How XXL Nutrition Built a $100M Empire Without a Plan

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-05-21

René van der Zel started XXL Nutrition in his garage with no master plan. No investors, no five-year strategy, no rigid roadmap. Just a guy who saw a problem and wanted to solve it. Today, that garage-born business generates over $100 million in revenue and employs more than 200 people. But here's the thing: growth was never the goal. It was a side effect of getting better every day. In this episode, we dig into how XXL Nutrition scaled without ever chasing scale—and why customer obsession beat any fancy marketing playbook. ### The Garage Origin: No Plan, Just Purpose René didn't start XXL Nutrition with a grand vision. He started because he was his own customer. He wanted better nutrition products at fair prices, and he couldn't find them. So he made them. That's the core insight: **nobody wants a product. People want a solution to their problem.** Once you get that, you don't need complicated marketing tricks. You just need to deliver. Be reachable. Take your customers seriously. And think from their needs, not your ego.  ### Why They Never Did Market Research Most companies spend thousands on focus groups and surveys. XXL Nutrition skipped all that. Why? Because René and his team were their own target audience. They knew what athletes and fitness enthusiasts needed because they lived it. That instinct-driven approach paid off. Instead of guessing what customers wanted, they listened to what customers said—directly, through calls and emails. Every complaint became a chance to improve. Every suggestion was a free market research report. ### Customer Service: Not a Cost, But a Foundation Here's a belief that sets XXL apart: customer service isn't an expense. It's the bedrock of the business. While competitors treat support as a necessary evil, René treats it as the main event. - **Fast response times** – They aim to reply within minutes, not hours. - **Real humans** – No endless chatbots or automated loops. - **Empowered teams** – Customer service reps can make decisions without climbing a corporate ladder. This philosophy created something rare: word-of-mouth growth. Happy customers told their friends. Those friends told their gym buddies. No ad spend required. ### The Power of Small Improvements XXL Nutrition didn't grow through one big breakthrough. It grew through hundreds of tiny, consistent upgrades. René calls it "the accumulation of marginal gains." - Better packaging that keeps products fresh longer. - Clearer labeling so customers know exactly what they're getting. - Faster shipping because every day saved matters to someone training for a competition. Each change on its own seems small. Together, they compound into something massive. That's how you build a $100 million business without ever saying "we want to grow." ### Staying Normal at Scale One of the most striking things about XXL Nutrition is how normal they've stayed. Top athletes use their products. The company has serious scale. But René insists on staying grounded. No flashy CEO persona. No corporate speak. Just a team that shows up, does the work, and treats every customer like they matter. Because they do. ### The Takeaway for Entrepreneurs If you're building a business, here's what to steal from René's playbook: - **Start with a problem you understand** – Be your own customer. - **Forget growth as a target** – Focus on getting better, and growth follows. - **Make customer service your superpower** – It's your best marketing channel. - **Improve a little every day** – Small wins add up to big results. - **Stay humble** – Ego kills connection. Stay normal. This conversation is a masterclass in scaling without selling out. No investors needed. No five-year plan. Just a relentless focus on the person on the other side of the screen. Want more episodes like this? Check out the full series at the Belgian Entrepreneurs podcast. Special thanks to our partners: Teamleader (enter to win a duo ticket to the Work Smarter Event on June 4, 2026—details in the episode) and Cloudpoint, the IT partner for every SME.