What do you do?

Battery 4 Industry installs industrial battery systems for SMEs, agricultural businesses, and industrial companies. By intelligently managing the batteries based on energy consumption and market prices, we help our customers reduce their energy costs. Unlike installers who treat batteries as a side offering next to solar panels, heat pumps, or EV chargers, we’ve made a deliberate choice to specialize and focus solely on battery systems. That’s our strength.

Which entrepreneur inspires you?

In the past, I would have said Elon Musk, for his contribution to technological innovation and automation. But given the direction he’s taken in recent months, that’s become less obvious.

I also draw inspiration from my own family. My great-grandfather Alberic Florizoone founded the honey company Meli in 1925, and later Meli Park (now Plopsaland De Panne). A hundred years later, the company is still entirely family-owned. We are now the market leader in the Benelux and number three in Europe, with consolidated revenue exceeding 80 million euros. As a fourth-generation shareholder, I’m proud of that legacy, but I want to write my own story in the energy sector.

What’s your biggest pitfall as an entrepreneur?

In the beginning, I sometimes thought too quickly that I had secured a client after a good conversation. I underestimated the fact that competitors are always around the corner, or that people might still hesitate. I’ve since learned to stay alert, follow up consistently, and never assume a deal is closed until everything is signed.

What are you most proud of?

Taking the leap into entrepreneurship. I previously worked for an energy supplier and a company that develops circular batteries, but I felt it was time to be in the driver’s seat. By launching a business with my co-founders, I was finally able to fulfill my entrepreneurial ambition. I wouldn't want to be handed a management position in the family company without earning it. I believe in proving myself and standing on my own two feet.

Has entrepreneurship met your expectations?

It’s intense, but deeply rewarding. As an entrepreneur, you need to be a generalist and adapt quickly. If a technician calls in sick or a delivery is delayed, you have to jump in yourself. But that hands-on aspect, that sense of responsibility, is exactly what motivates me. The transition feels like a fish leaving an aquarium and swimming out into the open sea: less predictable, but with much more room to grow.

Battery 4 Industry

• A Roeselare-based company that installs and intelligently manages industrial battery systems for SMEs, agricultural businesses, and industry.
• Founded at the end of last year by managing director Karel Florizoone (28), together with Edelhart Olivier and Mathias Vandaele, managing directors of solar panel installer Batimont Solar, and Björn Afschrift from the family-run high-voltage specialist Afschrift in Ardooie.
• Revenue target for 2025: €5–7 million

Author:  TOBE STEEL