Scaling Our European Marketplace Agency from $0 to $150K in Monthly Revenue in Under Two Years
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
We are Pavlos Deloore and Tijl Steeman, the founders, CEO, and COO of Meezy, an agency with expertise in European online marketplaces. Our slogan, “marketplaces made easy,” is pretty straightforward–we help direct-to-consumer brands across the world expand into Europe’s online retail market in the most efficient way possible.
Our personal experience tells us that the continent’s legal and cultural fragmentation makes it very complex to navigate, especially for outsiders wanting to enter the market. This makes assistance rooted in firsthand experience highly recommended.
While there are many advertising and creative agencies, marketplace agencies are far less common. But what truly sets Meezy apart is how we operate. We centralize all your data across different marketplaces in a user-friendly dashboard and automate time-consuming tasks, making daily management significantly easier.
Our hands-on support means that you can trust us at every step: We assist in finding the right marketplaces, doing pricing calculations, selecting products, managing imports, fulfillment, and more–just to name a few. As of this summer, Meezy consistently generates more than $150,000 a month in revenue and employs a team of over 35 talented people.
How did you come up with your business idea?
Seven years before launching Meezy, when we were both still teenagers, we started as online marketplace sellers ourselves. First on Bol.com, which, alongside Amazon, is the largest marketplace in Belgium and the Netherlands, and later–once we found a few products that sold well–on similar platforms in neighboring countries.
As we expanded beyond Belgium and the Netherlands, we quickly encountered several challenges, such as managing our stock, finding the right fulfillment partners, creating content that converted into sales, and complying with VAT and tax regulations across different countries. Initially, not knowing how to handle these obstacles led to chaos, making it nearly impossible to determine whether we were operating at a profit or loss. This chaos eventually forced us to take a step back and map every variable.
While trying to find ways to address these challenges, we came to the conclusion that there weren’t any companies on the market that offered an all-in-one solution that met our demands, and we had to do it ourselves. Which, not much later, we did, making our profits skyrocket. That’s when our eureka-moment happened: “Why don’t we help other sellers do the same?”.
After all, we knew many must have been facing similar pitfalls while trying to scale their businesses across Europe. On top of that, I (Pavlos) had prior experience starting as a sales representative and eventually becoming a sales manager at another startup, and Tijl had become obsessed with finding technology that could elevate our operations. All of these factors made for the perfect combination to successfully build a marketplace agency, so we decided to go for it.
Give us a step-by-step process for how you built the first version of your product.
Aiming to verify our feeling that this was a unique opportunity, we reached out to sellers we knew and asked if they’d hypothetically be interested in such a service. Sure enough, the responses confirmed what we expected: They would. Moving forward, the child needed a name, and while we had already developed a product and sold the business in 2021, branding wasn’t our forte.
So, we decided to work with one of the major branding agencies based in Belgium to take care of this. Establishing our brand identity, complete with a catchy name, slogan, website, business cards, and everything else needed to make a professional impression, required an investment of approximately $20,000.
However, before we were ready to make that investment–which was a big decision for us at the time–we spent a lot of time figuring out the exact structure of the business, to gain an idea of the overhead cost.
This included determining the various roles we needed to assemble a perfect team, as well as the partners and software we wanted to use. On the frontlines, handling communication with prospects and clients, we needed at least one sales rep and an account manager to begin with.
On the backend, forming the executive backbone of our operation, we needed an integrator and a team of digital creatives–think of a graphic designer, a copywriter and freelance translators, all led by an experienced art director. A good example of the research regarding software is the one we used to synchronize data across different platforms, which before the launch of Meezy cost us about $1,500 per month for five sales channels and a maximum of 15,000 SKUs.
For our new business, however, we needed unlimited sales channels and SKUs, which, as you can imagine, drastically increased that cost.
A big chunk of the upfront cost, which ended up being around $70,000, were covered by our personal savings, and the profits we generated from online sales. However, to cover the rest and ensure the wages of everyone involved, we ended up taking out a loan from a private investor. That’s when it all became very real for us–we knew success was our only option.
By autumn of 2022, with the preparation phase behind us, it was finally go-time. In the first year, clients who chose Meezy paid a one-time setup fee, which was determined by several factors. The most important ones being the amount of marketplaces they wanted to enter, and the amount of content creation work that was needed. This meant the entry price could vary significantly based on each client’s situation. In addition to this one-time fee, which simply covered the time we spent setting everything up, clients also paid a commission to Meezy.
In our first year, 2023, Meezy successfully demonstrated proof of concept by generating approximately $550K in revenue and finishing the year with a profitable balance sheet.
How did you “launch” the business?
We started very modestly, with only a small network to tap into. It was through the accelerator program “Start It,” run by KBC, a major European bank, that Meezy’s name first began to spread. We managed to reach the final round of this competition and were selected as one of 75 startups to receive support.
However, we never had an official event or public relations campaign to celebrate our launch; instead, we strategically approached the market with a soft launch, onboarding five clients at a time and addressing technical issues before moving forward. Sometimes these intermezzos could take up to two months, as we wanted to ensure our operation ran smooth as quickly as possible, enabling our sales team to hit the gas pedal without worrying about the follow-up on their deals.
Some might argue that we started a bit too early, but we believe that speed to market is a key factor for success; the opportunity had to be seized, or someone else might have the same idea. Besides, the most valuable lessons are learned in the process.
How did you land your first customers?
Once we reached a point where we were confident we could handle more clients without sacrificing on quality, we started setting up email campaigns in Belgium and the Netherlands by scraping Amazon seller information. We immediately noticed a high response rate, which quickly led to video calls explaining our modus operandi and pricing. We later named these calls “discovery calls,” or “discos.”
By consciously setting our pricing low–because we really needed the cash flow–we closed our first deals within two weeks of launching this email campaign. Keep in mind, we had been waiting for this moment for months, and my (Pavlos) impatience had taken over, sparking sales superpowers that only startup founders have. Closing that first deal was a feeling I will never forget.
Unfortunately, we also quickly learned that while we excel at what we do and achieve great results for most of our clients, signing every deal to meet revenue standards wasn’t always worth it. Some clients expected us to save their entire business or had extremely high expectations for content creation, leading to discussions and countless revisions that cut into our profit margins.
At the time, these experiences were frustrating, but we used them as lessons for the future. For example, clients can now access content in Figma and provide clear notes for our creatives, which lightens the work of account managers and avoids miscommunications.
We’ve also implemented a maximum number of revisions, and as of this year, we started slowly shifting towards larger, better-organized clients by adjusting our marketing tactics and implementing a monthly management fee.
0 to a million is about hustling, 1 million to 10 million is about structure and management.
How have you grown your business?
E-mail marketing isn’t the only way we generate leads anymore; we now have an entire marketing team dedicated to creating a diverse strategy. They made sure our website provided a good user experience and was built in a logical way. Before any new content goes live on it, we conduct thorough keyword research, both long-tail and short-tail, and occasionally implement links, to ensure it’s SEO-friendly.
Obviously, the goal is to rank as high as possible on search engines like Google for organic traffic and to minimize the loss of interested brands seeking for us. Those who find their way to our website will see a button in the top right corner of the landing page where you can schedule a free audit call.
Doing so, we can discuss your current operation, European marketplaces with a good product fit, and the complexities involved in exploring them. In a business-to-business environment, we believe that offering free value before making a proposal is worth the time, as it helps build a foundation of trust.
Like most businesses these days, we put a lot of effort into social media. In particular, we focus on LinkedIn and Instagram, as these are the platforms where most professionals and consumer-oriented businesses are typically active. We make sure to create original and informative content for our followers on a regular base, such as success stories, interesting statistics, and our “Meet a Meezyian” series, where we showcase the faces that drive our success.
We usually post once or twice a week. Aside from organic content on Instagram, we also run advertising campaigns with Meta Ads to help generate a consistent flow of leads. Some of the main advantages of Meta Ads are the large user base, advanced setting options, and the ability to build a funnel that retargets people who are already familiar with our business, ultimately boosting conversion rates.
Similarly to scraping information from Amazon and other marketplace sellers for email outreach, we also send out precisely targeted messages on LinkedIn, primarily to marketing managers and other decision-makers. We noticed that these two tactics, email and LinkedIn outreach, are the most effective, likely because they are more targeted and therefore feel personal rather than campaigns designed to reach a mass audience in the hopes some will be triggered to click.
This approach also shows a certain interest in their business, which is valuable when seeking for interest in yours. The last marketing tactic worth mentioning is public relations. In the past, we never dedicated effort to this, as there were simply too many other priorities. However, now that we’re expanding beyond Europe, we recognize its value and have even hired someone specifically for this purpose.
Give us a breakdown of your revenue & financials.
In our first year, 2023, Meezy successfully demonstrated proof of concept by generating approximately $550K in revenue and finishing the year with a profitable balance sheet.
Following this success, at the beginning of 2024, we raised $500K in funding from KBC, PMV (a corporate lender), and various private investors, which has enabled us to grow at a quicker pace. We’ve used this capital injection to expand our team from 15 to 40 people, making it possible to onboard more clients–120 so far this year, to be precise.
Month after month, our revenue not including one-time fees, also known as monthly recurring revenue or MRR, has been increasing, sometimes with more than 25% at a time. At this rate we estimate that we will reach around $1.2 million in revenue by the end of the year. Bringing our lifetime earnings to $1.75 million in two years. However, due to this loan, we will not be profitable like last year.
What does the future look like?
Looking to the future, we still have a lot of exciting milestones ahead. First on our agenda is boosting brand awareness in the U.S. and Canada, as we see plenty of untapped potential in these markets. Europe’s similar consumer-driven market and strong economic framework make it a logical next step for American brands looking to expand. Online marketplaces are a great way to do this, offering a safe and affordable option.
Their marketing campaigns bring in waves of potential buyers, which means you won’t have to break the bank on your own marketing efforts. Of course, in-platform advertising is still a good idea, but this is a relatively small investment compared to traditional advertising campaigns that require a lot more to establish your brand. Recently, we’ve also assigned dedicated account managers to focus specifically on this region.
By the second quarter of next year, we’re aiming to operate fully on Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), which will give us more financial flexibility for strategic investments. One of our key goals is to acquire the largest Amazon agency in Egypt, whom we're currently already in talks with. By partnering with agencies like this, we hope to bundle expertise and strengthen our Amazon team.
This step is essential for our long-term vision of becoming the largest marketplace integrator in the world.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Starting the business has taught us many valuable lessons; some of which we learned the hard way. One key insight is the consideration of hiring people with growth potential rather than those eager for success or seeking a new adventure, even if they have impressive resumes. Young talent can be shaped by your experience and guidance, which can be frustrating at times, but it often proves easier than trying to change the habits of seasoned professionals.
We’re not saying this is always the way to go, but if you’re in doubt, it can be an important factor. It’s also crucial to avoid becoming too emotionally attached to team members or investing time in them unconditionally. Ultimately, each person needs to take responsibility for their own development and strive to become a true asset to the business.
Aside from that, I (Pavlos) have struggled with expressing my frustrations in a timely manner before they escalate, and with making the right decisions when I have a lot on my plate and lack the headspace to think clearly. These are things I am aware of, and actively try to work on.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
- 0 to a million is about hustling, 1 million to 10 million is about structure and management.
- Learn skill sets that push you out of your comfort zone.
- A good team is the key to success for any company.
- Founders need to evolve into guiding leaders rather than do-ers.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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