Emerick Thibierge, a creator… of paper!
Emeric Thibierge is the CEO and producer of Thibierge & Comar, a company that now has a turnover of 6 million euros.
After moving to Tokyo for 18 months and managing two Nicolas stores, Emerick Thibirge joined Arjomari. Four years later, they decided to build their own business by starting a new type of business: they invented their profession as paper makers. A paper designer who has become the equivalent of a fashion designer: isn’t that revolutionary! Anticipate tastes and trends, be innovative to attract consumers. Present on five continents, it exports its creations to countries with different cultures and traditions. Its main markets are Germany, Benelux, Spain, Great Britain, Japan and the United States.
What do you think is your major success factor?
Our first success factor is to have talent and know-how and it shows because our products are popular. Our second important success factor is to invent a distinctive and sophisticated profession. Actually, the maker of papers is not an ordinary profession. We also wonder why since 1992 we haven’t seen emerging competitors or people who will do our work in France and abroad??
While this is certainly an important success factor, it is also a hindrance because our isolated situation does not allow us to achieve cooperation. However, the consistency we are able to maintain between our business and our origins is another important factor in success. During my professional experience, and especially when I was in Arjomari, it was not appropriate to confirm his French origins. However, to a foreigner, Paris and the maker of the paper provide a coherent image, as Paris, France is the image of fashion, of creation. So we are in a concept that has the power of harmony. Lastly, it is the adaptability that we have shown that has enabled us to grow rapidly in exports, and particularly in the United States. We ever had to Americanize our communication without denying ourselves??
It was very difficult for us because it was necessary to keep the right level of cursor between the adaptation of the local culture and maintaining its roots ??
Can you tell us your international success story?
We immediately considered our activity at the international level as my experience was international and I could not see myself confined to France. On the other hand, the nature of our business meant that the products were intended to be international outlets. In fact, it is very rare to have paper companies residing in their country of origin. Thus, we see that the smallest company in this sector makes more than 50% of its business overseas ??
Initially, my prospecting grounds were France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain ?? And we found success pretty quickly in France, then in Belgium and Holland. Around the same time we started our activities in Finland and South Africa. Then we overtake Europe ??
We exported with real success. We had become the start-up everyone was talking about??
Indeed, if start-ups were a classic on the Internet, paper start-ups wouldn’t hit the streets. This is a fairly traditional sector in which setting up a business was a challenge due to the closure of factories??
Also, at that time, we used to sell and sell paper without any machine. It was not a common concept then and people wondered how one could make paper without a machine. We were quickly seen as a unique specimen and therefore promoted very easily. We found success very quickly, especially in the United States, and then we found ourselves exporting to 15 countries. It was then that we decided to launch a second line of products that sold in 15 or 17 countries. It was the release of the third product, which was the most daring as we already had an established business base, and it was she that finalized this success. We launched the first color tracing paper and then our sales went to 45 different countries, amazing countries like Cyprus, Canada, Chile ??
Can you advise a company looking to export abroad?
Exporting is development First of all I think people who don’t think of exporting abroad make a mistake. We often talk about the fact that there is no idea, but export is already an idea, in this case a real idea of development. However, you must first be comfortable in your own country. To access foreign markets, you must be equally comfortable in your national market, i.e. your business is doing well in your own country. If you want to run away from your domestic market then there is no point in going for export. The basis is the national market. It is absolutely necessary to be successful in the domestic market. But there is no rush. You have to work slowly and start with the easiest markets, hence the French and Latin markets. Then other countries will come and it will be necessary to end up with hard markets like the Japanese market in the end. Of course, the difficulty of the markets depends on the sectors??
Before exporting without forgetting the importance of the network, it is also necessary to have a certain network of relationships necessary not to surround ourselves with competent people, but also with people with international competence, ie English speaking staff And those who already know the area because finding the right distributor is essential when arriving in another country. In short, therefore we should focus on the skills of experienced people ??
And exporting your best makes the job easier
Ability to adapt or develop In order to export well, you must have or develop the ability to adapt. Therefore, it is not worth it if you are psychotic. You should not come to one country criticizing another country. In France, we are not necessarily very talented in this field. I will illustrate this point with a famous phrase: “Avenue des Champs-Elysées is the most beautiful in the world”. We are absolutely sure of this and often have very high self-esteem. However, if we turn to overseas markets with this in mind, isn’t it easy?
We should not go to foreign markets with better air. Otherwise there is a risk of not being able to integrate these markets. So we must clearly develop the capacity for adaptation and acquire a certain humility. But without denying ourselves. For example, when we decided to attack the US market, we paid close attention to local specialties and began with the idea that we would have to forget everything we knew. So we took many trips and it is this state of mind that did not let us drown in the above pitfalls. In this way we had to adapt to merge with local specialties, which in particular prompted us to create a subsidiary in New York that was Logistics and which is now 36 years old. I will end my meeting with the observation that it is necessary to make: that the need for adaptation is less in some countries than in others. So it is less in Holland than in countries like USA or Japan. However, the capacity of some countries justifies a greater degree of adaptation.