Marcus Marchant is the Founder of Bondi Joe, Board Director, Digital, Innovation and Marketing Leader and Start-up Advisor. Marcus is Sydney based and the father to two children.
Tell us about Bondi Joe.
Bondi Joe is the place for men who believe in all weekend comfort. We are for men that want super comfortable swim shorts that they can wear all weekend. Bondi Joe bridges the gap between traditional swimwear and great looking shorts. We deeply care about the planet which is why our fabric comes from 100% recycled bottles, we have a carbon offset supply chain and plastic free shipping.
The company name references Bondi because it is Australia’s most famous beach and our spiritual home. From the beautiful white sand and blue water, to the incredible life guards that watch the swimmers – this beach has it all. We called it Joe because our team loved the connotation Joe has as the average Australian. We aren’t for beach show offs or attention seekers…we are for real guys with real bodies who still want to look great at the beach and who value total comfort!
What inspired you to start Bondi Joe?
I started Bondi Joe in 2019 with a mission of making the most comfortable swimwear ever made, and also designing cool trunks for guys that have outgrown surf brands. I wanted to create a versatile product that men would wear from sunrise to sunset, from beach to the bar, in and out of the water.
Tell us about your career and background.
I did my MBA whilst working full time and then replaced it with my side hustle Bondi Joe when I finished because it felt like a natural time to do this. I am also Sydney based and am the father to two children aged 10 and 8 years old.
Describe a typical work day for you (if there is such a thing).
A typical work day involves lots of meetings, understanding and adjusting our daily numbers and customer feedback, and talking strategy with the team. With global stakeholders, I tend to work mornings with the USA and nightimes with Europe, so it’s important I find time to have a break in the middle of the day, spend time with my wife (who is also working from home with COVID), and get some exercise in!
However, the most important part of my typical work day is ensuring I spend adequate time with my family. Family always comes first, it’s a matter of priority and balancing 80:20, not focusing on being perfect. The kids are only young once! It’s all about time management. I tend to work early morning on Vistaprint and then switch off as the kids come home from school – then log back in later to finish work. I work on Bondi Joe late into the night when the house is all quiet.
Has COVID-19 affected your business? How are you navigating that?
We are very lucky that with summer on its way, our business has not been too terribly affected in a negative way due to the current climate. It is definitely a challenging time to be a small business owner so supporting locals is a very important thing to do.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Please see outlined below my top 7 tips for how to successfully launch and manage owning a small business:
- Find a gap in the marketplace: Ensure you differentiate yourself from other brands. To set ourselves apart from the plethora of swim brands we bridged the gap between traditional swimwear and great looking shorts so our customers could wear our product all weekend – from sunrise to sunset, from beach to the bar, in and out of the water.
- Start your business while you’re still employed: It may take some time before your new business actually makes any profits. I started Bondi Joe while simultaneously being the CEO of Vistaprint Australia. Being employed while you’re starting out allows you to have money to invest into the business and ensures you are able to keep up with your monthly living expenses.
- Embrace being the ‘new kid’: We were once the new kid on the Australian men’s swimwear block. When launching, get comfortable with being new and unrecognisable. Believe that your brand is here to shake things up.
- Listen to customer feedback: Understand that your most important target audience is your consumer. Our customers let us know comfort was the most important factor to them, so we listened and removed the old-fashioned lining to ensure our swimwear was comfortable to their liking!
- Utilise social media: If you are a fashion brand I would highly suggest utilising Instagram to showcase your product. A healthy mix of lifestyle and product shots is a good way to portray your brand’s personality.
- If you promise to support a mission, deliver on your promise: At Bondi Joe, we do really care about the planet. However, it is not enough to simply make such a statement without backing it up. This is why our fabric is sourced from 100% recycled bottles with a carbon offset supply chain and plastic free shipping. If your brand’s actions don’t align with your words your customers will not trust you.
What’s next for you, and Bondi Joe?
A fun fact about Bondi Joe is that each pair of board shorts are named after streets from our spiritual home, Bondi Beach. Our Spring/Summer 2020 range has recently dropped and featured Roscoe Street, Wonderland Avenue, Watson Street, Lucius Street and Anglesea Street. And yes, we absolutely love it when we post orders out to customers who live on these streets! What is next for us is focusing on our Summer 2020 range and creating engaging content across our Beach Blog and Bondi Joe Instagram page.
For more on Bondi Joe, please visit: www.bondijoe.com
