From telephone cables to mega-hype: counterfeits are a blessing for Invisibobble

When Sophie Trelles-Tvede got ready for a campus party nine years ago, the only thing missing was the right hairstyle for the then 18-year-old. Without further ado, she grabs an old telephone cord. The next morning she finds out: Despite a ponytail, she doesn't have a headache and the usual kink in her hair is missing. She then founded the startup Invisibobble with her boyfriend at the time, Felix Haffe. Your spiral hair ties are initially sold in hairdressing salons and then in drugstore chains. The startup recently sold its hundred millionth spiral rubber. Behind it is the sales partner New Flag GmbH, which, in addition to the spiral rubbers, also sells the make-up sponges Beautyblender and the Tangle Teezer hairbrushes. According to the industry portal OMR, the Munich-based trading company now has a total turnover of 50 million euros.

ntv.de: You actually wanted to pursue a classic banking career. But then you invented the spiral hair ties during your studies. Did you immediately believe in your idea?

Sophie Trelles-Tvede: Inwardly, yes. But trust in our business idea has grown over time. Right from the start, we believed in our concept of a hair tie that leaves no marks and does not cause headaches. But not necessarily because our company will also be a success.

How did your fellow students and professors react back then?

Differently. Many fellow students thought it was cool that we started our own company. But nobody really took us seriously for at least four or five years. My friends laughed at me for a long time for writing invoices in class or developing concepts for our social media presence. One of the most impressive moments for me, however, was when I was in career counseling shortly before I graduated. They told me they were worried about me because no one had offered me a job. When I said that I had founded my own company when I started my studies, that I now even have employees and that I wanted to continue working on it after graduating so that Invisibobble would be successful, that was not a satisfactory answer.

When you started your company, you were just 18 years old. Were there moments in which business partners did not take you seriously?

The reactions from most of the business partners were positive. Many have told us what they did when they were as young as us: Namely, getting drunk every night. But of course, we were sometimes not taken fully and potential partners sometimes didn't want to talk to us because they didn't think we were qualified enough. Another time, a potential partner at a trade fair didn't even think it was possible that I could be the founder and immediately replied: I'm not talking to an intern.

Without investor money and with start-up capital of only 4000 euros, Invisibobble has been profitable from the start. What do you do differently from the competition?

Startups often spend a lot of money on staff and rent particularly chic offices in top locations. In my opinion that is totally unnecessary. In the beginning we followed the philosophy: We do everything we can. And as long as you can. We worked like crazy until it really didn't work anymore. We have always asked ourselves: Is this purchase really necessary? If you constantly question every single investment, it pays off in the end. For us, from the start it was more about profitability than the next big investment.

How did Invisibobble manage to establish a new product in an existing market?

You can either try to compete with established brands in a market or you have a completely new idea. The nice thing about the last variant: You don't have to compare yourself to anyone. Rather, it is about making potential customers understand what the advantage of the new product is. In the beginning, the support of hairdressers was extremely important for us. We wanted them to love our product and give us feedback. That's why we worked with hairdressers for a year to make our hair ties as good as possible. We gained a lot of trust and didn't have to spend any money on advertising for the first five years.

There are now many forgeries and free riders. Curse or blessing?

At first we thought it was a curse. But then we realized pretty quickly that it was more of a blessing. The worst that can happen to a new product is that customers think it's just a trend. After all, you want to establish your product. What is important to us now: We want to be the market leader and our customers should understand that we are the original. We don't care about anything else.

Have you ever thought about an exit?

That is a difficult question. But the answer is: no. Invisibobble and I are so closely related. And the brand made me who I am today.

Your company mainly produces in China. Why?

We spent a lot of time looking for suitable production facilities. Ideally, of course, we wanted to produce in Germany, but we kept getting away from that. In the end, we have strayed far from our dream. On the one hand, production in China is of course cheaper. On the other hand, we also chose China because of its specialist knowledge. Many of our Invisibobble products are handcrafted and the quality of the products made in Germany or Europe is simply not as good as in China. In addition, factories in China are much more flexible when something changes spontaneously. This kind of flexibility is indispensable for us, because we regularly bring out special editions.

Invisibobble quickly jumps on trends. Meanwhile, more and more consumers are paying attention to sustainable consumption. Nevertheless, the spiral hair ties are made of plastic. Isn't sustainability important to you?

Sure, our product is made of plastic. However, we also produce the only hair accessory in the world that can be completely recycled. A normal hair tie is usually made of rubber and metal. This is the antichrist of recycling. A metal hair clip is also extremely difficult to recycle. Especially when it is also colored. The great thing about our product is that it is so simple to manufacture that our product is completely recyclable. By the way, most of our packaging is made of recycled plastic. Unfortunately, it's even more difficult with the hair ties themselves.

Juliane Kipper spoke to Sophie Trelles-Tvede