The easiest way to explain FLOOW2 is …
an online intermediary service for companies that dramatically both lowers costs and increases sustainability, initially focusing on heavy equipment, and first launched in The Netherlands and Germany. Other countries and B2B market sector entries will follow soon.
Left is Mr Kim Tjoa, COO. Right is Mr Will Robben, CEO.
The idea came from…
myself, Will Robben. I was active in the production of heavy equipment for years. I noticed that clients were continually buying new equipment while the same thing was sitting idle a few miles away. Raw materials were being wasted but, in particular, company funds. It came to me that supply and demand could be brought together in a simple way by using an internet platform.
The big problem FLOOW2 is trying to solve is…
threefold: (1) we enable companies to grow company revenue in today’s difficult times; (2) we help to decrease investment costs by replacing owning with sharing; and, (3) we stop the depletion of our world’s raw material sources.
The reaction to the idea has been…
very positive. Since the launch of the platform in May 2012, we have received a lot of national and international press attention, with a steady growing number of Construction and Agricultural companies joining our platform.
The best success story so far is…
the recent commitment of the top 5 Dutch construction companies to join the platform, now triggering their competition in this rather traditional market to join as well.
A failure I’ve learned from is…
that business model innovations like ours need time for clients and the market to digest. Despite that the financial and sustainability benefits of joining are paramount, the disruptive character of FLOOW2 requires companies to think over the idea thoroughly, requiring time to get it up and running in their own organisations.
The potential for big industry players to get involved is…
huge. The utilization level of heavy equipment for construction companies is between 35% and 70%, indicating an enormous improvement potential to increase utilization levels, decrease investment cost, and leap-frogging sustainability.
The key to FLOOW2’s success is…
offering strong financial advantages (higher machine utilization and lower investment) especially during today’s times of crisis, with sustainability as a side effect. As there is now twice the volume of equipment needed on earth, utilization of the existing abundance instead of buying new equipment would immediately cut material waste significantly.
Next on the horizon for FLOOW2 is…
launching the platform in other EU countries and the USA, as well as entering into other high volume market sectors rather than heavy equipment. We defined 89 different B2B market sectors in which FLOOW2 can (and will) provide higher utilization, lower investment costs and leap-frogging sustainability.
What other Netherlands-based Collaborative Consumption start-ups do you have your eye on?
Other collaborative consumption start-ups I’ve noticed in The Netherlands are Peerby.comand Goodsha.re, both Consumer2Consumer platforms.
