TLabs Showcase focus on startups featuring UK-based Getaway Earth.
Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)?
We are Getaway Earth, a vacation rental website, run by two guys with an accounting background and absolutely ZERO knowledge of how to set up, run and deliver a web based business. Ouch!
So how on earth do we think we can succeed and why should someone pay for our product?
Very simple: we have been renters of holiday homes for over ten years and know what a renter needs in a listing site. We have a strong sense of customer service. We have a strong vision about what we’re trying to achieve.
We have a proven track record of delivering in our regular day jobs. And, above all, we have a serious ambition to build something with integrity that lasts for years. No quick bucks and no delusions of this being easy.
What financial support did you have to launch the business?
We had zero financial support to launch Getaway Earth other than some small savings. We have relied totally on a very good developer friend who has charged us a fraction of what a web development agency would charge.
And we’ve been trying to market ourselves by using all forms of social media (Twitter, Facebook, blogging, forums and word-of-mouth).
What problem are you trying to solve?
A lack of emotional connection and personality in existing vacation rental sites (eg HomeAway, etc). Is that a problem? Not really if you’re a renter that likes to book the accommodation and then visit other sites to plan your holiday.
But we believe there’s an opportunity for owners to use their listing to showcase what’s great to see and do in the area. To personalise them. And, in doing so, they become a host or local guide for the renter. For a renter that personal and local knowledge is a great tool to plan upfront and can help build trust in the owner.
Describe the business, core products and services?
Getaway Earth provides a vacation rental listing platform for owners to advertise their vacation rental for rent by holiday makers. The search combines traditional drop down menus with a Google Earth mashup. That’s the core product. Then, alongside that, we offer the following add on services:
Owners can create a portfolio of 'points of interest' - making their listings a personal travel guide. Owners know their area better than most so why not let renters know?
Owners can integrate their own social plugins and videos to help provide coherent web exposure for their listings and make them more personal for renters.
We are in the planning stages of offering a video shooting service which allows owners to showcase their place in a personal way and make that all important connection with renters.
Who are your key customers and users at launch?
We launched at the end of 2009 and have used the first 6-9 months to build a beta website. The key customers and users have been those first 600 owners who have helped us shape the way the site is today by providing strong, direct feedback and support. We have offered in return a free lifetime listing which will be extended to the first 1,000 listings.
Did you have customers validate your idea before investors?
We certainly have had customers to validate and test the idea. 90% of the feedback we have received has been hugely encouraging and our customers are saying Getaway Earth is a good product.
Those that have found problems with the product have helped us to refine what we’re offering. We have no investors at this stage and are trying to push this site as far as possible without investment. We’ll be stronger and more proven when investment (hopefully) comes.
What is the business AND revenue model, strategy for profitability?
The model is simple: A subscription service charged to owners who want to list their property with us. At present we are not generating any revenue since the first 1,000 listings are free for life.
We aim to hit that level by the end of the year, after which we will be charging an annual subscription and investing pre defined percentages into marketing and further site development. It’s an important part of our business to continue innovating in a way that clearly differentiates our site from the crowd.
SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
Strengths:
- We are a tiny but highly motivated team and, as such, our biggest strength is being able to try new things quickly without fear. That’s how we’ve developed the site this far. We also have the user in mind in everything we do, collaborating with our users in building new site functions. And, finally, we have a strong financial background so understand profit and cash flow.
Weaknesses:
- The tiny team is also our weakness as we have no expertise in marketing, nor any experience in running a travel related business. On top of this we have no investment behind us so cannot bring in people with those skills. So we’re often making marketing mistakes.
Opportunities:
- The opportunities in this market are many, especially with the growth of social networking in recent years. Aside from providing the owner a platform to make their listings more interactive and personal (as previously described) we believe there are two very big opportunities: on-line video ( it is a great opportunity for owners to connect with renters) and mobile (imagine the renter able to make use of owner recommendations in real time).
Threats:
- This is a very crowded, and therefore competitive, industry. The main player (Homeaway) is investing in projects we simply can’t match (eg Super Bowl TV adverts). And everything we have done can be copied and replicated. But this is precisely why we want to continue innovating and precisely why we believe we’re more likely to succeed – because we understand the threats and have proved we can innovate successfully and differentiate ourselves. And all the time listening to what our users are telling us.
Who advised you your idea isn't going to be successful and why didn't you listen to them?Many people told us we were aiming for too much, being inexperienced. And they told us that our ideas were too grand for a company that had no investment. Coupled with those that told us that the market was saturated (again many), we could have been forgiven for binning the idea! But this was our clear dream and we knew, as renters of 10 years, that the industry was crowded with forgettable sites that did the same thing. This is the travel industry - people want to be inspired, and owners want to inspire them. This personal and emotional connection is totally missing in every other rental site and we saw this gap. We saw the saturation as an opportunity.
What is your success metric 12 months from now?
Twelve months from now we are successful if we are generating enough marketing dollars to be able to rise up the search rankings above the fringe players in this market. Not the Homeaway’s, but to be beating the fringe players. Whatever innovations we have, success in this market is being able to generate enquiries and bookings for owners, and that means we need to be visible in search results.
TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.