Scott Hinton
I would say go for it, the worst thing that might happen is that you fail. This doesn’t need to be negative by definition, you will have learned a lot from your journey and you may need this knowledge for your next adventure!
Berend Kamberg’s entrepreneurial journey started when he was fourteen years old, with him organizing 14+ parties with his best friend. About five years later they had five successful separate event concepts but, unfortunately, due to Covid-19, these concepts are inactive at the moment.
Berend describes himself as someone who can’t sit still, when he couldn’t organize parties anymore he started thinking about several business ideas. As someone who looks for solutions, he experienced the trigger for the virtual fitting room up close. His mother would often order multiple items of clothing and then would return at least half of them. He saw this happen on a monthly basis and it sparked an idea in him.
This resulted in him embarking on a new journey, finding a disruptive tool for fashion E-Commerce.
Vifiro B.V. creates the possibility for consumers to generate a photorealistic avatar by doing a body scan on their application in3D. During the scan, they calculate all measurements of the user’s body. After the generation of the avatar, the user can virtually try on clothing on the avatar within an integrated virtual fitting room on the website of one of their clients.
Tell us a little bit about your current projects. What exciting milestone would you like to share with our readers? (Don’t hesitate to delve into your achievements, they will inspire the audience)
Berend Kamberg: Our recently achieved milestone is the launch of our website, primarily functioning as a platform to get to know virtual fitting room technology. On our website, you can already see a glimpse of the virtual fitting technology. Another achieved milestone for myself was my acceptance as a Talented Student Entrepreneur at the Erasmus Centre of Entrepreneurship which is an effort of the Erasmus University to guide high potential entrepreneurial students.
Was there somebody in your life that inspired you to take that specific journey with your business?
Berend Kamberg: I can imagine that inspiration is positive most of the time, my situation was a little different. My inspiration to dive into the world of e-commerce optimizations was my mother. My mother is a self-named professional shopper, she would order a minimum of five items per week and return at least half of these items. When I noticed this I was inspired to look for solutions that result in better-informed buying decisions.
What are the most common mistakes you see entrepreneurs make and what would you suggest they do?
Berend Kamberg: Something that I keep noticing at various companies is that there is a product focus where I would always look at situations from the client’s perspective. Some companies don’t because they are very convinced of their own product. For such situations, I would advise you to formulate unbiased customer research where you compare your value proposition to the value proposition of your competitors.
Has the pandemic and transitioning into mostly online shopping affected your company positively or negatively?
Berend Kamberg: The pandemic showed us that online shopping can be very useful, this insight has a positive effect on Vifiro, given we offer an e-commerce optimization tool. I believe that online shopping is here to stay, brick-and-mortar shopping experiences will always stay important, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the main future selling channel is online.
What is most important to your organization—mission, vision, or values?
Berend Kamberg: Our mission is most important to us in this stage of the company. We are here to remove frustration and insecurity from the buying process within fashion E-commerce. As a consequence of our tool, we increase conversion and decrease returns.
Decreasing returns is one of our major goals for Vifiro, given this will have a huge impact on our environment.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
Berend Kamberg: A first trait that’s been instrumental for my success is my will to follow through, whatever happens, I am extremely motivated and competitive to achieve what I want. Another important trait is that I work in a very organized way, such organization keeps my work efficient and effective. My last trait which contributes to success is my ability to network. I like to talk with people about improving their business, given that when we improve their business we improve Vifiro.
Being a CEO of the company, do you think that your personal brand reflects your company’s values?
Berend Kamberg: I can see the similarities, yes.
Best Books on Leadership: Find the Best Resources to Lead Effectively
How would you define “leadership”?
Berend Kamberg: Guiding your colleagues to achieve our milestones. Apart from guidance, I think motivating is quite an important aspect of leadership as well.
What advice would you give to our younger readers that want to become entrepreneurs?
Berend Kamberg: I would say go for it, the worst thing that might happen is that you fail. This doesn’t need to be negative by definition, you will have learned a lot from your journey and you may need this knowledge for your next adventure!
What’s your favorite “life lesson” quote and how has it affected your life?
Berend Kamberg: “carpe diem” – Horatius, this quote made me realize that every day is as important as the other.
This interview was originally published on ValiantCEO.
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