The Stroli Story – Shippo Client Strolling Into The Future

Covid-19 has presented some of the greatest complications globally to business. We’ve all felt the effect it has had, shared across all of our industries. However, for Shippo client, Paul Marchant from Stroli Ltd – that hasn’t stopped him from starting his business as he attempts to remove the use of single-use plastics and save the world one shopping bag at a time!

• Paul Marchant – Stroli Ltd, on why Stroli was born…

  For my entire working life I have been an advertising person. I owned and ran my own agency, ‘Trumpet’, in Soho London for almost 20 years. I sold out in 2018.

  At that point I didn’t know what to do. I knew I wanted to build a business again, but doing what? I set myself some objectives the business had to meet:

  • It had to be an actual product, not a service.
  • It can already exist but there should be no ‘go to’ brand existing.
  • It has to have some kind of actual benefit to humankind and the planet.

  Put these three thoughts together and I arrived at the humble Shopping Trolley. And we would make them with several strong points of difference. They will be made from recycled and responsibly sourced materials. They will cool and change the perception that they are for ‘old people’ and give it a great name. Ta dah! Stroli was born.

• Strolling onwards to sourcing a manufacturer...

  Once the idea was formed the hard work started. I needed to find a manufacturer. I originally wanted to use British skills but this proved cost prohibitive. I then started my search using Alibaba.

  Alibaba enabled me to access a huge resource. The issue though, is sorting out the blaggers and rubbish from the truly good businesses that can help. And this just takes time, energy, and persistence. You need to contact and talk with as many as possible to understand what they all do and what their differences are.

  A big tip to help with this is, when discussing product development, if the people you are talking to are unwilling to help it generally means they are middlemen. Not the manufacturer.  Also, don’t mention you are a start-up when discussing your requirements. If someone assumes you are part of a larger organisation, so be it!

  Once you think you have a short list of possible manufacturers who can help; the hard work starts. They need to understand your vision.  Through conversations about my brief, I established who was right for me, and the designs were put into action.

  Due to the pandemic this process became a lot harder than it would normally be. No business trips to see the development. Everything had to be done via courier to check each stage with Zoom calls and issues that come with this way of working. But you push forward, and you come out the other side where you want to be.

• How did Stroli learn to navigate the high seas & overcome the complications of global logistics? And how did you become a Shippo client?

  Once the product was finalised, it was a matter of pressing the go button. And this is where Shippo came in. It’s all well and good getting something made, but how the hell do I get it all to where I need it?

  I spent ages looking round the web trying to understand global logistics. After a while I decided: I was too busy and really couldn’t be bothered to understand global logistics. I needed an expert. An expert I could talk to. Someone who could explain what happens in simple terms and provide me a competitive price for doing it.

  As usual I started with the web and reached out to several companies. I struck lucky with Shippo.

  Zac, the person I reached out to, was happy to talk on the phone – which for me is a big positive and a must at the start of something. It’s how I get a measure of a person; the company and it’s how I decide if I want to work with them.  I’m assuming it is the same the other way round!

  Shippo and Zac where very patient with my lack of knowledge and moving forward after that was simple. I put Zac in contact with my manufacturer and let them both carry out the hassle of arranging shipping in Covid times!

  I think the key to stress free shipping is letting go of any control and leaving it in the hands of the people that make it happen. They advise you what is happening. When you will you’re your products etc. Which leaves you to do what you are meant to do as a business owner.

• Stroli – The Range!

• Where are Stroli Now?...

  Once the product landed in the country, we could turn everything on. However, some business solutions can only be done once you have the product. We are now gaining our SEO rankings with Google. Working with Amazon to improve our platform with them and are generally starting the journey of building a business. We have also completed our second round of product development so the next order will be double the size with an enlarged range.

• Want To Be Like Stroli?

  Huge thanks to Paul for answering our questions and allowing us to publish his Stroli journey!

  If you are ready to make your own business story and are stuck on shipping, feel free to contact us for free, friendly advice on importing from overseas.

  We speak to loads of new businesses and small business owners that are struggling to understand global logistics and are just looking for a shipping company that will give them the information they need to know whilst taking care of everything else on their behalf.

  If you’re ready to start shipping, you can also grab a quote. You may also be interested in reading what information you need to get an accurate quote.

• More Shippo Client Success Stories

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  Read our success stories to find out how we’ve helped numerous businesses like Stroli.