'As an entrepreneur, you don't have to chase every idea that comes to mind.'
A conversation with alumna and CEO Marleen Basart
With an enormous passion for healthy and tasty food, VU alumna Marleen Basart founded BitesWeLove in 2015 -- snacks that are shaking up the snack world. But starting your own business brings challenges. Marleen shares her most important lessons about entrepreneurship, passion and just doing it.
For Marleen, the reason for going into business is clear: she is full of ideas and something has to be done with that. ‘I have a huge drive to create things myself.’ Building a beautiful brand from scratch has always been her ultimate dream. And with BitesWeLove, she has succeeded; her healthy snacks can now be found at thousands of shops throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. Marleen: ‘We eat an average of 4.7 snacks a day! If we can ensure that these snacks are just a little healthier, it will have a huge impact on our health.’
Marleen saw an opportunity to shake up the snack world. That might sound fun, ‘but setting up a food company is hard work.’ It is often about low-priced items that you have to sell in large volumes. But, as she emphasises, even if she would have known that from the start, she doesn't regret her decision for a second. ‘I just really like good food and everything that goes with it,’ she says with a smile. ‘Food brings people together.’ According to Marleen, having passion for what you do is extremely important. ‘Otherwise, you're not going to keep it up.’
Just start somewhere So, passion and a good idea. But how do you start? ‘When I think back to the beginning of my entrepreneurship, I think: ignorance is bliss,’ Marleen says. ‘It might be a good thing that when you start out, you don't know everything.’ Her tip: ask yourself what’s the worst thing that can happen? ‘The worst thing for me was the idea that after ten years I would wake up in a golden cage at a big corporation and think: if only I had... Even if things go wrong the first time, you will have learned a lot from it.’
To make beginning less overwhelming, it is important to talk to as many people as you can. ‘Often people are afraid to share their idea, but that's a shame.’ Marleen says that it is precisely by sparring with others, such as experts from the industry, competitors and potential customers, that you receive useful feedback. ‘Based on this, create a basic concept and first test it on a small scale. Does the idea catch on? Then it's just a matter of going ahead. You can brood over your idea for years, but that's not my style.’
After her studies in Business Administration at VU Amsterdam and International Management CEMS at the RSM, Marleen worked -- as a real foodie -- at various places including Albert Heijn as a management trainee. As a category manager, she was responsible for the snacks in the supermarket and saw a gap in the market. With BitesWeLove, she provides a colorful, healthy and also a very tasty addition to the snack market. Tip: take a look at biteswelove.nl. The ambitious scale-up currently has several vacancies!
"Entrepreneurs are often in love with their own idea, and love makes blind"
Doing it together Marleen emphasises how nice it is to set up a company with several people. ‘Make sure you have good cofounders. One of the things that makes my business successful is that I have very good business partners. On your own you are always right, while that is of course very often not the case. It's good to have someone next to you who occasionally bursts you out of your bubble.’ Her advice: find someone with the same vision and values, but with complementary skills.
Together with your partner, keep a critical eye on your target group. ‘Entrepreneurs are often in love with their own idea, and that makes them blind. Force yourself to continually test your product or service with your customers.’ That also means that your company can change enormously. ‘We started in subscription form. Through food service, we eventually ended up at retail. One of our products was very successful in food service, but did not catch on at all in retail. In hindsight, we looked at it too much from our business perspective rather than that from the target audience.’
Balance Marleen says that entrepreneurship can be quite lonely. ‘I now have gathered great people around me, but certainly in the beginning I often felt very alone.’ There are a lot of big decisions you have to make and building something new brings uncertainty. It can take a lot of energy mentally. ‘My modus operandi was: if something goes wrong, I go into action mode. But then you will find out too late that you’re tired or out of balance.’ She now deals with this differently. ‘I've found a very good coach. Not necessarily for my business, but for personal leadership.’ She calls it one of the best investments in her entrepreneurial career. In addition, she advises to be sure to have enough time for relaxation and outsource as many things as possible that do not give you energy. 'Facilitate yourself wherever possible. I can take some steps in that myself.’ She underscores how important it is to take mental rest. ‘Entrepreneurship brings a lot of highs, but regularly things go differently than you had envisioned. Then it is important that you are mentally resilient, so that you can switch quickly and continue to see opportunities.’
Future Marleen has big dreams for her feel-good snacks. ‘We are busy expanding our range. We want to be the brand that offers a healthier alternative to your favorite snack.’ She wants to grow further in the Netherlands, but the first steps in England have already been taken. However, her ambitions go beyond BitesWeLove. ‘I have a hundred other ideas: from setting up a large healthy food chain to launching a podcast to coaching young female entrepreneurs.’ And therein lies her latest advice: ‘I can picture quite quickly how I want to develop an idea, but that does not always serve the larger purpose. You don't have to chase every idea that comes to mind.’
