Make your hidden costs visible

In the 2023 video about Looplabb, Kooijman explained how his business grew by 75% year on year.  Since then, Looplabb has remained busy. For instance, their eyewear can be found at more and more foreign outlets. And there is a new  online shop. But one thing has not changed: the focus on automation. Because with smart software, Kooijman measures almost daily whether the investments made by Looplabb are paying off.

Calculating actual costs

He guards against the hidden costs of marketing campaigns, for example. "We work with software that shows in detail which marketing channels and advertising campaigns yield the most. Because to know how much you earn at the end, you need to have your data in order. Most calculations overlook important cost items such as marketing agency fees, packaging costs, and shipping costs. Calculating your Return On Investment (ROI) that way does not work. We calculate the POAS (Profits on Ads Spend). That shows how much profit you make on every euro you spend on ads."

From expenses to savings

Choosing the right software for your business can be quite an expense. Yet it often delivers more than it costs, says Kooijman. "We like to be smart about processing all the data that goes around in our business. To this end, we have linked our accounting programme to a number of smart tools. With these, we preocess payroll, invoices, and customer data. We also process stock data. With one push of a button, I can convert this data into management reports that tell me where I need to make adjustments. This prevents you from making certain mistakes. For instance, if you do not know how much stock you have, you may keep too much or too little stock. As a result, you might have to sell 'no' to customers or hold unnecessary stock. With the right use of these management tools, you can not only save money, but also quickly recoup your investment."

The customer is king

One investment that has already paid off handsomely for Looplabb is customer service. "Most of our customers are 45 or older. These are people who really value solid customer service. That's why we make sure we are easy to reach by phone and email. And we respond quickly to customers who share their experience or question online. We find that customers appreciate this. From that appreciation also comes loyalty. It keeps people coming back to you, which increases my ROI. And that I don't necessarily have to keep attracting new customers. Already, 35% of our turnover comes from repeat customers. These are results we are proud of. After all, that says something about customer satisfaction and how your products are doing. We very much want to be judged by our customers. Both by the customer who buys one pair of glasses a year and the party who orders 10 pairs of glasses. Whether it's the little shop in Amersfoort, or the Bijenkorf: everyone is just as important to us. We want them to judge us on the products we deliver, from ordering procedure to receipt, and the service we provide if something unexpected goes wrong."

Look beyond turnover

This interaction with customers is what makes entrepreneurship fun, according to Kooijman. "When I start a business, I don't do it just to sell a lot of glasses. I also just want the people who buy those glasses to be very satisfied with us. Then it's a pleasure to run your business. But to stay at that point, you have to look at your costs very critically. It's a bit like your own bank account: it's often disappointing anyway when you start looking at what's in it. It's the same with costs. You can have a tonne of turnover, but if you look closely at the figures, you end up having secretly incurred much more costs than you thought. There are so many handy tools now that allow you to get a quick and good overview of all your costs. You just have to use those as an entrepreneur."