A year ago, fed up with the difficult and time-consuming task of finding true high-quality clothing and accessories online, childhood friends, Massimiliano Gritti and Elliott Aeschlimann, embarked on a 12-month journey across the UK and Europe to find brands that were genuinely championing quality.
We had a chat with Massimilano about their creation, Bombinate, the first online destination for clothing and accessories which brings together the world’s finest brands under one roof. From Italy’s finest craftsmen to the UK’s best artisans.
The moment that ignited the spark in me to start a business was…
We raised some money for charity and took part in the mighty Mongol Rally, which entailed travelling from Switzerland all the way to Mongolia with a car – a Nissan Micra to be precise. We travelled through fifteen different countries, over the course of 50 days. During the Rally we drove on the Silk Road, a major ancient trade route between the East and West for merchants to trade high quality goods.
On the Silk Road we got inspired and decided to create something focussed on what quality meant today and what it meant in our part of the world – how to go about it, how to find it, and how to consume it. This is where the spark got ignited, leading to the creation of Bombinate, and where we embarked on our mission to making quality accessible to an audience that had been looking for it.
The thing that’s most surprised me since I made that move is…
There’s a learning curve that’s very very steep, but by being curious and passionate about what we’re doing, we’re going head on into it, and really trying to absorb the most information possible. The number of complex tools out there that help you grow your business has been the most challenging, and also the most surprising.
The toughest challenge I’ve faced is…
The toughest challenge I’ve faced was, obviously, making the first step into that journey; deciding to quit everything, and invest a hundred per cent of my time was the hardest part. It’s really not about convincing other people, but about convincing yourself that you’re on the right track and to give it your all, and when there’s some lows during that journey then you just have to persevere. So I would say the first step, that first jump, was the hardest.
My biggest success has been…
For now, the biggest success has been launching the actual website. We managed in less than a year to launch the idea which was just a concept on paper, but which is now a fully-fledged website with more than 35 brands on it, in addition to different stakeholders all interacting with it. Going from an idea, to concept, to the final product, launching it, and bringing it to the world, has been our biggest success so far.
I’m very good at…
People. Our brands come from seven countries, so our multi-cultural background has really enabled us to connect with various brands who speak different languages, and have different backgrounds. This has definitely been our biggest asset; being able to on-board new brands, bring in new stakeholders and align them with our mission.
The type of person I look to recruit into my organisation is…
We’re looking to on-board driven, passionate and quick learners, this is key to us. We want people who are passionate and ready to learn a lot at a very fast pace. Anyone that has very good communication abilities, speaks more than one language, and is curious about the world that surrounds them.
The part of my day I most look forward to is…
I would say the morning. Getting into the office, obviously having the first coffee – caffeine addiction – sitting down, looking at the day ahead and basically jumping into it, embracing all the challenges the day may contain.
If I could give my 18-year old self one piece of advice it would be…
Start learning earlier, start getting interested in all those amazing tools and companies that surround every business nowadays. Getting acquainted with the Googles, the Facebooks, and all those tools at a young age, not only for my business, but in general. I think this is key to anyone nowadays, and especially as society moves forward, this will be increasingly important. So, I’d say getting digitally native at a very young age is something I would have advised my eighteen-year-old self.
Outside of work I can be found…
I would say ‘outside of work’ is quite an interesting question because there is no such thing as ‘outside of work’ currently; but when out of the office I can be found at the pub, doing sports, or running around the park.
My philosophy on life is…
My philosophy on life is to be good and do good. It’s also to grow as a human being and interact with those around you. Additionally, to give back to the community that helped you grow.
If I was asking the questions, I would want to know…
I would say what’s the biggest challenge facing you in the coming months or years, and also, do you have any advice on how to deal with personal matters that shouldn’t interfere with the business side of your life. That’s very interesting to me – how successful entrepreneurs have managed to put a wall between their personal life and their business life.
What I like about working with Ignition Law…
Working with Ignition Law has proven incredibly simple, easy and efficient. We’ve managed to do a lot of different endeavours together, from contract building to contract editing, to advice and now we’re moving into the accountancy aspect of Ignition. What stands out is the flexibility, the efficiency, and the time they take to understand the business. The fact that they understand the digital world has been incredibly significant to us as well.
