Episode 4: Rise of GetGuided, Year 2, Ups and Downs

2017 was a year when things really got off the ground for GetGuided. We finally started getting customers, we received our first investment and we were building our product. This year was foundational and we did a lot of good, but looking back I would definitely shape things up differently. So in this episode, we will look at a real kick-off year of GetGuided where the most action has happened, 2017. Here is episode four, the second year of GetGuided.

So let’s start with a story. From 2016 we did trial matchmaking local students to young travellers, to show them around. Unfortunately, this did not work well for several reasons: 1) the students did not see this as a priority in their timetable, especially during the exam period; 2) there were many start-ups launching similar concepts that made online ad campaigns very expensive. That was not a very optimistic traction for us. On the other hand, we were receiving emails from several professional guides looking to join the platform and offer their services. As we registered these guides, we received emails from couple hotels and travel companies who were looking for guides. They were searching online for a guide in a specific language when we popped up in the search results. We tried very hard to work with both clients and provide the custom service they needed and we did it well. If you are like me back then, you would be happy with the situation and would think of it as very positive, but not that is not always the case and will explore why

From this story there, we can learn the following lessons:

• When I came up with the idea of students first, I did not even think of exams and how they collide with the start of tourism seasons. You probably will also encounter situations where you have not thought of some specific aspects that will become a barrier to jump over. Always keep the flexibility and open mind for these times when they arrive. We did that by accepting other guides to the platform as well, which brought some requests from the businesses around.
• This brings us the following point about your customers. You see the instances above are good, but they are just that, individual instances. Focusing on those instances and building your whole model around it, which we ultimately did, can result in wasted time and resources. The first step is to talk to the customers who placed that first order. Understand how they found you, more specifically what they were looking for when they found you. If possible, try to get as many details about that moment as possible. You aim is to understand the decision-making process and the force behind it. We did all that, where I went to the office of the travel company and went to the hotel and asked these questions. However, I was so optimistic and exited that I failed to ask if similar requests are usual throughout the year or not. Ask the right questions and ask many of them. I also was scared of losing the client with too many questions. Never get scared to lose the client, care to understand them. Worry about the service you provide and If you are providing an amazing service at a good price, it will be tough to lose that customer. Even if something goes wrong and you lose consumer, you learn from it, do not stress as I did.
• To take things one step further from that point, I would like to bring you attention to sales. Knowing how sales work and how to sell is probably the most important skill you may learn as an entrepreneur. At the end of the day, if you do not have sales you do not have business. Learn about sales and marketing both, offline and online and do it yourself instead of having someone do it for you. Read good sources on things such as network effect, consumer psychology, sales funnels, marketing strategies and so on. Do not only read on these, but try the things you have learned in real life and see what works and what does not work. For our case online marketing was too expensive for the budget we had, so we were focused on offline sales channels. To be very honest I hate cold calling and reaching out to clients without a pre-established context, but knowing that strategy worked more or less, compared to others I had to it. However, that does not mean that you should stick with one and only channel type. As the time passes try different strategies for new target markets or new products. Even if you do not acquire new clients, it will give you new data-points to add to and strengthen your existing strategy.

Let’s say you found a market trend, have some early customers. What is next? Probably the financing of the business. Are you going to raise funds or focus on the revenue? In the first half of 2017 we entered a competition, where the competition organisers were offering 36K GBP investment deal as the award. (Quick note: I heard about this competition through an investor I met at a birthday party of out guide. Remember the relations I mentioned?) We entered, went all the way to the final and became second. Luckily for us the company that won, decided not to take the deal and we ultimately had a chance to have out first investment. We were not profitable or decent revenue generating, so investment would be a life saver. Besides the standard reasons for the funding need, I needed that funding to support my Visa application to stay in the UK. What if I did not have that pressure, which route I would choose? Let’s analyse two scenarios:

• For us, a small start-up who has no cash, to become revenue generating, we would have to focus on one market only, which would probably be Edinburgh. Then we would be seen as just a tour company and the market differentiation would be lost for future investors, or so we thought.
• If we wanted investment, we would focus on several cities. That would mean that we would have a higher chance for investment, but earning revenue would be very hard or almost impossible.

So, unless you are a complex biotech, AI, robotics or health-tech type of a business that requires years of development, trials and legalisation I would say focus on the revenue. If you do not grow further too much or can not get large investment as a follow up, at least you will have a good small business to build on top. Moreover, if you can not even sell in your home market where you have connections and some power, it shall tell more about your idea and give a real warning. Overall, try not to act based on the investor wishes and demands. Many investors know many things, but none has your vision for the company as you do. Again, focus on earning hard cash first, before raising, where you also will have a good hand. Good read on this topic is a book called: Customer funded businesses.

If you have decided to go with the investment route, there are lots of good advice available online. To summarise: Research your investors, talk to their portfolio companies to understand their attitudes and expectations, grab a coffee or two with them to chat and find the fit, make goals clear from the start, be open and honest, read everything you sign and do not rush.

Now you have your target, you know where your home market will be and you have the product. If your product is the marketplace product, then you have another dilemma to deal with — do you focus on suppliers or customers first? This chicken and egg problem is extremely famous in the startup world. Getting suppliers is, or to be more accurate was, easier and therefore founders will start with that side. You simply promise people to bring them more customers. The reason I say was because, the suppliers receive so many similar offers from your competitors, that they need to see substantial proof of you promise. My advice would be to start with the customer. Try to get customer first, find the trends, understand their common needs, keep them engaged and part of the launch process and then attract fitting suppliers. This way you have a good match from both sides and will have revenue from the day one.

Finally, ask for help and advice. You may not realise this, but people are very open for help. My mentor and one of the best friends, Karim has been mentoring and helping us for years just because I asked. One of the largest travel CEOs and investors gave me 10K GBP grant and a free ad space on their multimillion user website, again because I wrote him on LinkedIn asking for 15-minute chat time. Use resources around you to reach the people you need.

Overall, I tried to recall that year and it was not easy to remember a lot and put that into text, considering how fast the things were. Take notes for future for yourself or do a podcast like this one. If you enjoyed it or needed more information, please let me know and check out Medium page under same name for the transcript with some images. For now have a great day and stay well!

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