Filling a Sportpaleis with followers. A dream for many, but a reality for Jelle Lemmens of Crownboards in Hasselt. He started skating at 11 and soon got a taste for it. Together with friends, they regularly tried new stunts, which they then filmed and posted online. In 2010, things unfortunately went wrong. He had overlooked the kerb and broke his leg….
In need of a logo
“Skating was out of the question for a while, so I threw myself into another passion: woodworking. I got this from my grandfather, who was a carpenter. Anyway, I had a lot of time on my hands and was bored. I retreated to the basement and made my first longboard, all by myself.”
“When my leg fracture fully recovered, I was able to go back to skating, with my new board. My friends were immediately impressed and asked if I couldn’t make one for them too. In the beginning, it was really just a hobby and I occasionally made a board for myself or friends, but soon friends of friends started knocking on my door for a personalised longboard as well. I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I was quickly triggered to do something with it. Of course, to create a brand, I also needed a logo. I have Crohn’s disease, which you pronounce as ‘kroon’ in Dutch. So hence I chose a crown as my logo. The name Crownboards was also created not much later.”
“Meanwhile, we are already 10 years on and the fact that I went from a basement to my own studio to make my boards still feels really surreal sometimes. And to think that all my life I’ve never had to work for a boss, which is amazing.”
the power of social media
“Longboarding is really a niche sport. It is not that well known yet, so I had to look for a way to make my product known to the right people. Since my boards look beautiful and I like taking photos, I knew I had to jump on the social media bandwagon. It used to be enough to share pretty pictures on Instagram, but now you really have to think about creative reels if you want to have any visibility at all. Moreover, it is hard to estimate what will work. Sometimes you yourself think you’ve made a cool post and only get a few likes. And at other times, you share something simple that completely explodes and gets more than 1,000 likes. That’s the power of social media.”
“I now have over 25,000 followers on Instagram. Too crazy for words. I’m just a guy from Hasselt who makes his own longboards and yet I could fill a whole Sportpaleis with just my followers.”
MEETING THE INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE WITH DHL EXPRESS
“As Crownboards became more and more well-known, I had to look for a good partner to do international shipments with. One day I got a call from Joeri from DHL Express. He told me that they provided a special service for small webshops. They could guarantee the fastest delivery and at a good price. Naturally, I wanted to test that myself.”
“I have to admit, it’s really easy. I make a request on the website, prepare my parcel and 2 hours later a courier is already at the door to pick it up. It all goes super fast and my customers appreciate that too. It is true that DHL Express is a bit more expensive than its competitors, but the service is really worth it as far as I am concerned. You also have to ask yourself whether paying 5 euros less is then worth it that a parcel is almost 2 weeks in transit, versus 2 days with DHL Express. Also, with DHL I have never experienced a parcel arriving damaged or lost, that was different with competitors too…”
A FUNNY ANECDOTE
“Perhaps a funny anecdote: I was already on my way to France by car myself and in Belgium I had planned a late pick-up for a board that had to go to Mallorca. Eventually I got a message saying that the board had already been delivered, while I was still on my way to France myself. Really crazy!”
“I realise that I am just a small fish to DHL Express, but I am definitely not treated like that. I have my own contact person and the service feels very personal. So I really haven’t thought for a second about changing. Even the couriers are always very friendly. Personally, I think a personal touch is really important. I use your boxes for this too. But anyway, the yellow box is already much nicer to receive than a grey or brown box, and then when I tag them with my own logo, it really stands out.”
Dream for the future
“There are a thousand more ideas running through my head, but unfortunately there are only 24 hours in a day. My dream for the future is not to become the biggest. I think the strength of my company is just that exclusivity. For example, per board, only 10 are available all over the world. Because people love that quality and uniqueness. But as long as I enjoy it, I will continue as I am doing now.”
If, like Jelle, you want fast delivery at a good price, be sure to take a look at our website.
