In conversation with Marcel and Rita De Vis, founders of Marisan
New milestone for founders of Marisan
We are talking 1980s when Marcel De Vis sold the first clocks and calculators. Even then, he was interested in appurtenances and labelling. In 1991, together with wife Rita, he founded a company: Marisan, specialising in packaging and textile activities.
After more than three decades, they are enjoying their well-earned retirement. The ideal moment for a candid conversation in which Rita and Marcel - with juicy Ghent accent - look back on their careers. We asked them about the secrets behind their successful collaboration.
Back to the beginning of Marisan
How did Marisan's story start?
Marcel De Vis: "Our story started in 1991. I was in charge of sales, Rita of all the paperwork. During the initial phase, I delivered all orders myself - from Limburg to the coast. In this way, I built up a fantastic relationship with the customers, both with the people in the warehouse, where I often heard how we could improve products, and with the people in the office. By the way, I never wrote down orders - as my memory never let me down."
How did you come to sell attachments?
"At my first job, I pioneered the sale of electronic clocks and small calculators with double memory in Belgium. At the time, I also started selling attachments and labels there. For instance, we were the first to sell price sticks. These are devices that allow you to quickly print a date, price or something else on a sticker. We also launched systems for attaching things together, with or without cardboard in between. My then employer and I had bought 10 attachment heads with pump system in America as a trial run. That was a big investment at the time. The systems seemed useful to us for numerous domestic and foreign companies. I was able to convince companies of the time savings. After all, our system could shoot 1,000 staples in one process, instead of having to run manually 4-5 times."
"At a large textile customer in Ronse, an immense fire raged one day. I had to deliver materials there and an agent wouldn't let me through. The whole company turned out to be burnt out. While rebuilding their state-of-the-art factory, the manager was interested in my simple but efficient system - he placed a very large order and the ball got rolling. After that, there were numerous carpet manufacturers stapling, for example, bath mats together with our system."
What was the secret of your success story?
Marcel & Rita: "The essence? Quality and service. Not growing too fast, but not too slow either. Marisan grew steadily and gradually our children Sandra, Sven and Tania stepped into the story. Over the years, we increased production and storage capacity, moved to the current site in Merelbeke and opened an office in Bochum (Germany)."
"Respect and respect was the norm, even for smaller customers and orders. He who does not honour the small ... We delivered top service. We helped customers out of trouble with quick and correct deliveries, but at the same time commanded respect. The personal bond certainly helped us with that. We were also hard workers. Effort was the key word. Even when a customer left or once a big customer went bankrupt, we persevered in complete confidence."
On family business and risk-taking
Doing business with three children, is it evident?
Marcel & Rita: "That was never a problem. They went everywhere with us and knew the business inside and out. Since they got into the business, everyone knows their job. We are proud that our children work hard and keep the business at the top, as that is more difficult than starting a business. Fortunately, everyone always stayed healthy and the children took over the business. We count ourselves very lucky."
Have you taken risks with the business?
Marcel: "Absolutely, but always calculated risks. For instance, I made sure there was always a 'side street'. I always believed incredibly in the product, in the 'machinery to price'. Sometimes there was also some luck in an accident, like the fire at that customer in Ronse. That one big order really got the ball rolling."
The power of good entrepreneurship
You have a positive attitude. Do you think optimism is the key to good entrepreneurship?
Marcel & Rita: "We are indeed not doom-mongers. There may be a down day, but in general you have to like working. And like dealing with people. We learned to work hard from our parents, that mentality is ingrained in our DNA. We have always remained friendly, that costs nothing, AND it works both ways."
"We never got up with the idea that we had to go to work. We imposed that discipline on ourselves, otherwise you get lost. By the way, structured work is nice. You achieve successes and at the end of your working day you are satisfied. Then you can go and have a beer or toast with peace of mind (laughs). It doesn't work the other way around. We have to learn to let go, the way of working is simply not the same as before. But remember that a business is like a wheelbarrow - you have to keep pushing it with the whole team."
A rapidly changing industry
Do you feel that a lot has changed in the industry?
Marcel & Rita: "Yes indeed! Everything is now done digitally and ... by appointment. You used to walk in somewhere and could just give your explanation. Now it happens much more via e-mail and is less personal. It is harder to make business contacts and the pace is also so much faster. People expect an answer and the necessary service much faster."
Marcel: "Our son Sven went along to the customers for years. He says he is not a salesman like me. I would literally walk into companies en passant and casually ask who was doing the labelling. Actually, Sven's way of working amounts to the same thing, only now it is much more often from behind a screen. We don't have to imitate each other's way of working. Times have changed. Everyone can do a job in their own way. Everyone is a piece of the puzzle and deserves equal respect."
Closing with an anecdote and looking forward to the future
What anecdote has always stayed with you?
Marcel: "One day the phone rang. A man wanted to buy two small boxes of staples for his company. We were not immediately interested, we sold by the pallet to our resellers and we remained loyal to them. However, the man kept insisting. I explained to him why we only sold larger runs. Then he repeated the company name and we understood that we were talking about a very well-known sports brand - I'd rather not mention specific names
Thanks for everything, Marcel and Rita!
We already wish Marcel and Rita good health and lots of fun with the small - and big - things of life. Thank you for this conversation, and even more for your continuous commitment to Marisan!