ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°153 - Mars/Avril 2014 - 22

FoCus

By Marco FOGLIZZO (99 MA)

In search of
excellence
Marco FOGLIZZO's company is active in a very niche segment; it produces
and sales leather to the luxury industry. And our Alumnus is so happy and
proud... He tells his story.
In fact, our leather is used in the
high-end, applied on seats, panels
and flooring and varies objects in
the decoration of private jets, yachts,
luxury-brand-shops and exclusive residences. The business was started
in 1921 from my grandfather with his
brother, at the time importing leather
from France into Italy. The market
space has changed through the
years, developing Italy into the largest
leather producer, and so our business
has adapted to the market changes.
Today we serve globally, with over
70% of our sales in foreign countries.
About 10 years ago, after my experiences in strategy consulting and private
equity, together with my brother we
decided to re-launch our family heritage, focusing on the luxury market
segment in which we operate today.
I like my little entreprise
The adventure started about 8 years ago. At the
time my father that looked after the business for all
his life was on the way to close and retire, so when
my brother and I got in to the business everything
needed to be rebuilt. We went from 50 000 Euros
to just above 4 M Euros in sales and, with that, our
team has also organically grown. Today we employ
almost 30 people. My entrepreneur experience
started as sort of coincidence, but today I would
never go back to work for a multinational organization, it would simply feel like trying to make Danny
De Vito looking great into an Armani suit.
I love the challenges
I think that all comes to what makes you feel at
ease. I questioned myself where I would be today if I remained working in finance, maybe for
some large investment bank or equity fund, and

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ESCP Europe Magazine N° 153 - Mars/Avril 2014

the answer is «in a very frustrated mood». For how
much I loved the intellectual challenge of those
positions, I could not stand some of their soft aspects that characterize their working environment.
But I also questioned myself why some of my friend
and class mates did so well in that world, and the
answer again is simple «we are all different» and
their innate skills and personality allowed them to
perform extremely well in that same environment
that would have caused me maybe success but
more certainly unhappiness.
I travel all around the world for it
Today, I run and manage a global business that
takes me way more around the globe than I ever
wanted, working on strategic problems as well as
operational issues every day, multiple times a day.
Working for a smaller organization -that might be
a start up or not- differs from the larger multinationals in several things: smaller teams many times
result into more cross-functional roles where you
can see and understand the entire company process and flows. Understanding better and having
direct contact with the decision makers allows
your work impact better on the final result. Many
times, smaller businesses do not have a structure
and stiff job positions, so creative and undertaking people end-up in crafting their own role, in
osmotic growth wit their company. Internally, the
focus is mainly on the «What» of matters and less
on «How» they are presented.
I just feel home
Working for a SME is just like deciding to go strait
the Starbucks and look for «the behind the corner»
coffee place. It might be a little more complicated
to find, as they do not communicate as much, sometimes risky as some of their coffee might result
awful, but at the end when you find the right one,
you will just feel home.
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ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°153 - Mars/Avril 2014

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