What I’ve learnt after 10 years in business – The specialist events company Axion Now recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary since it was founded. Here, Elizabeth Kolb, the CEO and Co-founder, shares what she has learnt during that time and how her early career in marketing influenced Axion Now right from the start.
Starting up Axion Now
As a small business, one of the main advantages were that Elizabeth could come up with a new idea, put it into practise very quickly and make an immediate impact. This was quite at odds with her early career in the corporate world where large organisations are much less agile.
Elizabeth’s Co-founder Francois Hauchard had also been working in a large corporation (Cisco) but had bought a business interest in a small hobby comic shop
called Axion Comics and Cards. His vision was to expand the eCommerce side of the company and because of local brand awareness of the Axion name Elizabeth planned to take advantage of that with a new yet familiar name that people would, and do, remember.
For most of it’s 10 years, Axion Now has focused on live events for Magic: The Gathering (the trading card game) because they identified a gap in the market in the UK and had seen what could be achieved in the USA. Elizabeth identified an opportunity to build a community of like-minded people on a regional and national level who would buy from their eCommerce store but, more importantly for a business with big ambitions, attend major national events.
Memorable moments on a 10-year journey
Elizabeth remembers some of the most memorable moments in her 10-year journey as a business founder. One was establishing a junior Magic: The Gathering club inspired by her passion as a mum and the joy of bringing families together to have fun.
Another highlight of the past 10 years was organising the largest national competition ever run for Magic: The Gathering in the UK. An achievement that made everyone at Axion Now extremely proud. It was a special experience that brought together a huge cross section of people from many different backgrounds and from all sorts of demographics.
Elizabeth also remembers when the business hit £1m turnover in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. Elizabeth’s marketing background helped the company survive the pandemic due to their solid database of everybody who had ever done business with Axion Now, which enabled them to run an effective email outreach and social media campaign at that difficult time.
Creating a national business with an international reach
Axion Now run the largest national events for Magic: The Gathering in England but have an internationally diverse customer base. The game is the most played card game in the world so when people reach a new country they can easily bring their Magic cards – then attend events, which are a fantastic way to meet new people.
At the Axion Now events there are people from all over the world, and whilst the majority live in England, people also fly in from across Europe because of the great experience and the great prizes.
Iconic event venues are also chosen such as Twickenham Stadium and Edgbaston Stadium which are a major attraction in themselves for both British and overseas players.
The future of Axion Now
In the last year, the company have made a major decision to expand into a new trading card game, Disney® Lorcana, made by Ravensburger. Having been specialists and experts in Magic: The Gathering over the past 10 years they have had to quickly gain experience in a new game. But Lorcana matches the company’s values and can grow with them. It’s a game that can be played by their existing customers but will also enable them to attract a new audience.
Axion Now are also considering the possibility of moving further afield to run events in other countries in Europe. Elizabeth’s Kolb’s co-founder Francois Hauchard is French and they are fortunate to have contacts elsewhere in Europe, so researching the viability of a European expansion is on their plan for 2025.
Poppy Watt