HANKO hides your couriers

— Article published in “Le Quotidien” on Monday April 30 and Tuesday April 1^er May 2018, written by Aude Forestier

The young company born in 2016 and based in Wecker wants to modernize the world of stamps in Luxembourg, according to its creator, Sérgio Alves Santos.

The firm offers a wide range of ink and wooden stamps for both businesses and individuals. The little extra thing? A rubber plate personalized by the creator of the company.

Everyone has had an ink pad in their hands. A plastic or wooden object that allows you to imprint your mark on a sheet or an envelope. Sérgio Alves Santos knows a lot about it. Before launching HANKO, a company specializing in the sale of rubber or wooden stamps online, the 31-year-old worked for a year and a half in the stamp sector in Luxembourg. "I got to know the environment and how it workedhe says. The method employed where he worked was "too old”. Clearly, "it lacked modernity". Customers placed orders by e-mail, by post or by fax, “even by phone“, underlines Sérgio Alves Santos. And an order taken during a phone call can sometimes contain errors.

This professional experience allowed the graphic designer and web designer to learn how to create layouts for stamps. Above all, she gave him the desire tocreate a new experience for buying stamps". Why did you call it HANKO? The explanation is quite simple:hanko means ink pad in japanese“, specifies the young father of the firm who was looking for an original name for the company. In addition to loving web design and new technologies, Sérgio Alves Santos is passionate about Japanese culture. "I lived in Japan for over two years and studied Japanese at a language school in Tokyo. It was an excellent experience, it changed my way of seeing things, the world and Luxembourg a lot,” he says.

A personalized product

A HANKO customized product is here”to modernize the stamp world in Luxembourg“, continues Sérgio Alves Santos. On the website he made "from A to Z», it is possible to order plastic self-inking stamps of the brands Trodat, the Austrian number 1 in the sector and colop. "My job is to personalize», warns the creator of the company. He uses text provided by the customer (eg company name and address) and then creates the rubber plate in his workshop. By the way, how is it made? "This is an A4 sheet of rubber, this will be laser engraved. I make the design in the file on the computer, I set up the machine and I start the engraving“, he explains. "To my knowledge, I am the only one in Luxembourg to use this technique.» And for the wooden stamp, how is it going? "I do the rubber plate and the engraving: I do personalization“, he articulates. The manufacturing time varies depending on the type of stamp. "If it's a plastic stamp, it takes an hour, the time to compose the file, burn the plate and mount. For the wooden stamp, there is an additional step, that of engraving a message on the stamp. This is for ease of use“, he completes.

The price of the object depends on its size. For a small plastic stamp with an address, it costs 25 euros and 32 euros excluding VAT for a large stamp of the same material. A large wooden stamp, much lighter, costs 40 euros. Both companies and individuals can order a product from the firm. Customers are mainly in the Grand Duchy. When the website has an English version, "it will open other markets“advises Sérgio Alves Santos. Who knows, maybe one day tamponsMade in Lëtzebuergwill sell worldwide.

Advice to a young start-uper

Before embarking on the adventure of the company, Sérgio Alves Santos says that it is necessary "do market research". He learned about the latter and was able to see who his competitors were, wondered what he could do “different from the others” and what he could bring to customers. "I saw that there was potential, it was worth it, I started. You should not start without knowing the terrain, ”he repeats. "A year later, I see it was worth it“, he adds. For the creator of HANKO, you have to have self-confidence and "you have to know how to project yourself into the future and persevere". This is one of the keys to success.

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Source: The Daily