Theo Paphitis was never known for his shy persona. In fact, his affinity with high-risk ventures and insatiable curiosity is evident in everything he does, from his involvement with the hit British TV show BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ to his revival of Canadian lingerie brand La Senza. “50 percent of the world’s small businesses fail in their first two years. Now that’s a terrible statistic. It’s because people go into business without knowing all the facts and all the information that they should know,” Paphitis states. “This sounds so silly, but I promise you that if you watched Dragon’s Den you’ll see these people that come and ask for money that don’t know their numbers and don’t know their industry. Well, that’s the great British public in our particular case and that’s why they failed. Could you imagine if everyone did their homework properly? It’s so simple,” he adds. Currently estimated at $330 million net worth, it is fair to assume that he did his homework before throwing in the towel and announcing his departure from ‘Dragon’s Den’ last year.
“Never ever compete in business on a level playing field. Always stack the odds in your favour. If you’re on a level playing field you could lose because somebody else has the same odds as you. You should stack the cards in your favour. It’s about doing your homework and knowing more about your business and product than the next person,” he says. And Paphitis is currently stacking his cards on his latest entrepreneurial endeavor and his true passion: Boux Avenue (pronounced ‘Boo’), a lingerie chain that he founded in 2011. “I’ve been involved in lingerie for many years. I’ve had various other lingerie businesses and I’ve sold them in the past. In 2006 I’ve sold all my lingerie interest, he says of his high profile involvement with La Senza, which he reportedly sold for $157 million. “About five years ago, we were sitting down, having coffee with the team and I thought ‘We miss lingerie, but is there a place in the market for it?’ So we had a look around and thought, ‘God, yes, there is!’ There was a great big gap, so can we actually deal with that?” Paphiitis adds.
On a clean piece of paper Paphitis and his team set out to design the ultimate lingerie shop. What would it look like? Who would it cater to? They finally came up with the look, the products and the name. “Now I’m a boy, but the rest of my team is girls, so they have a lot more knowledge than I have. We did loads and loads of research and drawing after drawing, we eventually came up with Boux.” In November 2010, he announced the name of his new venture on his twitter account which currently has 454,000 followers, which was followed by a full fledge teaser campaign. On the following April Fools ’ Day, April 1, 2011, he opened up the first six stores all in one go. A big risk for the veteran entrepreneur, but he believed that he had something special to say and wanted to make sure that it will be heard. Boux captured the attention of many. “Boux was the most important singular reason why I retired from Dragon’s Den,” he states.
The chain currently has nine international stores, including three in the UAE, but Paphitis has a larger-than-life vision an aggressive growth plan on the horizon.
“By the end of this year, we’re probably going to be the number one stand alone independent lingerie chain in the United Kingdom. We did it in that short period of time. Now we will have 14-16 store in the UAE alone, and our aim is to have 500 international locations, certainly in the next five years,” says Paphitis.
But nothing would be successful if it has no reason to exist, it doesn’t matter what it is. According to him, Boux has a reason to exist and it has a gap in the market that’s not catered to.
“My first lingerie business was back in 1996, so it was quite a few years ago. That particular business was a very struggling one which we turned around. We absolutely loved doing it and at the end we discovered that it was very much an overlooked part of fashion.”
“You can buy lingerie at a supermarket. But when you’re going around in your trolley and you pick out some lingerie, drop it into the trolley, it floats gently into the bottom of the trolley… and then caresses the frozen chicken!”
“The experience you have when you’re wearing that product is going to be the same. Boux is all about the experience. The way you’re treated, the ambiance, how the items are folded in tissue and put in a bag when you them. You might have spent only 100 dirhams, but you feel like a million dollars,” Paphitis states.
The brand’s price points were very specifically pointed at, with a goal of bringing affordable luxury and affordable aspiration to the market along with the widest size range on offer. The Boux team collectively has 250 years of lingerie experience and Paphitis takes every piece of advice from them into consideration.
So where does the name Boux come from? Boudoir? “I would have to kill if I told you,” he quickly replies.
Then takes a deep sigh and adds: “Legend has it that there was a young girl once from France, Monaco actually, who was working on a yacht and was absolutely glamorous. She epitomized Boux and stole the heart within the Boux organization.”
But following your heart is not always the greatest recipe for success. According to Paphitis, you need to be able to move on if it doesn’t make sense. You can’t just keep doing it because you have a passion for it.
“Entrepreneurs can fool themselves. And the easiest person to fool is yourself,” he states.
“It’s the most ridiculous statistic, but you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time, and you can fool yourself whenever you want… and that’s not good in business.”
Arabian Business
