MBS089 - Michael Van Straaten, CEO Verimark

Send us a text

Hey guys, so today I want to talk to you about Toys R Us. In 2012, they were a $12 billion company with a massive retail network of 1600 stores. In September 2017 – that’s just last month – they went bankrupt. In fact, Toys R Us is just 1 of over 300 retail brands have filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the past 9 months alone. So, how does a $12 billion a year company go bankrupt in just 5 years? Well, there are several factors in play ranging from crippling debt, a consumer which is moving to the online shopping space and perhaps most obvious is a distinct lack of innovation – apart from a fulfillment partnership with Amazon they almost ignored the Internet completely. As the world continues to evolve on a seemingly cyclical basis, stories like this are becoming ever more common place and in my view, it is becoming increasingly harder to find stories of companies that have truly stood the test of time. But one of those companies isn’t a global story – it is in fact a local story – that almost all of us would have heard about at some point or another over the past 40 years or so. It is the story of Verimark – a direct marketing and direct response TV play. Verimark was founded in 1977 with a capital base of R5,000, a staff of 2 people and a dream. Fast forward to today however, and it is a R500 million a year company which employs over a thousand staff. In short, it is a brand and business that has truly stood the test of time. I reached out to the CEO Michael Van Straaten, to find out what he has learnt in the process of building Verimark into a household brand, a global leader in home shopping network innovations and most importantly, how we as entrepreneurs can with stand the pressures of an ever changing business environment.

Support the show