Marius Dan, a 27-year-old Romanian entrepreneur was the one who brought the concept of “Measure & Go” in Romania; a concept related to the most suitable measure, perfect for every man, no matter how tall or short he is. Being a managing partner, he is in association with two other youngsters:Alin Copindeanu (23) and AlexandruTudoroiu (21). But Marius Dan is not on his first business – he used to be the owner of a tourism agency.
The three founders talk about their business as if it were a person, a human being. They call it “Tudor’s story”. This story started in October 2009, in London, the capital of men’s fashion and style. That is where its name comes from – The Tudor Dynasty (that ruled in Great Britain between 1485 and 1603).
“After months of overthinking, we have chosen this name due to the fact that both fabrics and tailoring get you the idea of that time” , Marius Dan says, one of the youngsters who laid the bases of this business.
“Tudor Personal Tailor” is a business launched with passion and craziness, a business created after participating in a tourism fair in London through the agency of a group of British tailors in charge with tailoring of “made to measure” suits. Back in Romania, Marius Dan started the business in an apartment in Bucharest, in Vitan neighbourhood.
“I rented an apartment and then called some of my friends and people about whom I had read in business magazines and journals. The first year was a harsh one, I even had moments when I asked myself what I had done. Even though, the early moments were the best: I only had a computer and a desk and I didn’t know when to send the bill, where to call”, Marius Dan tells about the beginnings of his business.
The first customers were some of the friends, relatives and acquaintances, “whom I have told about my new entrepreneurial project and asked to help me and make the first orders”, as Marius Dan says.
In Romania, things developed quickly but the business was still a niche one. There was though a potential: “Things have started to move quickly and each client brought two or three more. When we’re dealing with this type of business, we mostly rely on verbal communication and less on the internet or other forms of mass communication”, Dan says.
Virtually, in less than an hour, one these three together with a tailor will measure your size and in no more than 20 days you’ll have your deliverable. Grey, light blue or even violet, the cloth’s colour is not a problem, and so is the clothing or the sleeve buttons. Practically, you can choose any colour you wish, any chequers or rhombic patter cloth – it’s on your own imagination.
The price of such a suit can vary between 500 and 600 euros, and most of the clients choose a business, classic type. A more exclusivist type reaches 800 euros. All the suits are created in a tailoring workshop, the three men only being in charge with the financial section of the business. There are app. 15 tailors working in the workshop, and the oldest one is 70 years old. Monthly they create almost 40-50 suits.
Things are going well for a business of two years old. “Last year we had a turnover of app. €150, 000 and there was no question of some external credits; everything we earned from sales was reinvested, app. €15-20,000”, Marius Dan says.
Marius Dan admitted that the business, practically, “grew” due to recommendations. That means that the only means of promoting it were their acquaintances and online adverts. As a matter of fact, the two partners admit that till the end of the year will open a new interactive section on the company’s site where every customer could choose his suits according to his historical and size, of course.
The customers are both from Bucharest, 40-50 year-old entrepreneurs and business men, and from other 10 cities of the country, such as Cluj or Constanta. They can physically place the orders somewhere else in the country, but the orders should be of more than €2,500.
Surprisingly or not, none of the three partners have graduated from a college in this field. They said that they preferred to externalize the tailoring section, the only thing they were in charge with was the business idea.
References
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