Perhaps no business in the RV industry is more vulnerable during these times than the scores of little companies manufacturing teardrops and compact expedition-style tow-behind trailers that have sprung to life over the last decade. One such company is Droplet Trailer located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Fortunately, founder and owner Pascal Pillon, adopted the preparedness aspect seriously when he founded Droplet in 2017. He took his idea of designing and manufacturing a new line of tiny trailer to Simon Fraser University’s VentureLabs, a business incubator in nearby Vancouver, BC. That type of preparation and support paved the way for his start-up company to gain a solid footing in a very competitive and crowded North American market.
Using a business incubator also provided a way for Pillon to further his own philosophy of “maximizing the full use of everything that is built in this world to its fullest potential while having the least environmental impact.” To that end, when it came time to look for a location to build his Droplet trailers, he partnered with Freestyle Spaces, a builder of tiny homes, and Plastic Essence Collaborative (PECO), to share not only the rent and utility costs of the manufacturing facility, but also the sharing of all tools and knowledge.
“We pushed this desire to reduce our [environmental] footprint by sharing tools we don’t use continuously. And there are a lot of them! We also help each other bouncing around ideas, and lifting heavy loads. Freestyle brings a lot of woodworking and construction expertise,” said Pillon about the unique symbiotic business relationship. “Droplet brings technology (CNC and 3D printing), engineering capacity and lean manufacturing processes. PECO is the expert in the use of plastics and plastic re-cycling.”
Pillon said he embraces hosting companies that are “like-minded” in their concerns for the environment and the sharing of resources, even if they are a competitor. But Pillon acknowledges sharing everything under one roof can be a challenge early on in that process.
“At times this arrangement is challenging. You need to trust others and be willing to assume some of the repair costs,” said Pillon when asked about the sharing of space, tools and equipment. “The balance between give/receive is always in the back of your head. To make such a business setup work, you need to overcome this for the greater good. Everyone in this facility has been outstandingly understanding of this. We are all deeply proud to try and bring the change we want to see in the world.”
Pillon’s advice to other small start-up companies, regardless if they are in the RV market or not, is to take advantage of one of the many business incubator opportunities in North America. “There is so much to learn from other companies, such as those mentoring and sharing their business knowledge at VentureLabs. There’s so much creative energy to draw from. When you are a small start-up, don’t start out entirely on your own.”
His advice mirrors that of the International Business Incubator Association (INBIA), a trade organization of incubators and entrepreneurial services with an estimated 1,400 members in just in the U.S., which claims a small business survival rate of 87 percent when supported by a business-type incubator, compared to only 44 percent that make it on their own.
Pillon’s “luck” in taking an idea and turning it into a successful RV manufacturing business only means he was prepared when the opportunity arose to build and market his tiny Droplet trailers across North America. And when the economic hurricane Covid-19 rolled in, sharing operating costs with other companies under the same roof has helped all weather the storm far better than if they’d been entirely on their own.
