Q&A
MICKSLEIN - LEDROBUS
How will Brexit affect you, or have you started to feel the effects already? We have spent a significant amount of time planning for Brexit, and this was one of the reasons we opened our UK warehouse facility. We now have substantial levels of stock located in Dublin and North of London. This is an essential aspect of our Brexit contingency plan but also supports our strategy of being easy to deal with as this reduces the delivery time in the UK. The main challenge so far has been around currency. In 2015, at the peak for every GBP£1 we received US$1.57 and at the lows in 2019, that reduced to US$1.14. This has a significant negative impact on the business, especially when the UK is our largest market in terms of turnover. How do you define success and what drives you to succeed? The essential piece for me is having a balance in my life, as there is no point in excelling in work but having a terrible relationship at home, for example. Success is spending good quality time in each area of your life from your relationship, health, career, social life, sport, personal development, family and finally, but not least; having your finances in order. Each year I set myself BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and some ‘normal’ goals. I monitor these monthly. They vary from work to personal items, and I do my best to enjoy the journey rather than whether I achieve them or not. It’s so important to have fun along the way. If you could employ anybody from the worlds of business or sport who would it be, and why? Elon Musk is very current and springs to mind. He would undoubtedly deliver in innovation, bring wackiness to the office, inspire and develop some exciting lighting products. What’s the best advice you’ve been given, or would give, in business? This is advice from my late grandfather, “The first price you offer is the best price you will pay”. So if you are buying a car listed at €10,000 and offer €7,000, then
becomes available. Make yourself the obvious choice and don’t give your boss an option when it comes to the next opportunity. Passionate - You must be passionate about what you do and enjoy your job, and if you do not, now is the time to make a change.
€7,000 is the very best price you will purchase it for. He always said offer a crazy price first because the worst you will do is offend somebody. What have been your highlights in business over the past several years? The business has grown from my father selling light bulbs from the back of his car to a global lighting brand employing over 200 people, and it’s easy to forget the humble beginnings we started with. I love looking at our timeline, which highlights vital strategic moves from expansion into the UK, France, Holland or Australia and the various product innovations we have made from the first DOB downlight to our latest high bay producing 184 lumens per watt. What’s next for your company? We have positioned the business for a growth phase, and we are excited to move these plans forward. Our strategy will remain constant, and we will continue to deliver in terms of service, product innovation and quality.
How has Covid19 impacted your business strategy?
Covid-19 has had zero effect on our strategy, which, importantly, has remained constant during the entire period. Our vision is to become our customers’ most trusted LED lighting supplier and to achieve this we need to deliver on our value proposition, which is the reason why our customers buy from us. We want customers to: Trust Robus to provide high-quality lighting products - Currently, our failure rate is 0.52%, and once we continue to deliver high-quality products our customers will keep coming back. Trust Robus to provide market-led product innovation - We need to continue to deliver on new innovative products as this is the lifeblood of the business. We have had several key product launches in the last 12 months with our Vegas LED Strip, Humanitas HCL range and more recently our 184lm per watt High Bay and our new Dallas backlit LED panel. Trust Robus to be easy to deal with - Very simply, ensure doing business with us is easy for our customers and their customers. We do this by having excellent stock levels; processing orders on time and accurately and dealing with all our customer requests in a timely fashion. We can only do this by having outstanding people who are aligned to our company values (ambition, fast- paced, always do what you say you will do, customer focus, and empowerment) and this again emphases the importance of our ADR program (attract, develop and retain).
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