Making Waves in Business

Charlie Jardine (Fgh 04) founded EO Charging in 2015 – with the mission to become the global leader in charging electric van, truck, bus and car fleets – and last featured in our spotlight on Entrepreneurs in 2019. Since then, EO’s growth trajectory has been phenomenal, so we were keen to gain Charlie’s insight on being an entrepreneur in an extremely competitive field.

How has EO developed since 2019?

Where to begin! The past three years have undoubtedly been challenging, but also very exciting. It’s been incredible to watch the business grow and transform as much as it has.

We’ve just revealed our latest generation of commercial and home chargers – the EO Genius 2 and EO Mini Pro 3. We spent over two years developing these products, which have also been configured to unlock vehicle to grid (V2G) charging within the next 12 months, which means EV drivers will be able to reduce their total cost of ownership by selling any surplus energy in their vehicles back to the grid. Good news for EV owners, but also for balancing demand on the grid!

But perhaps the biggest development for EO is that we started thinking about the EV charging experience ‘beyond the plug’. By that I mean we now also offer a range of services for fleet managers, including cloud-based management software, installations and maintenance solutions. This transition from EV charging manufacturer into EV solutions provider has allowed us to differentiate ourselves within the market, and has driven significant business growth. I’m proud to say EO now powers over half of the UK’s 10 biggest online retailers, and some of the world’s biggest fleets, including Amazon, Tesco and DHL.

Of course, to maintain that level of growth, our team has also had to expand. When we last spoke in 2019 we employed less than 50 people – mostly from the UK. Today, the team is made up of over 200 experts from across the UK, Europe, North America, and APAC.

However, it’s not been entirely plain sailing. Like many other businesses, the economic and geopolitical uncertainty caused by the pandemic created challenges. You may have seen reports that we were planning on taking EO public earlier this year. The instability of the financial markets at that time meant that route was no longer in the best interest of the company, so we terminated the transaction. However, we are now exploring alternative funding paths, and I’m confident we’re on track to continue growing.

The electric charging industry is a highly competitive market, what advice can you give to our OU entrepreneurs on getting noticed and standing out? What lessons did you learn at an early age that you still use today?

You’ve got to stand out in order to succeed. My advice would be to ensure you have a clearly defined unique selling point. Take time to think about your customers’ challenges, and then the benefits of your business and how you are uniquely offering solutions. I can guarantee that if your biggest distinction from competitors is price, then you won’t stand the test of time.

My second piece of advice is that you must be prepared to evolve and pivot based on your customer feedback. No industry or market is static, and neither are the customers within them. Consumer demands and needs change constantly, and entrepreneurs need to stay alert to those changes or risk being irrelevant.

What excites you most about being an entrepreneur and running your own business?

Speaking to customers and partners is one of the most rewarding aspects. I love meeting customers, finding out their pain points and then being able to make changes to the business quickly, based on that feedback. It’s not only hugely gratifying seeing the fruits of your labour, but it also means that the pace of work is much faster than that of larger corporations.

There’s also something very special about the process of creating a product from scratch and then going on to sell it – it requires a unique blend of both creativity and business acumen. Add to the equation the fact that what we’re creating at EO is having a positive impact on the world and moving the needle on the electric revolution, and I count myself extremely lucky to be at the centre of it.

What lessons did you learn at an early age that you still use today?

Both my parents ran their own businesses and growing up in that entrepreneurial environment certainly rubbed off on me. I think it instilled in me from a very young age the importance of not only having a hard work ethic, but also resilience.

Being an entrepreneur is incredibly rewarding, but it also isn’t for everyone. You have to be thick- skinned and resilient, otherwise every lost client or failed investment can feel like a catastrophe. The most successful entrepreneurs I know are the ones that are willing to fail, pick themselves back up, and importantly, adapt – even when their ego might be bruised.

EO has grown quickly in an product that people want to put on the emerging market. How do you manage the stress of working in such a fast-moving front of their home, our environment?

Being strict and regimented deeper than just the with my schedule helps me design of our products – it lies in the quality of better manage my workload and, as a result, stress. I wake up early and do my most important service that we offer our tasks at the beginning of the customers.” day before other people are online to ensure I can give it my undivided attention.

I also carve out some time each day to fully detach myself from work. Running, for example, is a really helpful escape and provides me with the headspace I need to stay motivated.

I am also fortunate to have an excellent team of talented people that I trust and lean on for support. When you start a business, I think there is a tendency to want to be involved in all decisions, but that’s unsustainable in the long term. At a certain point you have to learn to let go and delegate some of those decisions, otherwise you’ll spread yourself too thin and burn out.

How important is the EO brand identity?

Brand identity – and by that I don’t mean just our logo, but how people talk about us within the market – is really important. In fact, it is one of the ways we stand out from our competitors.

Whilst we’ve spent time creating a beautiful product that people want to put on the front of their home, our brand identity goes deeper than just the design of our products – it lies in the quality of service that we offer our customers.

It is also why our team of people are so critical. The hires we have made over the last few years all have two things in common: they are committed to our mission of becoming the global leader in charging, and practise our people-first values every day.

Do you have an exit strategy for you or the company, or are you in it for the long haul?

Myself and the team are relentlessly focused on making EO the industry leader in EV charging. Whilst we’re lucky to already be powering some of the biggest fleets in the world, I believe we’re only at the beginning of that journey.

Despite their increasing popularity, EVs still account for only a tenth of all new cars sold in the UK, which means there are still millions of untapped customers we can help in their transition to electric – especially as the UK starts to accelerate towards its ban on internal combustion vehicles by 2030.

It’s a really exciting time to be working in the EV industry, and I can’t wait to take EO into the next stage of its evolution.

What advice would you give to other OUs with a dream to start their own business?

I started EO eight years ago because I saw a huge opportunity to improve the EV charging industry by making it simpler and more reliable.

Ironically, starting and growing a business is anything but simple. You’ll most likely meet people who will question your ideas and discourage your actions, which is why, as cliché as it may sound, you have to have complete faith and passion in your vision.

That said, it is also one of the most rewarding jobs, so as long as you’re confident that there is an addressable market for your idea – and you have a team of people who share your vision – then I strongly encourage you to take that first step. You never know where it could take you!

www.eocharging.com