Always hunting for the most interesting stories of startup founders we just met Duncan Ridgley, who is the founder of "Working Traveller". The startup's matchmaking philosophy is similar to Tinder, but with a very different focus: Their innovative website matches travellers who want to finance their travels by working with employement offers of hosts around the world. In this way, they help people in the destination country to find workers with special skills they cannot find locally. The travellers equally find a great work-and-travel solution which fits their skills - from helping out on a farm in Australia over designing a new website for a start-up company in Tansania to assisting in a monastery in Greece.
ZeyOS: I think it would be helpful for our readers to learn about your background and current business. Can you tell us a little bit about past experiences and what brought you where you are today.
Duncan: Having worked in London for 25 years in internet advertising, in 2004 I decided to leave the UK with my family to become a hippy. We ended up living in a remote village of an African tribe. After having waited for three full weeks for the plumber to get there, he arrives without any tools and asks "Which way does the toilet go?". Just in that moment I realized that I'd pay good money for a skillful, English-speaking plumber. And I thought that there are probably millions of people like me around the world that need reliable skills here and now. This is were my idea for "Working Traveller" hit me for the first time.
ZeyOS: How did you validate your business idea, as the need for the product is not always as big as it may seem at first glance?
Duncan: Every time I'd meet a traveller I would ask "So you are a carpenter. Would you like to get a job while travelling?". And their answers confirmed that there is a huge need of the Working Traveller service. Imagine if you could get an Italian pizza-maker for your restaurant to show everyone how to make the best pizza? Or if you require a consultant for one week, and instead of buying ticktes and book hotels for them, you just look for a traveller who has the relevant skills and good references and wants a to earn money on his trip.
ZeyOS: What were the main challenges you faced at the early stages of your business?
Duncan: I had no money, limited time to work on my business idea and I needed to do the job of 10 people. Now I need to delegate some work but it turns out to be quite challenging to find people with the right mindset.
ZeyOS: Where did your organization’s funding/capital come from and how did you go about obtaining it?
Duncan:Currently it is a fully self-funded project. But I am getting ready for the seed round in the UK in order to acquire additional capital to develop and scale up the business. Anyone who is looking for venture capital needs to make a big push by himself, to show that the business is working and generates profit. It is not enough to have a wonderful idea.
ZeyOS: What do you think, are your main competitive advantages?
Duncan:There are thousands of work and travel websites that work as a recruiting agents and charge money for their service but don't really care for the end result. I found this gap and decided to build the system that works in other way. WT is free to use until a traveler wants their references to appear on their profile. It gives you the same peace of mind that eBay and Trip Advisor gives you. Don't try to be another Couchsurfing. The venture capitalists will say "Oh, 'they've already done it". Think about something else.
ZeyOS: Being a startup, is it really possible to defeat "big players" on the market?
Duncan: There are few big players that are in fact small. I am not worried about them currently. I will start to worry when I start making a 100 million a year and they will start thinking how to take me out.
ZeyOS: How do you leverage business technology to organize your everyday activities and to be productive? What functionality do you value the most as a starting company?
Duncan: As I am still working on website development and improvements I use a project management software. Of course as a starting company I am happy to use free tools which in addition have a web-based access, providing a great flexibility at work.
ZeyOS: What advice would you give young entrepreneurs on how to move from just thinking to actually doing?
Duncan: You have to ask yourself "Are you really good enough? Do you have what it takes?". If you don't, you are just wasting your time. If you do, it is still not enough. You have to be ready to work 18 hours a day. You have an idea? So what, everyone does.
ZeyOS: Are there any books that you use as your guidelines in business?
Duncan: I have read Bill Gate's book in 1995 and it changed my life. I also follow Mark Zuckerberg, he is amazing, he is shaping the world! People say "Oh it wasn't his idea", so what? "Oh, he is a geek", so what? He is one of the most successful people of mankind. I also find the book "Lean startup" by Eric Ries pretty useful. But, you have to be aware that there is no such book as "How to become Madonna". You've got to do it your way!
If you want to get in touch with Duncan, check out his website www.workingtraveller.com!