieces compare with Ikea prices, so affordable. If we can talk about affordability, hopefully that\u2019s the level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, we\u2019ve had this phrase on the show before, which is \u201creassuringly expensive,\u201d which is you just want it to be high enough that people think, \u201cRight, that is made well. There\u2019s not some child toiling away in a factory on the other side of the world who\u2019s made this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh my gosh, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the right price, so that you feel like you\u2019re paying for quality materials, and I feel like that\u2019s been a thread that\u2019s come through a lot of successful businesses that have been on the show, that they found that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, I agree. We also moved our entire supply chain from China to Europe, so for us, that\u2019s incredibly important. We can control on a much greater scale, and the level of quality is, for us, much higher, so we\u2019re very proud to manufacture in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I\u2019d love to talk to you a bit more about that in a moment, but I wanted to talk about this membership idea, because when I saw the website, I was like, \u201cThis is the game changer,\u201d because you feel like you are in a secret club if you\u2019re a member, and you get these special prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then also, that must be a really great incentive, that if anything breaks and you need to replace it, your first stop will then be Roobba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that membership concept and how powerful it\u2019s been for the business. But also, how does it work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all about community for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We started this brand, and I think we always said to ourselves, \u201cWe need to be true to us and who we are and what we love and what we\u2019re passionate about,\u201d and for us, it\u2019s definitely about a community and bringing people together, but being proud of a brand. I think that that\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having a membership for Roobba, there\u2019s a number of benefits to that. For example, we offer dedicated customer service assistance, so throughout your order, you have one person that you can go to, which is quite rare for an online consumer shopping experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well as, for example, we have design services, so if you want a technical layout, we can do that for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also have sofa recycling. For example, if you wanted to buy a new sofa and you have an old one, we recycle it for you, for a number of reasons, obviously sustainability, and charity wise, as well. We really don\u2019t just want to send it to landfill. We send it to people that have use for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well as that, we have our membership prices, so that\u2019s basically heavily discounted in comparison to the regular ones. And for us, obviously, all we\u2019d say is our promises as a brand is that we will always put the best prices forward to our members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether that\u2019s cost savings, we take a hit ourselves, we\u2019re very honest and open about that, because for us, our members are our most valued consumers, and we very much adore having a membership as Roobba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, I think if you are looking to purchase on Roobba, having that membership, usually it\u2019s \u00a350 a year, sometimes there are free promotions so you could get it for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But having that allows you to save a lot of costs, but also allows you to utilize all of our services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I suppose from a business perspective, there\u2019s a lot of players in the furniture market who go on cyclical sales throughout the year. Four or five times a year, they go on pretty heavy sales. And I think we didn\u2019t want to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We wanted to try and be affordable all year round. We didn\u2019t want to build up to the Easter holidays, which is a very big selling time, or even Black Friday, which we obviously have to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we wanted to try and say, \u201cHey, listen, we are not putting heavy margins in our product. We are keeping it as lean as we can. We don\u2019t have showrooms. We\u2019re saving as much cost as we can to give it to you as the consumer. We want to empower you to get the best you can without us skimming loads off of the top of it.\u201d And I think that was a really important thing for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think the second point was, when we\u2019re setting out looking from a business perspective, rather than just the consumer side, looking from a business side, it was to do with brand stickiness, that a lot of furniture brands are kind of one-off shops. You buy from them once because you liked that specific product, and you feel no connection to them ever again to come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s something that is done a lot better in the fashion world. People feel a much closer relationship to the brands they shop from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They go there straight away, whether it\u2019s Zara or whatever, you think, \u201cOkay, I need some stuff. Let me look there first, let me see what I find.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas we found in the furniture world, it was more, \u201cLet me search for a product and I\u2019ll buy it from wherever within reason I find it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We wanted to turn that on its head and we wanted to create a lifestyle brand that people are connected to so we could give them more, but also from a business perspective, there\u2019s more repeat custom, people are more connected with the brand, and as you said, \u201cOh, I need something new, let me quickly check on Roobba, what\u2019s new, what\u2019s coming,\u201d rather than shopping the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think that was really important for us to create this brand stickiness, I think I would call it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
100%, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that people felt really close to the brand, which is, for us, amazing, because we want to create the community, but looking at it from both perspectives, from the business side, as well, obviously, it\u2019s very powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s really interesting how a membership might seem like something quite simple, but actually, the benefits are manifold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love that you guys aren\u2019t dragging people out stuffed with turkey on Boxing Day to get your 50% off, which is what I remember from my youth, the adverts on Boxing Day, like, \u201cGet down here today and get your faux leather sofa for 55% off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I love how you guys bounce off each other, and you clearly have a lot of rapport between you. Can you tell me a bit about how you came to be co-founders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We actually met personally first, so that was the first step. It was coming together as partners before the co-founding. We are quite funny. Most people have a tick box of, \u201cThe right height, funny,\u201d or whatever. We probably checked each other\u2019s CVs to make sure the potential was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were both founders previous to coming together on other businesses. We came together in that sense, and then obviously a while after, that we co-founded Roobba, because we were both so hungry to found something and we both found this idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I think I came in, saw Ella\u2019s business, and then had loads of questions and loads of things, and then we came together with Roobba and the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s very powerful in its own, obviously, being together. It has its challenges, of course, because it\u2019s 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we\u2019re business partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as people say, \u201cOh, I want to work from home, I can\u2019t stop.\u201d Well, if you take it a step further where you\u2019re sitting in bed and at 1:00am in the morning you have an idea, you\u2019re sitting next to your co-founder so you can quickly ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personally, I think it\u2019s very efficient. When I have an idea at 1:00am, I can be like, \u201cOkay, let\u2019s just have a quick meeting now,\u201d I personally think it\u2019s very efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it less efficient, if I\u2019m honest, because I need to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll agree to disagree on that point, but I think we get a lot done, personally. There\u2019s no work hours. You can literally go all night in terms of ideas and creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s nothing getting in the way. I think sometimes if you are founding a business with someone, and then you come home, I know from past experience and from friends and stuff, there can be a bit of a pull in two directions sometimes, your personal life and your business life, which is fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, people need work life balance, but I think we just have work balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe we just need a little bit more the life balance, but that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People\u2019s traditional date nights, ours are just meetings in other locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But maybe that will come later, the balance part, because this business is still very young. I think it\u2019s only about three years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two and a half, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s always the most frenetic point in a business journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe when Roobba hits sort of five, or you bring in more management, that\u2019s when you get five date nights a week as opposed to no date nights a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it\u2019s just the kind of people we are, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think so. Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re so passionate in what we\u2019re doing. I think the old adage is, \u201cIf you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.\u201d We love what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want to talk about it, we want to think of the next big idea or whatever. I\u2019m not like, \u201cI need to run away.\u201d You have your moments and you have to run away for a few hours, but in general, it\u2019s not a chore for us. We enjoy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otherwise, you wouldn\u2019t do it. It\u2019s too stressful and too time-consuming to do it if you don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think you have to be realistic. It\u2019s not easy, nothing is easy. It\u2019s always whether you\u2019re a co-founder and you\u2019re together or you are a co-founder and you are not together, there\u2019s always going to be challenges, pros and cons to everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think you also just have to, through the hard times, through the good times, you just have to keep going. And I think that\u2019s the most important thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re trying to achieve something here that is not the norm, and I think sometimes you forget, when you have challenges, that, \u201cOh, it\u2019s not plain sailing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well no, because if it was, you\u2019d be creating something potentially that was a little more simple or easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, we have to keep firm in our vision. We have to keep firm on what we\u2019re trying to achieve here, and there\u2019s so many things behind the scenes, like how we bring out new designs and logistics and all of the things that we\u2019re trying to create with our marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s not the normal, and I think that\u2019s what we are proud of, is that we can achieve that together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we do go through the hard times and we come out the other side and we\u2019ve achieved it, we can look at each other and it is one of the best feelings. Yeah, I wouldn\u2019t change it. Maybe some things, but I wouldn\u2019t change this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, it seems like this is actually kind of a good business idea. If you were both looking for fellow founders in your personal lives, maybe there\u2019s like an entrepreneur dating site that needs to happen at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it should happen, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019d be really funny. Like a Tinder, but it\u2019s got your CV headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s really funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But to be fair, I will just say the only good thing, which is\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not the only good thing, but one of the good things is that we have different skill sets, and I think that\u2019s key in finding a co-founder because, and I think thankfully that was, because yes, we probably did look at the CVs, but thankfully we do have different skill sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dom is very much the manufacturing, logistics, tech, finance. And for me, I\u2019m almost this crazy visionary, the person that thinks outside the box and then Dom goes, \u201cOkay, well, how do we create that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the marketing, the design, all the collaborations, the ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, it\u2019s the creative almost. It comes together quite well. And I think you are looking for a co-founder, the different skill sets, for me, is very important, so you don\u2019t clash that. That\u2019s very key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
100%, 100%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that\u2019s good advice. And Ella, what you said about basically having barriers, and every time you surmount a barrier, it\u2019s good for you guys, but that\u2019s also a barrier to entry for someone else who might be trying to do the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love that concept, that it needs to be difficult, it needs to be hard, or it\u2019s not worth doing and everyone else can do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you talk me through some of the biggest challenges? And they can be across anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You mentioned moving your manufacturing, for example, marketing. What were some of the biggest challenges that you faced as a business? And how has dealing with those challenges made Roobba stronger?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that\u2019s a really interesting question. I think we both have key answers to that. I\u2019ll let Dom talk about manufacturing, logistics. For me, it\u2019s definitely the way we bring out designs. That\u2019s number one. And number two is the concept of our marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Number one is designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you were, for example, to buy from China, you do have to buy certain amount of, for example, if you\u2019re buying a table in a certain size, in a certain wood color, in a certain metal base, you are limited by the fact that you have to buy a certain quantity of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, your buying choices are limited, and therefore, your consumer choices are limited. The amount of products you can put on your site is limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, for me, was a big challenge that I wanted to overcome for us as a business. I don\u2019t believe that should be the case for the consumers, because fundamentally, if you go on the site and you see the table that you like, but they don\u2019t have the size and they don\u2019t have the colour that you want, you won\u2019t buy it, and it also doesn\u2019t give the right choice to the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have invested in this for the last year, and it\u2019s been hard, but we are really excited for the next month, actually, where we\u2019ve got a lot launching on the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We essentially have invested into technology and 3D. We design basically through 3D, but the way that we have our team operating is that everything is very technical, so the technical team talked to the 3D team, talked to the manufacturing team, so everything goes on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We do all the work for the consumer prior. We don\u2019t just buy off a shelf, essentially. And then once everything is ticked in all the different boxes, from the design, manufacturing, technical element of it, and price point, we then essentially can just launch to site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we launch to site in every single size, in every single colour, because of the way that we operate our manufacturing linked with our design team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything\u2019s designed in-house, and obviously, we manufacture it under our full control, so we basically have full control of what we can offer to the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you would buy a table, one size, one colour, one base, and offer that to the consumer, we now can offer that same table in seven different sizes and four different colour tops and two different colour bases, and you can literally pick and choose, almost like you\u2019re customising your own piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not been easy, for sure. But I think I\u2019ll let Dom talk about the manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, just to link back to a previous point, that this whole model links back to the affordability, because by doing this, we don\u2019t have to hold endless amounts of stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t have to have big warehouses. We don\u2019t have to have loads of warehouse staff, so we can keep our prices lower. Even though this way of manufacturing, we have yet to find a manufacturer that loves it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of manufacturers are kind of set in an older way of working, \u201cOrder 1000 pieces from me, don\u2019t talk to me again for a bit, come back and do it again, and keep doing it.\u201d And we\u2019ve battled for three years to say, \u201cWell, no, isn\u2019t how the market is dictating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of the brands are trying to operate in a leaner way like we do, but the retailers behind don\u2019t want to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s been a really, really big challenge, is trying to convince and readjust the way we work. And that was one of the big changes we made when we moved to our factories in Europe and we invested there and we created a really, really strong partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The manufacturing is essentially in-house with us, and we built this model around what the consumer wants, and then translated it all the way through the supply chain, and I would say that now, after about three years, it finally feels really solid and it\u2019s really just running, and that was probably, from my perspective, one of the biggest challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because a lot of the time people are like, \u201cNo, it won\u2019t work like this. It won\u2019t work.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cI know it can,\u201d because it just makes sense, but it\u2019s just trying to adjust people\u2019s way of thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And sometimes when you\u2019re coming into a market and you\u2019re trying to, I\u2019m not going to use the word revolutionise it, but just to change it or just to think slightly differently, people don\u2019t want it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Especially when the other one does technically work. For the manufacturers, people are buying stock, they\u2019re putting it in their warehouses, so they\u2019re happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for us, when we partnered with our team in Europe and we came together, we sold this vision of how it should be, and they understood it, and we\u2019ve built from there. That was definitely a massive challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other thing is logistics. I think people underestimate how big the stuff is. Sounds obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you start up a clothing brand or a T-shirt brand, I always say this to Ella, \u201cI wish we were just selling T-shirts,\u201d because I could just pack them myself. They could be in another room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trust me, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when you\u2019re shipping big container loads worth of furniture, the logistics company call it uglies. They call big stuff like this uglies, because no one wants to put it through their network. It\u2019s difficult, it\u2019s expensive, it\u2019s hard to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, finding the best way of moving stuff without paying the Earth, because again, obviously the cost thing keeps coming back, and it was hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding just really good logistics companies, we\u2019ve been through a lot. We work so hard to get the sale, to work with the customer, to manufacture the product, and then they just break it, and it\u2019s so frustrating, and it took a long time and a lot of changes and fiddling and moving around to figure that side of it out to say, \u201cOkay, which pieces move where? How does it go?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because again, it isn\u2019t obvious. Yeah, you\u2019ve got normal couriers and things like that, but everything has to have its own way, and obviously, the really big stuff needs a specific way, having two people move it and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the logistics side, that\u2019s obviously been a challenge. And again, I\u2019m happy to report that everything is pretty smooth now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It takes a long time, because building so many parts at once. Sometimes, if you build a piece of technology or whatever, you sit down, you build a piece of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You go, \u201cOkay, here\u2019s the beta, let\u2019s launch that, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas we started selling pretty quickly. Obviously, we built some things behind the scenes, the website, the supply chain, to a point, but we started selling pretty quickly, so we\u2019re simultaneously selling to customers, managing the customer experience, managing the customer journey, whilst rebuilding bits of the supply chain in the behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we can\u2019t obviously let that impact the output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s a challenge we\u2019re constantly iterating, and as an e-commerce business, that\u2019s how it has to be done. We are only valued and looked at on our revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not like, \u201cOkay, well, we\u2019ve spent three years building this thing. Now, I think we\u2019ll do really well, and we\u2019ll sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, no one is interested in that. From a valuation perspective, it\u2019s, \u201cYou sell a product, how much are you making?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You kind of have to do it simultaneously, and that\u2019s difficult. You\u2019re running along but you\u2019re missing one of your legs, and you have to try and build the leg whilst you\u2019re running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is the classic definition of the entrepreneur, and I can\u2019t remember who wrote it, but it was that you jump out of a plane, and you have to build a parachute on the way down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve heard that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s exactly it, and the parachute\u2019s still being built right now behind the scenes somewhere, somewhat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think everyone who\u2019s ever been an entrepreneur or is an entrepreneur or is founding their own business will say the same thing, that you never quite finish building that parachute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think you shouldn\u2019t. I don\u2019t think you should ever stop building that parachute, because I don\u2019t think then you\u2019ll ever stop trying to revolutionise what you\u2019re trying to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But also, there\u2019s something about an entrepreneur that if you are happy with being safe, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re an entrepreneur. I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think you\u2019ll always have that mindset that you need to push boundaries and you need to almost keep floating on down with a broken parachute, blah, blah, blah, because that\u2019s when you can offer something else to your industry, to your market, to your consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it\u2019s an interesting point, as well, because if you look back in history and read books and look at other businesses, the businesses where the co-founders or the founders step away at some point, maybe after IPO, whatever, and it gets handed over, often don\u2019t do that well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because that hunger and vision and the building of the parachute kind of goes, and it can go into a slightly more corporate setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think sometimes they lose that passion. Look at Amazon, for example, Jeff Bezos. Okay, I know he\u2019s recently stepped back, but he\u2019s been behind that the whole way with that exact direct vision of what he wanted to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The driving force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exactly, and I think that\u2019s what makes them. Look at Elon Musk. They\u2019re two of the biggest. I think that makes such a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you hand it over to someone else who didn\u2019t have the blood, sweat and tears, who didn\u2019t have that complete vision of what they wanted to create, I think it has an impact on that perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then it struggles. Yeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could talk about this parachute idea for ages, but I\u2019ve got to ask, you mentioned marketing and reaching customers as being an interesting challenge, and I did notice that you were being quite forward-thinking in the use of augmented reality, and that artificial intelligence is also something that\u2019s come into play in terms of your concept and delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can you tell me a bit about that? A lot of people listening to this might just think that AI and AR are just buzzwords, but how are they applied and useful and practical in terms of Roobba?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s all about the shopping experience. It\u2019s all about, \u201cHow do we give what you used to be able to get in shop when you walked in, online?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And one of the issues people have is, they don\u2019t know what they want and how to find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, you want a blue and gold chair, you can search \u201cblue and gold chair,\u201d you\u2019ll see a few options. You\u2019re probably going to choose one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what if you\u2019ve just bought a new house, you\u2019ve got a space, and you have absolutely no idea how to create that space. You don\u2019t know what to put in it, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to fit you, don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to go together, what\u2019s going to look nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, where do you start? What do you search? Room. Kitchen, living room. It\u2019s impossible, so you end up endless scrolling on Instagram or on Pinterest to try and see some inspiration, but then how does that translate into a purchase?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because maybe that\u2019s just someone\u2019s image from their house. No idea what the products are, they\u2019re not tagged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, it\u2019s about revolutionising that whole experience for the consumers, to allow them to give us various different inputs or whatever it is, and then be able to buy product and find what they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you walk around Ikea, for example, it\u2019s a good example, you look at the little settings, \u201cOh, that\u2019s nice.\u201d You buy the whole setting. You look at another one, you buy the whole setting. That\u2019s a more difficult experience online to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, in some settings, it\u2019s easier, because you don\u2019t need endless IKEA warehouses to do it. You can just do it on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s difficult to give that richness of the experience to the consumer, so from the AI perspective, yeah, it\u2019s a massive buzzword, but it\u2019s about the intelligence of us knowing, if you give us some information, what do we give you back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you generate a look for the customer? If they show interest in a certain sofa or a chair, does your website then plug that into an engine that spits out, \u201cThis is how it could look in a room, and these are some of the nice accents you could put with it,\u201d and that kind of thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It hasn\u2019t fully launched yet, but yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will do something like that. There\u2019s going to be various different ways of inputting to us, whether it be text, whether it be photo, a style, whatever it is, and some sizing information, if that\u2019s something you want to give, and then we\u2019ll be able to output the information in the way that you need it. Whether you are looking for a whole space or just a mood board of product or whatever it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s that customer journey we are looking to kind of revolutionise with AI. AR is augmented reality, so it\u2019s being able to look at product in a space. It\u2019s not something we\u2019re going to use massively, but it is a cool tool to be able to say, \u201cOkay, well, how will this look in that corner?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s a nice feature on a product page to be able to add. But the main core of it is this artificial designer, call it an artificial Ella, basically, so that we can create spaces for people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because most people don\u2019t know what they want. I wouldn\u2019t know what I wanted. I\u2019m not a designer. I\u2019m very lucky that I have a very good designer. But it is about that experience that kind of revolutionises the way you shop for stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah. For example, now, we have an almost static concept of what Dom just explained. We\u2019re very excited about, to be honest, the tech that we\u2019re going to bring out, and it\u2019s something that we\u2019re doing in-house, and we\u2019re very much looking to pinpoint the exact pain point from the consumer and then obviously find the solution through tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, personally, I think the concept of shopping needs to revolutionised, and especially for the home, because it\u2019s so long-winded and it takes ages, and for me, it\u2019s a pain point as a consumer, let alone as a business owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is something that I\u2019m very passionate about, I know Dom is very passionate about that, so definitely watch that space in the next year. We\u2019re definitely very, very, very focused on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for now, we have that version but in a static form. For example, we create the 3D room lifestyles with our team, so showing how, for example, dining table, dining chairs, bar stools, sofa, could go all together. You like the room. You can also change the colour for example, not necessarily in the image, but you can change the colour that you want to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have a bundle discount for our members, as well. And then you can literally shop out of that image, click \u201cadd to cart,\u201d check out. Ease of shopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For us, that\u2019s very, very important, something we\u2019re very passionate about, and something we really look to expand in the next year or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is quite crucial, isn\u2019t it, that it\u2019s not artificial intelligence, it\u2019s artificial Ella. I love that, that you are bringing this interior designer element, personalised shopping, to someone who isn\u2019t a celebrity, isn\u2019t sitting on \u00a31 million, so this sounds like a natural progression for the brand, which is amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I wanted to talk a bit about social media, because I can see that you\u2019ve got loads of fans on social media, and I imagine with something so visual, that is crucial for selling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How powerful has that been? Which particular social media platforms? Presumably Instagram, I don\u2019t know. Is describing what you do on Twitter also very powerful? You can tell me if it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talk to me about the social strategy and what that\u2019s done for the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, definitely Instagram. That is our main platform for pretty much everything. We are definitely moving into TikTok. I think that\u2019s very important as a brand, as a consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More so, we are creating our own Roobba Studio, so we are going to have a lot more video content that\u2019s coming out, and really exciting concepts coming out from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But from my point of view, social media for other brands has, I think taken off in\u2026 Not other brands, other brands in different industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, fashion. You look at fashion, even makeup, accessories, on social media, and the concept of what they\u2019re creating through this little tiny image picture concept is very different to the furniture world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the main reasons we created, and we founded Roobba was because I was tired of the fact that the furniture industry in itself was a little bit traditional, old-fashioned, a little bit outdated with the social media marketing concept that comes out in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is one of the main things that we are looking to build, that we\u2019ve now launched, if we\u2019re in August, a collaboration with Belle Lucia on Instagram. She\u2019s a beautiful, amazing influencer, model, and we have created a collection in collaboration with her for an entire house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her entire house is Roobba and is designed by Roobba for Belle, very much in collaboration with her, because she gave so much insight into what she wanted, and we created an entire collection that truly represents her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s like what you\u2019d see in fashion brands. Fundamentally, it\u2019s her collection, but it is now brought into a much more exciting marketing campaign, and obviously hopefully you can check out Instagram, where it would all have launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s lots of content that we\u2019ve really spent a lot of time and effort going into. I don\u2019t want to give the visual element away, because I want you guys to see it, but essentially, it\u2019s really representing her in this collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not just someone sitting on a chair and going, \u201cHey, this is a chair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not just about the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not just about the furniture. It\u2019s about the fact that this collection truly represents her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It truly elevates and empowers her in her home, and that, for me, is the most important thing of what we\u2019re trying to create at Roobba and what we\u2019re trying to create with these collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s putting the people first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Definitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because furniture, clothing, whatever it is, it makes you feel a certain way. It\u2019s such a key part of your life. It\u2019s not just a thing, and it\u2019s about, \u201cWell, how do we put the people at the front of it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think social media and those platforms give you such a positive way of doing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think for me, also from an interesting side, from how I look at social media now, any e-commerce brand in the past would spend a lot of money with SEO, optimising for Google and search, so that when you come, you come at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas the way I look at it now is that I think your following on Instagram, and that organic side of definitely your socials, is the SEO now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before, you\u2019d search sofa, whoever came up in the top page, \u201cThey\u2019re all good brands, I\u2019ll shop in one of those.\u201d Whereas now if you\u2019ve got a million followers, it\u2019s the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t matter if you don\u2019t come up on the top page, because people go on your page and go, \u201cAh, they\u2019re verified. They have a million followers. They\u2019re obviously a good brand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have adjusted the way we think in terms of SEO or however you want to call it, I call it organic optimisation, and harnessing the social media platforms, which people use so much, especially because people are speculative when they\u2019re shopping for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019re kind of, \u201cOh, ideas, creative,\u201d rather than, \u201cI know exactly what I want,\u201d which we discussed earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From that perspective, I think the social channels are huge from the organic side. Obviously, there\u2019s the paid side and the ads and all this stuff, but the organic side, which we\u2019re trying to harness with these partnerships, trying to create powerful messaging and this theme of empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We feel like that is what\u2019s going to give us that organic edge, which hopefully translates into the new SEO, as I like to call it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I need to know, though, how did you choose Belle? Because there are so many influencers out there and this is such an all-in partnership where basically the blend is absolute between this personality and your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What questions did you ask? How did you interrogate all the options? Because I can imagine a lot of people listening might be interested in influencer marketing in a general sense, but will be fascinated to know how you choose this one person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To be honest, it was very organic, and I know this is a non-scientific way of looking at influencer marketing, but my advice, honestly, it has to be organic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because then you will vibe off each other, because fundamentally, the brand is you as a founder, and the best collaborations and the best partnerships I\u2019ve ever worked on is when you\u2019re both on the same page and you\u2019re both able to agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not necessarily agree, but you are on the same page in terms of what the vision is and what you\u2019re trying to create, and you\u2019re going to put the same amount of effort and energy into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll just throw one word in there. It\u2019s authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s authenticity. Because influencer marketing has come such a long way, it\u2019s not the same as it was a few years ago where they just posted it and it did well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People now see through it, in the same way now people know they\u2019re getting advertised to from an ad popping up. It\u2019s not like, \u201cOh wow, look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People know the ad\u2019s there. And it\u2019s the same with influencer marketing now. People know it\u2019s a paid ad, and they have to write #paid or whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, it\u2019s about going a step further and creating something, like I said, which is super authentic. We wanted to partner with Belle because all our core values, they kind of aligned. We knew she wanted a new space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was she already a fan? Or did she buy something? Or did she get in touch and say, \u201cHey, I love what you are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How did the kernel of a relationship start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, really, her agent at the time got in touch, and Belle said that she really loved the products and really loved the style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think, honestly, there\u2019s two folds to this, as Dom was saying. It is authentic because the fact that she really liked the brand, but also the style, in terms of what we create, it represents her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, it\u2019s like fashion. You choose a brand because of the style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The shoe fits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, exactly. But also because, look, she is beautiful soul, inside and out. She\u2019s very family orientated, really lovely, kind person. And obviously, for us, that\u2019s in itself an amazing fit, because she represents what we want to represent as a brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But also because she was passionate, as well, about what we wanted to try and create, and I think that it goes along with that authentic concept, where you\u2019re not just doing a collaboration where we are pushing forcefully onto the influencer something that the influencer\u2019s not either passionate about or bothered about or wants to really get involved in, and therefore, it just won\u2019t work in that situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are collaborating, so it\u2019s not just, \u201cHey, I\u2019m dictating what you need to do as a brand and you need to do that as an influencer,\u201d almost like a sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was very much a, as the word says, partnership, collaboration, where we both came together and we both created something that we\u2019re very passionate about, and that\u2019s why it was authentic and that\u2019s why it was organic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think if you can, for anyone listening who\u2019s doing influencer marketing or was wanting to collaborate with a certain influencer, for me, it\u2019s not just the first person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I will say that because I think it\u2019s quite easy. Almost as a brand, you want to be like, \u201cWell, I want to get going really quickly and I need to push out my brand and influencer marketing and whoever I can get, I will go for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But actually take a minute, and maybe it\u2019s not the right person at the start, because you do spend a lot of investment as a brand with the influencer marketing, and absolutely, that\u2019s our passion and our joy, but it has to be right, so if it\u2019s not the right person, the right person will come along for the brand, and don\u2019t worry about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And bear in mind, that person is going to be the face of your brand. You may not be the face of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are not super in the spotlight yet, so if you choose the wrong person or it doesn\u2019t resonate with the consumer, and especially if you spent so much time building this network of consumers or an audience, and then suddenly you throw out something which is really wrong, that can be super detrimental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So just be careful who you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avoid the knee-jerk reaction when it comes to consumer marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
100%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n