What started as a side business grew into an impressive business group.

In our GUBERNA Director Sparkle interview series, Jo Hendrikx spoke with Elly Huysmans, who, together with her husband, serves as the Co-CEO of the Glowi group. In May, she proudly received the Womed Award for "Entrepreneur of the Year." Additionally, she is particularly proud of the “Great Place to Work” award. Glowi is now ranked among the top 100 companies to work for in Europe.

What follows is a summary of the video podcast in which Jo Hendrikx and Elly Huysmans discuss topics including the company's origins, growth, challenges, and governance.

Glowi

Since its founding of Het Poetsbureau in 2007, the Glowi group now employs nearly 16,000 people. The group operates in various domains, including household assistance for individuals, professional cleaning and window washing for businesses, service vouchers, temporary employment, recruitment and selection, marketing and corporate communication, and employer branding.

"Glowi makes your world shine. That’s our mission, and we settle for nothing less. We take the burden off your shoulders at home, in your business, and in your job. From A to Z, guided by a clear philosophy: happiness is contagious."

How it started

Jo Hendrikx naturally takes a keen interest in the origin story and growth of this diverse group.

"We literally started in 2007 at our kitchen table as a kind of side project, motivated partly by indignation," explain the founders. At the time, as two young parents with demanding IT jobs in Brussels, they were struck by the complaints of their excellent household helper, who felt undervalued and disrespected for her contributions. "We found that unacceptable, so we decided to start our own small service voucher company for cleaning helpers." This allowed them to employ her under fair conditions and reasonable working hours. They began without a concrete business or financial plan: "Our initial idea was to invest some savings, print cards, and distribute them around the neighborhood."

The primary goal of launching Het Poetsbureau was to elevate the status of household cleaning jobs. "We worked on that for a long time. We were the first in the sector to introduce meal vouchers as a sign of appreciation. Later, we added hospitalization insurance, company cars, bicycles, and even specially designed work clothing. We wanted to pamper our employees, and this social focus has remained integral to our philosophy." It wasn’t until after the first ten years that they started focusing outwardly, launching initiatives like their “star cars” and “star bikes” to boost brand recognition.

An interesting shift occurred when people who wouldn’t typically consider working in household cleaning began expressing interest.

The first diversification came around 2018: "We expanded to include opportunities for those interested in professional cleaning and also launched temporary employment services for those not interested in cleaning at all. We started both new ventures simultaneously, and that’s when everything really took off."

Remarkably, their growth—from a single employee to thousands—happened entirely organically. It wasn’t until 2020 that they made their first acquisition in professional cleaning, taking over Ariel from Massenhoven.

Growth and Acquisitions

"In 2018, we began considering the idea of an advisory board and started it in 2019.

We had some impressive people on board. Bart Lambrechts, the Chief People Officer at Carglass, Eddy Aerts, the CFO of Arcomet and later ZNA, and for the innovative side, we had Jürgen Ingels from Smartfin. Each of them contributed to our development, with the first milestone being 'Great Place to Work' and a new name, which helped accelerate our progress. At that point, we also went through a significant transition, including the adoption of the new group name, Glowi, which I’m very happy with today."

You essentially grew independently and with your own capital for almost fifteen years. Then you chose private equity. What was the reasoning behind that? 

"We found one person ourselves through our network, as we consider sector knowledge and a track record in the business to be important. The other key competence we were looking for was strategy and growth. We truly value their input in our board and how they approach certain issues. These three people bring different perspectives and backgrounds, which creates a dynamic within the board. We have productive discussions as a result."

"In our management team, we have people from the central services such as finance, HR, marketing, IT, and digitalisation. On the other hand, we also have representatives from the different business units, which we call the 'rings.' Within each ring, there is a sort of management team."

"Additionally, we also seek ad hoc advice from individuals who have experience with specific issues."

"Furthermore, I can imagine that at some point we may take the step towards having an external chairperson. I would also like to have an additional woman on our board."

"As an entrepreneur, you must realise that you can't solve everything on your own. I prefer to bring in people who are capable of much more than I am. And of course, that pays off."

You also have an innovation board?

Yes, we do have an innovation board. It was established on the advice of the ladies from Stella P. They believed that we are very innovative and suggested it because they were concerned that innovation projects might not receive enough time and attention in the board of directors.

Every three months, we review where we stand: Do we need to make a new forecast, and what does that tell us? Then, an action plan is created together to adjust and move forward.

"So, the strategic discussion happens at the group level. We have developed a group strategy towards 2028, outlining what we want to achieve and how. But, of course, the path to get there differs per ring and sometimes per brand. So, we really think about it with them. How will the cross-fertilisation happen, and how will we support each other, so to speak, to reach our goals? This is something that happens within the business units."

What are the key learnings for you at the governance level and in building your portfolio?

"It started at the management team level before we even thought about governance and such. So, we had to make some adjustments and bring in the right knowledge and experience. At the governance level, you can see it evolving. We’ve added people with broad experience who genuinely want to contribute to Glowi."

"In terms of acquisitions and the structure of our business units, it’s crucial to make good agreements from the start. Even then, it’s not always smooth sailing, of course. Sometimes the numbers look a bit different after the acquisition than they did before."

We’ve had requests from managers for a kind of advisory board at the level of their business unit. We will, of course, discuss this with the board of directors.

We like to stay in touch with the different companies in the group: we give them a lot of autonomy, offer a lot of understanding, and provide a lot of trust. Of course, as co-CEOs, we keep an eye on things. If we see the engine starting to sputter, we will step in to straighten things out. That sometimes has to happen."

"Jo and I have clear divisions of responsibility. For example, I focus on the HR ring, the cleaning ring, and the internal services for HR and IT. Jo handles the home services, everything related to service cheques, and focuses on the marketing ring, alongside internal services such as finance and marketing. But if there are issues that need to be addressed, we tackle them together."

What final tips or advice do you have for fellow entrepreneurs regarding company governance?

"You don’t need to think everything must be perfect from the start. Consider governance as a learning process and begin with something structured. For us, that was the Advisory Board, with support from VKW. Over time, it may be useful to formalise such an advisory board. With an external shareholder, you are, of course, required to switch to a board of directors."

"My best advice is: look for people who can help you the most in your journey. Don’t try to do everything just through your network. Sometimes, it's good to think a bit more broadly. Your network often consists of like-minded people. I think it’s useful to look beyond the walls and connect with others who, in turn, know new people. You also need to set your own rules, but again, you don’t need to expect perfection from the beginning."

Daring to fail and keep learning?

"Exactly. And when you try a lot of things, you quickly learn what doesn’t work. But thankfully, we also know a number of things that do work by now."