Never say no to your daughter
In a way, Tiwal's story is linked to a small family feud. Since childhood, Marion Excoffon has sailed on her family's First 30, based in Brittany. But when Marion, now of age and vaccinated, asked her father to lend her the yacht, he refused.
After graduating from a design school, this strong character decided to design her own boat in reaction to her father's refusal, as Emmanuel describes:
" She built her first prototype with the support of designer Antoine Fritsch, who gave her advice on developing the first model. She soon moved towards a fully inflatable unit, which was a world first."
Anecdotally, she summoned her father to a nautical base to show him the first navigable version. But it wasn't an industrial product. There's a world of difference between a proto and a marketable product.
After several evolutions of the project, we took the plunge by exhibiting for the first time at the Paris boat show in 2012. We had no experience in the boating industry. People were surprised and dubious, but we took 6 orders at that first show.
It was a turning point. These first sales gave us the opportunity to do another thirty or so the following summer, which were complicated to deliver on time.
The first year was really busy. We had to develop an industrial tool to meet demand. We quickly decided to go international
We followed this up with the Boot in Düsseldorf and the Annapolis show in 2013, where we won our first award. The little inflatable French boat really appealed to the Americans. Tiwal was launched!
Breton production exported worldwide
Easy and fun, the little yellow inflatable boat is winning over customers all over the world. Its ease of use is winning over new customers. What's more, the entire range is proudly assembled in Brittany:
" It takes around fifty suppliers to manufacture a Tiwal. Nearly half of them are in France. It's a real piece of industrial machinery"
But developing its marketing has not been easy, as Emmanuel tells us:
"We had to sell three hundred units a year to be profitable. Traditional channels, such as trade shows and dealerships, were not suitable for us to grow. We opted for a substantial communications budget, and for direct sales via our website, which accounts for 2/3 of our sales."
"We're in an industry that doesn't necessarily see a lot of novelties, so our model gets a lot of attention. Our two main markets are France and the United States, with the rest exported worldwide. In total, exports account for 83% of sales. Our staff of 10, including two in the workshop, generates sales of around two million euros."
What about the future?
"Our next market to develop will be Asia, and we're going to set up a subsidiary so we can do business there."
Simplicity of use and a community of afficionados
The Tiwal catalog is made up of four models, to cover all programs. From cruising to fast gliding, there's something for everyone. All for a budget ranging from ?6,000 for the Tiwal 2 to ?9,900 for the Tiwal 3R, the fastest model in the range, capable of top speeds of 14 knots.
Tiwal enjoys a high level of popularity among its users. The Tiwal Cup, which brings together Tiwal enthusiasts every year, is a good example of this.
