30 May 2016

EURO 2016: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RAF BOGAERTS

Lines without borders, spraying to grow

When the European Football Championship kicks off in France in 11 days, all referees will be walking around with a spray can of Vanishingspray supplied by Limburg-based SME Expo-Line in their back pockets. Most Belgian clubs, as well as more and more European Champions League top clubs, order their pitch marking and football equipment in Tessenderlo. “Quick growth is almost impossible to keep up with, time to temporise.”

 

“For the millions of football fans, we are of course irrelevant,’ explains business manager Raf Bogaerts, “but the game cannot be played if there are no professional lines drawn around and on the pitch. And no, these are not chalk lines. It used to be chalk, which you could get burns from, but we found a solution to that. Always offering new solutions and better service to your customers, that’s how you become a market leader.”

 

Expo-Line originated some 25 years ago mainly from my elder brother Lieven Bogaerts and myself’s concern for the many thousands of volunteers who mark the lines on and around the pitch every weekend at their football club. For years, this was done using one of those old-fashioned carts filled with lime from the top: people spilled it, it rained away and it was not safe because of the risk of burns. As a manufacturer of football line marks, we offered an environmentally friendly water-based paint instead, but they still had to get used to it. We didn’t really break through until the mid-nineties when, for insurance reasons, the Football Association started banning that lime. So clubs had to find an alternative and we started demonstrating that across the country, from the local pub team to the top first division teams. Our starting point was always: how can we make the work of those volunteers as easy as possible? As long as they still had to mix it with water themselves, the result was often a mess. Some could respect that mixing ratio better than others already, but what if the greenkeeper got ill or left the club? Starting in 2002, we pioneered a unique ready-to-use product that doesn’t settle (“decant”) or clump like other line marking paints. That made it possible to install a 500-liter pre-stocking tank at the clubs. They could then easily put these in a 20-litre canister, good for three fields, without jamming the unit.

 

Usability went hand in hand with sustainability: our water-based product does not harm the grass, no waste and minimal packaging. Because in the Belgian market alone, some 40,000 plastic canisters for line marking are still dumped every year. Unfortunately, it turned out that we could not get an eco-label, because our (protective) product could not be compared to any other paint, we did not fall under any category for awarding the label. The development of our unique product was mainly the merit of my brother while I did much of the sales and marketing. I later started to dig into the chemical industry of paints myself – in collaboration with external labs – because, sadly, my brother passed away far too early in 2005. The basics of the business were already set.

 

 

A thousand goals in one year

“With our lining paint and machines, we gradually came across the floor of hundreds of clubs, floating on volunteers, who often ran out of time to go looking for other equipment such as goal nets, goals and ball catchers. We then tried to arrange that through partner suppliers, but that didn’t always run smoothly. So we started our own e-commerce website back in 2008. At that time we were a forerunner and there was some doubt as to how this would be received by the many volunteers. But it worked out well, also because the range kept expanding: balls, ball catchers, soccer goals, training equipment, stopwatches, first aid kits, dugouts, grandstand seats, scoreboards, player tunnels, grass seeds, fertilizers, irrigation…. We focused on major youth tournaments, such as the KBVB Coca-Cola Cup. For that we had to deliver a mass of goals in each province, but they take up a huge amount of space to transport. So we developed a collapsible aluminum goal, 16 of which suddenly went into a container. Now we rent these goals for tournaments and there is a lot of demand. So we became the partner of many sports federations. Branding and personalization tailored to the client’s needs have also become possible. In the Netherlands, we supplied two hundred and fifty orange powder-coated goals, the color of sponsor ING, for the KNVB’s Welpenvoetbal. And for the Voetbalfedertie Vlaanderen (VFV) we developed a fully branded yellow goal. In 2014 alone, we distributed some thousand goals on the Belgian market. The fact that we started e-commerce so quickly, directly from manufacturer to customer at competitive prices, certainly accelerated our growth. Although we don’t really look at it as a webshop, where clubs order a box online and we deliver it tomorrow. Mostly it’s about bundled orders for which we make a quotation and give the necessary advice if required. But we limit ourselves to soccer equipment, although we are increasingly ‘stalked’ by clothing manufacturers who also want their sports shirts on our website but we won’t do that.”

 

Growing like a gazelle

Thus Expo-Line grew from 2 people to an SME with already 17 employees and over the last two years a turnover increase of about 70%. Raf Bogaerts ” In Belgium, we now supply 80% of all soccer clubs, almost 2,000 clubs, and in the Netherlands too, we already supply 30-40% of clubs. Name recognition through the Vanishingspray is generating even more interest abroad in our other products. When you get to supply line technology to top clubs like FC Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, Villareal or Manchester City, those are solid credentials and you are increasingly taken seriously. The most exciting thing each time is whether you get to deliver after the first time, because there are obviously foreign competitors. This is a wave motion: you lose customers, but more come in. There is still a lot of room to grow beyond our borders, and for that we are now included in the Strategic Action Plan Limbrug in het Kwadraat (SALK). These are a series of projects, actions and initiatives, which should result in the strengthening and accelerated development of the Limburg economy and the creation of sustainable jobs. Companies with growth potential like us are given guidance and support to take a ‘gazelle leap’. We are also getting help from FIT (Flanders Investment & Trade) to increase our radius of action abroad, primarily towards France. Having a network of experts to advise you on how to handle rapid growth is very important. So, through UNIZO Limburg, we ended up at a consultancy firm that is reviewing all of our company structure and operations for the future. Growing fast brings growing pains, such as keeping funding in check, rearranging your organisation and aligning it better with your next growth journey. This year, we want to reflect on this extensively in order to take new steps in 2017.

Expert Academy for greenkeepers

We don’t want to be just another supplier, but to add real value to soccer. Our customers are soccer clubs, so we have every interest in supporting them as much as possible to keep their fields intact. We already do training days, mostly on KRC Genk grounds, on general field maintenance, which volunteers don’t always have the know-how for: what fertilization, what maintenance work at what time? Growing fast brings growing pains, as a common misconception, for example, is that fields need to be constantly forced, while this often does a lot of damage to the nutrient base of your grass. Funding in control, rearrange your organisation and better align with your next growth journey. We are going to expand the advice and training of our customers under the name Expert Academy. For that, we want specialized people in the field all the time.

Keep innovating is the message and so we may come up with something new later this year; line marking on artificial turf for tournaments, where fields need to be temporarily graded. We recently went to demonstrate this in Paris for UEFA at the referee selection tests. We were asked to make a complete scheme on the field based on water-based line marking paint that can easily be sprayed away afterwards with high pressure. The reactions on Facebook are already promising. This is how we continue to respond to new needs among our customers.

 

“Growing fast brings growing pains: controlling your funding, better aligning your organization with your next growth journey. This year, we are having a thorough review to take new steps in 2017.”

The man with the whistle, now also with a spray

For the absolute soccer laymen among you, let me first explain what such a “Vanishingspray” is good for: during the game, a team can be awarded a free kick around a spot designated by the referee. The other team then usually forms a “wall” but must stay at least 9.15 meters away. In practice, this leads to frantic attempts to get closer and steal a few metres, resulting in a lot of wasted time and sanctions (yellow cards). Until UEFA decided 2 years ago to give the referee a spray can, with which they could draw a clear line on the grass where they were not allowed to pass. A temporary line, because that “Vanishingspray” dissolved itself again very environmentally friendly.

Raf Bogaerts: We had been developing such a temporary marker for a few years and when it became mandatory, it turned out that our product was the best on point. The first time at the World Cup in Brazil, FIFA still took a South American supplier, but in Europe, UEFA chose our spray, both in the Champions League, and now at the European Nations Championship. All together, they will need about 300 spray cans. This is not a huge order, but it is a great opportunity to further put our company on the map with the 54 European Members/Football Associations. Our great asset and brand ambassador in this regard is former top referee Frank De Bleeckere. That opens many doors, because it is not easy for a Belgian SME to get into, say, the English Premier League. If desired, referees from those Europese federations can do a workshop with Frank for the correct use of the spray. Because that is not so obvious when you are under pressure and things have to go fast. Next week, for example, we will visit the Irish refs in Dublin. The system has now proven its efficiency: players respect the line, there is less discussion and far fewer cards handed out. It undoubtedly helps the ref strengthen his authority, hence our slogan “Authority rules the game.” by now we supply those sprays in Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, USA, …”

Referees from all European soccer federations can attend a workshop with our “brand ambassador,” former top referee Frank De Bleeckere, on the correct use of the Vanishingspray.

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