We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tom Van Dessel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tom thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In 2010 I launched the US arm of BuzziSpace (acoustic treatments and furniture for offices) in the US. One of our main products was an acoustical felt wallpaper made from polyester. The other main player in the industry with a similar product used a pure wool felt. The advantage of our polyester product versus wool was cost effectiveness, and it had a great sustainability story because it was made from recycled/upcycled soda bottles. The disadvantage was that we did not have many colors. Polyester felt is an industrial product where color is not usually a requirement. Creating a new color therefore was difficult and very costly as the required minimum order quantities were extremely high. So color was the limitation, whereas our competitor’s wool felt could be color matched and piece dyed quite easily. In the high end/progressive office interiors world, everything is specified through designers and color is critical. But this challenge is what gave me the idea. I couldn’t change the manufacturing process of the felt, but what if I was able to print the felt? Then all I would need is a light colored base material which I could then print in any color. And that is what spawned the idea of Splashworks (the name by the way has noting to do with bathroom fixtures or water parks, it is all about ‘adding a splash of color’). I went in search of the digital print technology to do this and invested in setting up a separate business which, among other things, became a vendor to Buzzispace for printing the polyester felt. In 2018/2019 BuzziSpace was sold to Haworth furniture which is when I decided to put all my efforts on Splashworks. However, simply having a capability does not necessarily qualify as having a business. I needed a product line. One of the customers we (Splashworks) printed for had a wall art business. He wanted to retire and asked if I wanted to buy his business. I purchased his business which gave us not only a focused product line but more importantly a customer base. This was the perfect jumping off platform for Splashworks from which to expand and grow. There are a few things that differentiate Splashworks reproduction wall art from other offers. Firstly, we print on fabric as opposed to paper or canvas. Fabric textures create depth and effects that are very different to more traditional mediums like paper and wood. Additionally, we can turn our wall art into an acoustic/sound absorbing panel – double functionality; acoustics + esthetics. This second attribute is unique and particularly valuable in commercial, hospitality, education settings etc. The acoustic/sound absorption is possible because the fabric (as opposed to canvas, wood, paper, glass etc), allows sound to travel through it and be absorbed by an acoustic panel hidden inside the frame. With any other medium the sound would simply reflect/bounce back and therefore not be of any acoustical value.

Tom, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Bio: born in Belgium, moved to the US from the UK in 1998. Started my career in the corporate world and worked for a Fortune 500 company for 17 years. Worked in the UK, US, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. My corporate career provided me with a lot of exposure/experiences in manufacturing, sales, marketing, product development and business development. It also provided me with exposure to many different industries spanning consumer goods, graphics and automotive. In my corporate career I was often ‘tapped’ for new ventures, start-ups and growth oriented assignments – in the corporate world this is on occasion referred to as Intrapreneurship (entrepreneur inside a large organization). In 2010 I partnered with a friend from Belgium to launch the BuzziSpace brand in the US. While I was not necessarily familiar with the commercial office furniture industry, I felt that the Brand, philosophy and product line had great potential. I also felt that I had enough experience across disciplines, and in the US in general, to give this a shot! The transition and from BuzziSpace and creation of Splashworks was explained in the previous section. Brand (Splashworks): Reproduction Wall Art is the main product line (we also have a line of pillows and floor mats). We do everything in house from graphic design, printing, assembly, packaging and shipping. All under one roof in High Point NC. 90% of our materials and components are sourced within a 50 mile radius from our Studio and workshop. We collaborate with artists to create unique collections and work with the interior design trade on custom projects for their clients. These collaborations provide the artists with exposure as well as a way to monetize their art/work. The fact that we have an acoustic/sound absorbing upgrade option, gives us opportunities in larger commercial projects (hotels, restaurants, schools, universities, offices). Often these are large scale, eye-catching, multi-panel installations. Designers love our custom capability because they can provide their clients with unique and special wall art. Commercial buyers love the custom capability paired with acoustic functionality as it accomplishes two things at once. Our Art+Acoustics is a novel concept that is still in its infancy – nobody does it like we do it (that I know of:))!

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I alluded to this in the first question. The business I purchased was a customer’s business. This was an important move strategically as this forward integration provided the business with a well-defined and focused product line as well as an established customer base. It was the perfect jumping off point. In many cases forward integration can be problematic if you have other customers I the same space. You don’t want to start competing with your other customers! In our case we were able to do this as this was the only customer we had in that segment. It was a relatively small business with no significant physical assets, so the purchase of the customer portfolio and brand was not a huge financial commitment. Once we agreed on the price I ended up paying monthly installments to the seller over a 5 year period. Operationally, we in-sourced all the manufacturing and brought in the customer service and warehouse personnel. The one very important lesson I learned is that we did not adequately communicate with the customer base and were too quick to change the name. We lost some customers in this process and I wish I had taken more time and care to educate and transition these customers to the ‘new’ business. I was too focused on getting my own brand out there and under-estimated the loyalty to the old brand.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I pretty much put everything on the line: 401k from 17 year corporate career, sold an investment property I had (the only one!) and got a bank loan. The only asset I did not touch was the house we were living in. With a wife, three kids and a significant house payment, this was a big leap of faith. But I believed in the product and the opportunity so I felt confident. Did that cause some sleepless nights? You bet! But, I have never regretted that decision. Being an entrepreneur/business owner is hard work, and can be stressful, especially in the early stages. Yet, it also brings with it a certain freedom and flexibility that is very rewarding. You probably end up working more hours than most 9-5’ers, but you have more freedom to choose when and where to work them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.splashworksart.com
• Instagram: @splash.works, @tom.vandessel
• Linkedin: Tom VAN DESSEL

Image Credits
Ron Royals Photography – (image of the front of the building and bus driving by)