Name: Côme Besse

Company name: Divine Box

What does the business do: The founders of Divine Box, Côme and Astrid Besse, are brother and sister. Their mission is to help abbeys bring their products to as many people as possible through an online sales platform.

Number of employees: 5

Website: DivineBox.fr

The secret to your success: Our success comes first and foremost from the abbeys, from their incredible, excellent products — Chartreuse liqueurs boast more than 250 years of history; Lérins wines were served at the Cannes Film Festival … — but also perhaps from the love and prayers the monks put into each production. From a business point of view, our success stems from the consumer trend, which is moving more and more towards artisanal, local and meaningful products.

Finally, speaking on behalf of the team, I’d humbly say hard, rigorous work. Divine Box has not raised any funds; we are entirely self-financed. We’re certainly moving in the right direction, but not without difficulties. Our economic balance is positive, but our profits are meagre and our equilibrium fragile. That said, we’ve been growing well over the past eight years, and this year we’re still topping the million-euro mark in sales.

The hardest lesson you had to learn: The hardest thing, I think, was realizing that our carefree beginnings couldn’t last forever. With my sister Astrid, we’ve been traveling to abbeys and sending parcels to happy customers, and for a long time we did this with one or two interns: Divine Box was a simple, joyful business. Today, it’s still a happy company, but we’ve come up against the hardness and complexity of the business world, which isn’t always easy to manage. Aside from the abbeys, with whom our relations are very warm and fraternal, we have many other logistical partners; and in this business world, everyone defends their own interests with a certain coldness. This contrast with the monastic world is not always easy to manage for us, as we walk a fine line between these two worlds.

How your faith fits in to your business life: We visit the abbeys, our main partners, as much as possible and attend services and Mass. It’s a real opportunity and a joy for us.

Secondly, I do my best to manage our team with Christian charity. We encourage more than we punish; we give the tools to help instead of letting the person fail.

Finally, of course, I pray for business. It’s more discreet, and we don’t talk about it “publicly” to our customers, but I’m convinced that our many prayers for the success, even the economic success, of Divine Box are bearing fruit.

What advice can you share with aspiring Catholic entrepreneurs? I’ve always been struck by a phrase that priests often repeat at the end of Mass: “May God make your faith firm, your hope joyful and your charity effective.” From a business point of view, I’d give this advice: Don’t be afraid to be effective and have an impact. Or even to seek it out! A Catholic with responsibilities, especially economic ones, can and must be effective. At the same time, you have to follow the example of Jesus, who washed the feet of his disciples, to always be an example to your employees and to always lead them with humanity and service. In my opinion, this is crucial to avoid falling into dehumanizing productivity.