Brand Profile : EdyaOner

12 May 2008

Company Name:
EdyaOner
Owner’s Name:
Tanguy
Int’l HQ Address:
48 Avenue Jean Moulin
Paris 14.
Tel:
+33 (0)661 613 080
Web:
www.edyaoner.com
Email:
edyaoner@gmail
Number of Employees: 1


Give us the low-down on your company? Why did you start EdyaOner?
We are a specialist bearing company, formally established in May 2007 and based in Paris. We only do bearings and... well bearings. At the beginning, I had the support of Bertrand Soubrier (Cream skateboards) and Wilfried Manderau (Plex skateboards). We have also just created TRAVEL Wheels, a very promising skateboard wheel company.

Who is on the management team and what are their backgrounds?
Me and my brother. I’m the manager, in charge of sales, communication and the management of the team. I have never been to any business school, I’ve only been a factory worker for a steel company - it was while working there the idea came to me. My brother helps with the import/ export part of the company.

What was the company philosophy when you started?
We started the company with the idea of providing the market with a quality product at a reasonable price. We were kids ourselves and still skate, so it wasn’t difficult to put ourselves in the position of someone who cannot afford to spend more than €30 a set of bearings which will not last more than two months. Our line will evolve but we will always keep this basic idea in mind.

How did you come up with the name?
It’s connected to graffiti. Skating and graffiti are both free practices of urban life and both are done on the street. That’s how it happened for me, I discovered graffiti thanks to skating, as many graffers skate or used to skate.

What lessons have you learnt about running a company?
Patience, you must not rush things and be prepared start again from scratch when we feel that something is not going in the right direction. Things can take a long time to come to fruition and rarely go as you initially plan, you have to adapt. We had to learn this quickly!

What is different about your company, both in the product and the way the company works?
Our company has been created with the passion of skating, and all our time is spent in the development and design of our product. We have the chance to be close to riders and we use the benefits of their direct feedback. Also, our knowledge in the steel industry enabled us to find reliable partners, who specialised originally in the automobile and aeronautics industries and who do not work with other skate companies.

Why should retailers sell your brand?
Our goal is to become a reference in European bearings companies. We are an alternative to US products on the European market for distributors, shops, and skaters. Our job is to make bearings that are better suited to our
passion and that’s what we try to do every day.

What is the sales spiel retailers should use when telling customers about your products?
Three words: Durability, fluidity and price. These are our main objectives, and a skater’s requirements. Keep in mind that the common bearing existed a long time before the arrival of skating. You will not see any ABEC (the scales for rating the manufacturing tolerances of precision bearings for our bearings) on our products and our reason is simple: the norm, which had been used by other companies outside of skateboarding, does not work for skateboarding. Their tolerance is skewed from the very first tricks. With our partners we have been able to set our own tolerance, the one we wanted as
skaters. Moreover our bearings may be disassembled and maintained. Remember those three words: Durability, fluidity and price.

What is the biggest mistake you see retailers make when it comes to selling your products? How can they correct that mistake?
That they sell our bearings as a basic accessory. The bearing is vital equipment that should not be overlooked. It is as important as the board,
wheels and trucks. But all too often it is put in second place on a complete set up and that’s a shame. But we won’t give up and hope to change that mentality.

You use the Internet - you have a MySpace page and lots of videos on YouTube. How does this add to your sales and do you receive a lot of traffic?
Yes a lot! MySpace allows us to be near to our customers and (know) their needs. It is a good tool to communicate while the official site is still in construction. It should arrive shortly.

What other marketing are you running as well as the Internet?
Mostly world of mouth and the confidence riders from our team have on the quality of our bearings! The packaging also makes the difference to a shop’s window displays and will be well used as visual aid.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to start a boardsports company?
Patience, do not rush things, develop your ideas, start from scratch when you feel that something is not going in the right direction. Everything takes a lot of time to happen. With factory issues as with customers needs, it is important to show perseverance in order to succeed. Even when you know your partners well, things rarely go as you initially planned, you have to adapt yourself to it. You have to learn fast.