FT Start-Up Stories Series 3: Finding harmony in Europe 2,10
Oct 10, 2016
Lopo Champalimaud, founder of Treatwell, shares his unique approach to rapidly expanding his health and beauty marketplace across Europe. He emphasized the value of recruiting local entrepreneurial teams instead of just focusing on revenue. Lopo discussed the importance of fostering a culture of independence within the company and the strategic challenges of maintaining operational freedom after selling to Recruit. He also highlighted how adapting UK learnings while respecting local nuances can lead to successful market integration.
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Local Nature Of The Market
- The hair and beauty market is extremely local and fragmented, with ~95% single-owner salons that lack digital skills.
- Scaling requires local supply and demand matching rather than pure centralization.
Choose Local Build Over Centralization
- Build locally rather than centralizing everything if you want to succeed in fragmented markets.
- Accept the higher cost and complexity because local teams are essential for execution.
Acquired People, Not Just Revenue
- Treatwell acquired small teams and individuals rather than established revenue streams to gain local expertise.
- That gave them relationships, customers, and people who already understood the problem deeply.