The entrepreneurial spirit cannot be dampened by covid-19. Between March and December 2020, not-for-profit accelerator Nyuko received 428 requests by entrepreneurs who want to set up a firm in Luxembourg. This was 114 fewer than in 2019 and there was little activity during lockdown. “Starting in May 2020, we saw a resurgence of requests and we closed with roughly the same number of meetings in 2020 as in 2019,” said Nyuko CEO Lucile Barberet.
The start of this year has been quieter for the organisation. “I think that the general gloominess is also reflected in a small decrease in entrepreneurial calling,” Barberet said.
Three entrepreneurs, who created their businesses with the start of the pandemic share how they have experienced the past year.
Estelle Rauscher had to delay the opening of her French delicatessen store Comtesse du Barry, from 25 March to 15 May. “I’m still positive,” she said at the beginning of 2021, with the City centre location up and running. “The objectives were achieved in relation to the health context,” she said, although she revised her initial goal downwards by around 40% because of the pandemic.
The end of the year 2020 proved a success. “We doubled what we had foreseen for the end of the year,” said Rauscher. “We managed to hold on, pay our expenses, our suppliers, to have a list of customers who come regularly.” Her product range has increased from just nine items when she opened to more than 600 currently. Two people work at the shop and a third could join them this year.
Estelle Rauscher's Comtesse du Barry opened later than planned but closed 2020 on a positive note. Photo: Matic Zorman
Nonetheless, Rauscher remains prudent and is holding off from opening the second outlet of her épicerie, which she had in mind. She is working on developing her website and online shop, an investment of €5,000 to €10,000. “It was a priority objective, but we didn’t think to launch it this soon,” said Rauscher. But she, too, is looking forward to things going back to normal, “when there won’t be that many people working from home.”
Projects that make sense
“I’m rather happy about my first year, even if it wasn’t what I had imagined,” said Marie-Caroline Dumas, who registered her communications agency madi&co at the beginning of March 2020, one week before lockdown.
The crisis pushed her to focus on priorities. “I focused on the digital side, which corresponded to the needs of my audience,” she said. Dumas has signed up three to four clients in addition to the five she had in August 2020, mostly smaller businesses.
The trainings she offers made up 15% of business, compared to the 5% she had expected. “People have more time,” she said. Having achieved her 2020 targets, she now wants to grow 20% this year.
“We are still in an uncertain year for the clients. A lot of companies aren’t spending because they don’t know what they will have to deal with in the coming months,” Dumas said, adding that drumming up new businesses is difficult when you cannot meet with people.
“I’ve been lucky to be able to live from my activity from the start,” Dumas said. “I worked on projects that made sense to me, helped clients in their development, who have the same values as me. It’s really what I was looking for in this entrepreneurial project.”
Working the agency alone, Dumas said she doesn’t yet know when she will be able to hire. But when the time comes, she will be looking for someone supporting her in production and another person working on sales.
Turnover doubled
Business also continues for Jorge de Oliveira one year since he founded Smart Cube, which specialises in smart home technologies.
“If there is an outage in your home, it will inform you via an application. It will ask you whether you want to take care of it yourself or, if not, will contact a craftsman,” he said about his Cube 4 Services platform, launched in March 2020.
“The market of smart buildings is developing,” he said. As a result, he has reorganised with the aim to offer smart technology services for construction projects from the get-go as well as retrofitting.
He has hired two people, an engineer and a business developer, and foresees to hire three more employees this year. Turnover has doubled, he said, without revealing the numbers. And he expects orders to triple based on the 2021 results so far.
His clients--individuals and companies alike--continue to build and he doesn’t see a negative impact linked to covid-19.
From restaurant to boxed delivery
It’s not only new businesses that are innovating, however. Jens Buch saw the business model of his company Cartes Blanches, which offers food experiences at home, disrupted by the pandemic.
So, he created Luxembox, a €50 box filled with treats from Luxembourg, together with a video about their origins. There are four to five products from a similar price range, from food to soaps or even socks. The first box was sent to 137 customers, the second to 200.
“I don’t think I can make a living of it,” said Buch, saying that any profits go into a fund for his staff to host a get-together once it is allowed and safe to do so again. But he intends to continue the project after the crisis. “It’s a project I like,” Buch said. “In entrepreneurship there’s no straight path you must follow, we have every opportunity.”
And of course, he hopes that Luxembox customers will consider Cartes Blanches in future.
Less pressure
The pandemic has encouraged entrepreneurs “to think out of the box,” said Laurent Decker, president of the federation of young business leaders (FJD). Businesses won’t be defeated by the pandemic, he said, but are searching for new solutions to offer.
Even if some of the projects won’t survive in the long time, their founders “are staying motivated and committed. If you stop for several months, you risk dropping out,” Decker said.
But he has also seen the pandemic give space for more audacity. “Everyone can try things, there’s less pressure to succeed,” Decker said. The federation, which counts around 370 active members, has founded a WhatsApp group where members can share ideas. “We are seeing a lot of solidarity,” he said.