Vincent Miguel (SKEMA 2012): “the SKEMA experience” is unique!

Endurance sports enthusiast and former high-level cyclist Vincent Miguel, a 34-year-old graduate of the SKEMA Class of 2012, has an enthusiastic personality and is driven by professional challenges. He tells us about his journey so far, in strategy consulting and entrepreneurship.

Can you tell us about your educational background and your experience at SKEMA Business School?

After completing a technical and scientific degree course, partly in England, I joined the Grande Ecole programme at SKEMA Business School to work towards a Master’s. I interned at Yelp in London at the end of my first year (M1 in France), then joined KPMG during my gap year. The following year, I combined work and study to finish my Master’s. I then joined the firm’s Strategy & Operations teams full-time after my second year (M2). As I write this, I am realising just how unique “the SKEMA experience” is. What stands out for me is the quality of the syllabus, but also a rich ecosystem that is alive and supportive, where the school’s professors, lecturers, students, but also its associations and admin staff work together and cultivate the mindset and a feeling of pride at belonging to the school. In short, a fantastic experience!

What choices guided your career after your studies?

I would say the people I met and my appetite for professional challenges. That explains why consulting and entrepreneurship are both a good fit for me. There are some striking similarities between helping a company to grow or transform and launching or developing a startup. Both are demanding, require total commitment and are generally done as a team. That is what excites me!

How do you go from senior consultant at KPMG to running a shop specialising in organic products? Can you explain the opportunities that came along?

As I mentioned earlier, during the six years I worked for KPMG I helped the owners of startups and top executives of major multinationals with their business development and transformation challenges. These were high-stake projects that most often impacted on all areas of the companies. In those six years I gained a thorough understanding of the issues and challenges affecting businesses. And as someone who is an entrepreneur by nature, it was time for me to start my own venture.
I started my first business selling sporting goods online: "womenlab.cc". Then two years later I took on the responsibility of another entrepreneurial venture (on behalf of an organisation): launching a shop selling natural and organic products. I jumped at that opportunity after meeting two people: the first was eventually to be my superior, and the second was the managing director of the company. Two deeply human individuals who were looking for someone capable of successfully launching their new shop in a fiercely competitive market.
Day to day, my work was very varied and included managing deliveries, orders, supplier relations, the financial aspects, but also planning promotional campaigns, organising events, establishing new partnerships, and let’s not forget managing the team and customer relations. Even though you are working on the daily running of the business each day, the challenge is to manage the team and to ensure the business grows!

Your desire to be an entrepreneur influenced your trajectory. How did Womenlab come about? What did you learn from that experience?

Womenlab started with me meeting Nicolas, my business partner at the time. He was a consultant for KPMG too. Starting a business is one thing, but doing it with the right people is essential. For some time already, I’d had the idea of creating an online store specialised in women’s sporting goods. I saw my wife and her female training partners struggle to find the right equipment. We launched a blog and a lot of women jumped on board, so we decided to launch a business. Despite interest from investors and for mainly environmental and ethical reasons, I chose to stop this venture in favour of another that was more meaningful to me. One of the lessons I learned from this experience is the fact that “the idea” behind a startup is not worth much. What is important is the team’s ability to execute. And for that you need resources but also, and more importantly, you need the right people for the job.

Tell us about the ways you’ve been involved with SKEMA Alumni since the early days?

I am fond of our alma mater, so I have stayed in contact with SKEMA through the alumni association. I tutored some students for a couple of years. But I have also had regular exchanges with SKEMA Alumni members, I have participated in events in the cities where I have lived (London, Lyon and Paris), and I have taken part in conferences on career-related topics. I must also stress the fact that SKEMA Alumni is great for connecting with other alumni.

I have also had the opportunity and pleasure of contributing to the SKEMA United event. I was store director at the time of the event. I thought it was an excellent idea to combine sport with a good cause. So we agreed to put a 30 euro gift voucher up for grabs that could spent in any L’Eau Vive store. Kudos to SKEMA Alumni once again for organising those kinds of events!

Contact: Vincent Miguel