Anna Salewski
Founder and CEO
SCROBLE
Team Size
6
Revenue
Not Disclosed
Location
Luxembourg
STart Date
October 2018
Today my interviewee is Anna Salewski, the founder and CEO of SCROBLE, a creative tech startup for fashion and retail based in beautiful Luxembourg City.
Anna is an innovator who has built the world’s first mobile interaction technology for retail. Her startup is set to change the future of retail through innovative shopping technology by connecting users, brands and retailers and closing the gap between online and offline shopping experiences.
We interviewed Anna to find out more!
INTRODUCTION
PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND THE BUSINESS YOU STARTED.
I am and always was an entrepreneur in my soul. After working in the banking sector, I was consciously aware that the corporate world and work as an employee is not for me. Everything I have done afterwards was happening in the guidance of my decision of being an entrepreneur. I have studied economy and international tax law and was also working in this field after having my own advisory company in Luxembourg since 2009.
I am passionate out of the box thinker and that was the way I have turned the problem I have discovered for myself into the concept and product which is designed to introduce the new business model and technology in fashion retail called SCROBLE. I was starting to work on SCROBLE a few years ago next to my main job and took my time to dive deeper into the topic before starting with its realization and company incorporation end of 2018.
WHAT DOES YOUR TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO YOU STAY PRODUCTIVE?
I stay productive through hard planning and execution, as well as being focused on priorities. The only rule I do apply during my working day is that I am trying to schedule the most difficult tasks to the morning time and the routine with lower intellectual input to the afternoon.
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
PLEASE DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF LAUNCHING YOUR BUSINESS.
The concept of SCROBLE arrived at an incredibly busy time in my life; I had almost no time for shopping. Next to my role as an entrepreneur and mother of two children, I was also writing my master thesis on e-services and taxation.
Driven by my curiosity, I have started looking at possibilities to speed up the shopping process, while also making it more effective and enjoyable.
My creativity and imagination brought me finally to another shopping universe and different shopping reality. I was also broadly using my fresh knowledge about new technologies and e-services. My initial idea was to create a tool that would eliminate obstacles between online and offline retail experiences. Finally, it turned out to be an entirely new business model and technology.
After talking to my friends, I began to realize that the concept meets the current needs and demands of many people and businesses, however, I met also a lot of sceptical opinions saying “it’s never going to work”, “it’s far away from the existing reality” and that “fashion is not going to play this new game”… Well, the fact is that we already have about 80% of local fashion brands from Luxembourg on board for piloting stage which we approach as next.
We are excited to receive the first results on consumer behavioural patterns and impact on businesses and be able to build our first case studies with the feedback from real users. Also, the break-through moment in the history of retail would be to have for the first time ever the real-time and 360° data about product-user interaction from both online and offline retail – it feels a bit like a journey of Columbus. We hope to discover “America” as a new and more effective business model in fashion with tremendous advantages for all parties involved.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT AND YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE SINCE YOU STARTED YOUR BUSINESS?
My biggest achievement is to live the life I want. As I do not oppose the challenges to achievements, those are just part of this exciting life.
WHAT STRATEGY DID YOU USE TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS? AND HOW?
We are trying to stay very agile – that means no hard fixed long-term planning. We are very flexible and can adjust very fast, but it’s also because we operate in the new technological field introducing also new behavioral patterns and ways of working in the fashion business.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS?
My vision is to bring the shopping experience globally to the next level of functionality helping to solve many challenges, especially in the fashion industry.
RECOMMENDATIONS & FINAL THOUGHTS
PLEASE RECOMMEND ANY RESOURCES AND TOOLS THAT YOU USE TO RUN YOUR BUSINESS.
MS Teams, LinkedIn and many others.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS?
Know who you are. Literally. It may sound simple, but it is not.
You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses before stepping into entrepreneurship just to be prepared in the best way. It should never hold you back from becoming an entrepreneur!
Violeta Semenova
Founder
theBizLadies
Welcome to the Biz Ladies interview series!
If you’re new to these series, I interview women entrepreneurs on how they started their business, what was the idea behind it, how they got where they are, the struggles, the reality and more.
By sharing their stories, we want to inspire other women to get started.
If you are interested to share your own story on the Biz Ladies LET ME KNOW!