Once upon a time, far beyond the Hills of Ostrzeszow and beyond the Lower Silesia forests, stood the seat of Botland store. Wait a second, no, that’s not how it went…
Where did we actually come from? Who are we? What is a photoresistor and why company’s kettles do not work with Arduino?
Sometimes friends know each other long but poorly. Still others know each other briefly but intensely. Every relationship is different. We love our readers, and we love learning something new not only about technology, but also about you.
How did it all start?
The answer to this question can be summed up in a short slogan – with university’s student passion. However, there is so much hidden under the words “student passion” that there would not be enough time to tell everything until tomorrow. This is known to anyone who remembers their college days well. How much was going on back then!
Let’s put it this way: if someone in the 1990s in Poland, crossing an intersection in a large city, saw so-called Western cars coming from the four inlets, he stood as if in a daze and had a complete freak-out. Just like in an action movie. Unfortunately, opportunities were very scarce at the time, and few could afford to own such a car.
In 2008 two students from Wroclaw University of Technology had… both a vision and a tough nut to crack. In fact, they faced the same problems as every electronics and robotics engineer of the time. In the era of ubiquitous information, presentations of amazing constructions, fruits of amateur and professional projects that awaken the appetite for one’s own experimentation had long been reaching Poland.
On the other hand, however, there was a lack of components. They wanted to create, they had the passion, but they had no way. At the time, the Wroclaw University of Technology’s Scientific Circle was an invaluable support, but still incomplete – the need to make their own steps quickly arose. It was time to take matters into their own hands and start acting.
Full of talent, no equipment
When was Botland born? We know the exact date and we celebrate it as the birthday.
On October 8, 2010, Bartosz and Szymon, the protagonists of today’s article, sent their first email to an American electronics supplier with a maker acumen, Pololu. The similarities are not hard to find – the company was founded in 2000 by three MIT students.
In 2001 it was still operating out of an MIT dormitory, and in 2002 it moved to the warmer climate and lower taxes of Las Vegas, NV. Although the funding and support at universities overseas is quite different than in Poland and many European countries, the challenges always have a common element. They understood.
We’ve been happily working with Pololu to this day – and it’s been 10 years. And here is our first linefollower robot:
Winning starts now. Botland robots
Along with the construction of robots came the championships. Young roboticists took part in the first competition in 2008 – a friendly rivalry at the Wrocław University of Technology. Difficult beginnings quickly gave way to successes. With time, many of those who competed for the title of the best robot constructor began to react with serious concern at the mere presence of the BOTLAND TEAM duo among the competitors – it was simply impossible to win anything, because Bartosz and Szymon were unrivaled.
In the meantime, more competitions appeared, and the experiences from Vienna, Austria, showed that the BOTLAND TEAM has a lot to set out on the European forum, too – we took 1st and 2nd place in 2012 and 1st and 3rd place in 2013 at RobotChallenge.
We hope that the compendious and tutorial nature of our blog articles is more clear to you now. At Botland, we know the challenges faced by everyone who loves mechanics, electronics, and robotics.
Student vibes
Your first orders were packed by hand in your student apartment. Along the hallway, from behind the boxes set up, you couldn’t see anything else. We had to be careful, and watch out, and not trip over anything…. The living space quickly turned into a warehouse and studio – the set’s “umbrellas” blocked the way in our first little Holywood studio in Wroclaw.
First warehouse. What did the spring bring?
Even sooner, it became apparent that customers’ interest had exceeded our wildest expectations. There was a need for both capacity and floor space. On April 15, 2013 we made our first big trip – it was a move from academic Wrocław to our home town of Kępno.
You have to start somewhere, right?
At the same time, online sales via the forum and data migration to the new system started. These were the first steps in increasing brand awareness. We emerged, very modestly for the time being, as an online electronics store where every electronics and robotics enthusiast could find the necessary parts, tools and accessories. Our first store index, 00010, included micro gearmotor HP 30:1 with extended motor shaft Pololu 2212. Interestingly, this item is still available. Today we’re approaching an index of 18800… but more on that later.
For those who think that Botland is a one-room company run with a laptop – you are right, but it was. It used to be that way. The road to automated sales is long and arduous. Anyone who has started a new company knows that anything can go south at every possible stage. We moved forward slowly and gradually expanding the product range. We did not avoid mistakes, too, but we learned from them and optimized every aspect of HR, logistics and office work to strive for efficiency in a good atmosphere of mutual understanding.
Botland in block of flats
The beginning of May 2014 saw a major increase in space – we finally had somewhere to squeeze in. The new place had an impressive 300 m² of floor space for that time. We stayed at the Odrodzenia housing estate in Kępno until 2017. Cyclically, we struggled with the problem of a new place, because the company was constantly growing, there was a lack of shelves and we needed a real logistics center. Orders were coming in and out.
It became clear that we needed a really big base of operations, where everything would work like clockwork. Automated solutions were to become the basis for satisfying our growing community of customers and readers. Our ambitions grew with time and we started to be associated as a place where every electronics enthusiast can find something for themselves, get design support for their ideas and share it with others.
And what is it like today?
The culmination, though not the end of the hike for us is some important place. Do you remember the photo from the beginning of the article? We finally reached Gola pod Bralin. It is a small town near Kepno and the section of the S8 Warsaw-Wrocław route. This is where our head office was established.
We welcomed it on March 1, 2017.
As of the end of 2020, our logistics center has an area of 1000 square meters. We plan to expand to 4000 m².
We use modern, automated warehouse management solutions such as PTL (Put To Light) and WMS (Warehouse Management System) systems. Our product range includes over 18,000 different products. Our official Botland Blog provides content that includes not only product releases, but also compendia, tips, project tutorials, reviews, trivia and news from the world of technology.
We are an official distributor of Raspberry Pi Foundation products with Approved Reseller badge. We also distribute brands like Arduino, Pololu Robotics & Electronics, SparkFun Electronics, BBC Micro:bit, Adafruit, Farnell, GoodRam, HiFiBerry, Waveshare, Seeedstudio, DFRobot, ArduCam, Dobot, Atnel, BananaPi, Kradex, NanoPi, Pimoroni, Odroid and many more.
There’s still much to do
Our beloved minicomputers and development platforms, namely the British Raspberry Pi and Italian Arduino, are just the beginning. We tour and circle the world in search of new friendships that stay with us for a long time and pay off.
What would we like to improve? Everything. And what would we like to change? 90% of our customers are men, so we would definitely like to encourage women to visit Botland more often. After all, we have a whole team of gorgeous girls on our team!
Today, the Botland team is a tight-knit crew on guard for the proper functioning of the entire system. We know what challenges we face. We are a group in which all departments are equivalent. We are constantly expanding our product range so that our customers are up to date with the latest developments in the industry. Our warehouse, technical and sales staff are a really harmonious team. And now, after such a long and educational journey, it is high time to sum up.
Botland store in a nutshell
- nationwide and European sales pitch
- more than 2 million page views of PL and EN store domain per month
- high rating on Opineo.pl webportal, average score 4.9/5
- over 10 000 user recommendations and high rating on Allegro.pl, average score 5/5
- the only official Raspberry Pi distributor in Poland, which exclusively offers Raspberry Pi Zero
- cooperation and support for scientific clubs from all over the country
- about 0.1% of stock error rate in packages
- low number of complaints
- over 18 000 products in offer
- vivid activity on social media – Facebook, Instagram & Twitter
- publication of tutorials and guides on YouTube channel
- cooperation with influencers and youtubers
- regular newsletter and successful publications of Botland Blog articles
- more than 550 000 realized orders
Some of our prizes and awards
- Distinction of the OPINEO.PL portal for obtaining high consumer ratings in the category Medium-Size Shops in the Ranking of Internet Shops
- E-GAZELE BIZNESU 2017: Greater Poland Leader (6th place in the country), participation in 2018 and 2019 editions
- Allegro.pl portal award for the highest quality of service and year-round qualification in the prestigious Super Seller program – 2018, 2019
- Honorable mention in the competition “Leader of Entrepreneurship of Kępno County” – 2019
