Update: We Are On Track To Go From $1.8M in 2022 to $2.6M In Revenue This Year
This is a follow up story for Exapro. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 3 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hello!
I am Thomas, coming back to you after our first interview (already a year has passed by!) to share some updates on our Industrial machinery marketplace: Exapro.com.
As you have discovered previously, we work as traders between buyers and sellers of used machines (B2B only). 2022 was a good year despite a moment of uncertainty in March and April when the war in Ukraine impacted our European market. Despite this sudden drop, we managed a 6% growth and we are now expecting a significant increase for 2023.
How much? With the new products we launched recently, we are looking at jumping from 1.8M$ in 2022 to 2.6M$ in turnover this year.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
So with new products on the way, we wanted to refresh our Front End with a new design. Most competitors have quite similar UX and graphical approaches so we decided to adopt a much more e-commerce look than previously and distance ourselves from the Industry norms.
We also doubled our marketing budgets with 2 main axis: SEO and PPC campaigns. The year 2022 was a confirmation of equilibrium for our PPC efforts so we now have a formulae to grow our turnover with unlimited potential and generate profits from it.
Somehow, simple straightforward ideas have a longer life expectancy than a constant revolution in all aspects.
The Team grew a lot in skills as we favored stronger individuals and training over adding to the Team. We were very pleased with the results both in motivation and individual potential.
So what’s new in terms of services you might ask?
First, we launched a Saas subscription for Dealers of used machinery with which they pay a yearly fee to add their listings and remove the commission we had on their prices.
Second, we started carrying out some deals for factories where the configuration between buying and selling parties was too complex to be finalized otherwise.
Third, we ramped up our marketing services for auctioneers improving the marketing mix and publishing an auction calendar.
For our sister marketplace Kitmondo.com, we managed to grow our Sales team thanks to exceptional results. We are confident that this second part of our business will keep on growing in the Northern American market.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
The general economic situation made international deals somehow more complex.
Not only did we lose 5 to 7% of Sales to Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia due to the War but we had to accept some resistance on the market as buyers were uncertain about their long-term investments, especially in production means.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
We were considering major partnerships in 2022 and possible investments in our business.
Though it can be exciting to go through due diligence and brainstorm about what would we do if we had a few extra million for our marketing, it confirmed that we would not partner up with investors with unrealistic expectations. We are confident in the upcoming growth and we have the financial means to reach concrete objectives by ourselves.
I also realized that concentrating on fewer projects but going deep into each might be more valuable than testing too many at once. Somehow, simple straightforward ideas have a longer life expectancy than a constant revolution in all aspects.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
We have a clear plan for the years to come:
- Build on the current growth potential to triple our turnover
- Benefit from competitors’ losses in the current market
- Add simple products requested by our customers and offer improved insights into their businesses
- Choose carefully our partnerships and become market leaders in the European market and a significant player in Northern America.
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
I would go for Sapiens by Yuval Harari. Though it is not business related, it gave me a lot to think about on how humanity thrives and fails.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
After the covid crisis and now a war in Europe, I believe adaptability has become part of the Managers’ job description. We now consider remote office as a new norm and it is vital for the Executives to push for improved processes and tools to reflect what is coming next: the metaverse.
From experience, implementing tools and moving culture can be challenging at best and I believe should be considered early (and possibly proactively instead of reactively).
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are now looking to reinforce our team of Agents helping the deals coming through. We have a few open positions for our regular business (Trade of machines)for both Exapro and Kitmondo but also for Valorexo, our algorithm to value used machinery.
Valorexo has now gone through a successful MVP launch to a full SAAS corporate launch and we expect swift growth in the months to come.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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