MagicHolz – creative things from wood

MagicHolz – creative things from wood

  • MagicHolz – creative things from wood: wooden puzzles and riddle boxes are more than a distraction. It is Joy. Education. Togetherness. Sense of achievement. MagicHolz distributes various wooden toys for the target group from 8 to 99 years. These range from marble runs, 3D puzzles and various models to wooden world maps and riddle boxes.

Founder’s/Owner’s story and what motivated them to start the business

  • Passion and fun to turn a small shop into a big and successful business. Knowing that Lars has some skills to start an online business, he started seeking the right idea. It had to be something unusual and sustainable, something that would excite people. During his research, he came across 3D wooden puzzles, which immediately caught his attention. At the same time, Chris, co-founder, was going through a serious private crisis. Lars was aware of this and thus created a welcome distraction for Chris. Without much hesitation, the first products were ordered for €500. Where to go if you don’t have a warehouse yet? Of course: Chris unceremoniously converted his office into a small four square metre warehouses: 4 shelves, and we felt like kings and prepared for the next months. It didn’t take 3 weeks until Chris’ entire 25 square metre living room was littered with wooden puzzles so that he could hardly walk here. A short time later we moved into our first warehouse, 40 square metres, with the option to expand. Using the summer to gain experience, to have our first Black Friday and Christmas shop together. Packed, labelled and shipped everything ourselves. From there, we knew: We need help. We can’t pack thousands of parcels ourselves and keep the quality of customer support high at the same time. From there, we outsourced some processes: Fulfilment services, customer support, marketing. Where are we today? The largest distributor of wooden puzzles in German-speaking countries – constantly growing, with the ambition to become the largest distributor of these products in Europe. Do you require something creative made of wood? Look at MagicHolz!

The challenges the business/market is facing

  • Market
    • Current shortage of raw materials increases overall costs
    • The dependence of a few manufacturers on Russian raw materials complicates the situation 
    • Increased transport costs
  • Business
    • Do it yourself or outsource? We asked ourselves this question relatively early on and decided that as long as we have strong growth figures, we will outsource processes and tasks to partners we can rely on and who will grow with us. On the one hand, this has the advantage that we are cost-efficient and do not have “staircase-like” cost increases, and on the other hand, we also draw on the experience of our partners, which we would never bring to bear on our own.

The opportunities the business/market is facing

  • Handling the wooden toys on offer has a variety of effects for people of all ages, which can have a positive impact: whether it is training the fine motor skills of the hands, logical thinking, strengthening the ability to concentrate, promoting the joy of experimenting or stimulating creativity. All this is excellently trained and practised playfully when working with MagicHolz products.
  • For toy manufacturers and suppliers, as in other industries, the issue of sustainability is becoming increasingly important.

Advice to others about business

  • How would you know if you haven’t tried it? On our journey so far, which is certainly far from over, we have done some things that today you would say “that was stupid”. But we had to do them to get where we are today. We should never be afraid to risk things, the critical thing is to reflect and do better next time. Another thing that has never been easy for me and is not easy today: when things are not going so well. No matter if it’s a cash flow shortage or problems with the supplier. Talk openly about your current issues with friends and other founders. There is always a solution if you dare to share your thoughts with others.
Ieva Kubiliute
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Ieva Kubiliute is a psychologist and a sex and relationships advisor and a freelance writer. She's also a consultant to several health and wellness brands. While Ieva specialises in covering wellness topics ranging from fitness and nutrition, to mental wellbeing, sex and relationships and health conditions, she has written across a diverse range of lifestyle topics, including beauty and travel. Career highlights so far include: luxury spa-hopping in Spain and joining an £18k-a-year London gym. Someone’s got to do it! When she’s not typing away at her desk—or interviewing experts and case studies, Ieva winds down with yoga, a good movie and great skincare (affordable of course, there’s little she doesn’t know about budget beauty). Things that bring her endless joy: digital detoxes, oat milk lattes and long country walks (and sometimes jogs).

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