Joep Donders (Marvia): 'Thinking that as a Dutchman you're doing it for a while in the U.S., that doesn't work'

How do you turn a startup into a global success? Entrepreneur Joep Donders (43) got it done. But he has no formula for success, he says. 'There are many theories about successful entrepreneurship, but you mainly have to do what suits you,' says Donders. For us it is mainly listening carefully to the wishes of our customers, choosing a course of action and sticking to it. Even when the going gets tough.

Making local marketing easier

Donders has been co-owner of software company Marvia since 2018, but has been working there longer. And the Dutch desktop publishing (dtp) solution has an even longer history. Marvia was founded in 2005.

'In those days you still edited advertising material in complicated programs like InDesign,' Donders says. 'Not every entrepreneur could work with that. For local franchisees, it took a lot of effort to adjust opening times or address details.'

Marvia's online tool allowed customers to easily produce, customize and distribute ads, flyers and leaflets themselves.

Acquisition by PostNL

In 2012, Donders' employer PostNL acquired the startup. The postal company saw opportunities to further grow Marvia. Donders was one of the PostNL employees who started working with Marvia.

'When an immediate colleague joined Marvia as manager, he asked me to join his team,' he says. 'He knew I found business development very interesting. I felt like growing the startup.'

The first challenge: attracting customers. 'I had little sales experience, but I enjoyed the challenge,' he says. 'Besides, I saw the great promise of the product. But it wasn't easy, because the software was still under development.'

Growth within a large company

Once he discovered the right target market for Marvia, sales increased. 'Companies with many franchises or local branches turned out to be a good match,' Donders says. 'We continued to develop the software specifically for this group of entrepreneurs. The better we responded to their needs, the easier it was to sell the product.'

After four years, he became ultimately responsible for Marvia within PostNL. 'We were growing, but we were still in the startup phase,' says Donders. 'That means you have to invest. Meanwhile, PostNL changed course: the company wanted to focus on mail and parcels. Eventually we decided to let Marvia continue independently.'

Getting started as entrepreneurs

Donders, along with Merlijn Bruijnes, took over the company from his employer. Bruijnes worked as a freelancer at Marvia, but immediately stood out because of his experience in setting up smart frameworks. "Exactly what we needed.

Bruijnes is responsible for software development, Donders for the rest. 'We complement each other well,' says Donders. 'Marvia is fundamentally a software company and Merlijn, besides being a good developer, is also someone who can put the team down. He has a lot of experience with frameworks and builds scalable. His expertise was indispensable for the growth of Marvia.'

You can't learn without mistakes

Marvia continued under its own steam, without investors. 'That means we have to choose smartly where we put our money,' Donders says. 'At the same time, we have to keep experimenting. You can't achieve success without taking risks.'

Sometimes experiments fail, he says. "But that's part of it. If we haven't made any mistakes for a period of time, we haven't learned anything. That's how we look back on it.'

Furthermore, it is important to keep focus. 'In the beginning, we also added functions related to brand management. Eventually we had to choose: do we focus on brand management or on the local market and franchises? Building costs money, but so does maintaining. We decided to stop certain things and focus on the core of our product.'

Customers' needs

Donders and his team try to listen carefully to the needs of their target market. 'We don't think up what the market should want, but try to create solutions that fit the needs of our customers.'

Marvia now operates in ninety countries. 'Our Dutch customers took us abroad. They asked us for the same solution for all their locations worldwide.'

Growing in a competitive, foreign market

The biggest growth is in the United States. There, Marvia opened an office in Portland, Oregon. 'North America is the most competitive market in the world when it comes to marketing software,' he says. 'As a Dutch company without major partners, it's not easy to get a foothold there. It was a good decision not to do it ourselves, but to work with American colleagues. Thinking that as a Dutchman you can 'just do it' in the U.S. doesn't work.'

Meanwhile, Marvia works for clients with global franchises, such as Domino's Pizza, KFC and Steve Madden. Donders and Bruijnes have 30 employees, including three in Portland, one in Japan and about 25 in the Netherlands.

Staff must fit

The Dutch team has now been working from B. Amsterdam for 10 years. 'It is an environment full of entrepreneurial people, just like us,' Donders says. 'There is dynamism, mutual cooperation and an active community.'

Donders finds it important to also relax together as a team, for example with sports. 'Last Friday we participated in the B. Business Run (one of B. Amsterdam's four major community events, ed.) where all the companies run together and conclude with drinks and food trucks.'

Success recipe for growth?

He is proud of his staff. 'We have a strong core team with little turnover, but recruitment is not always easy,' he says. 'People have to be a good fit for Marvia, both personally and professionally.'

'We are a small company with limited resources and ambitious growth goals. That requires a lot from our team. Everyone has multiple roles; the work is never finished. Our employees are crucial to our growth. Growth does require direction and a shared goal. Growth Method Scaling up gave us the structure to really accelerate together as a team.'

Donders reiterates: there is no one recipe for success for growth. 'Find your own strategy and stick to it; it's not a straight line up.' Maybe that's the secret.'