The lights of entrepreneurship — My story
Happy new year! Let 2017 be awesome! We can f*cking do it.
(If you haven’t read yet the second part “Things break up”; Click here)
Yesss, let’s go onto a new successful year! This was my deep feeling after a good 3 weeks of holidays and hard work in France. There, I was surrounded by my family and my close friends which gave me the best support ever. Honestly, 2016 seemed like a giant failure to me and the platform-popnrest.com- was still not taking off. Initially, It was hard to drive users to the web app and the user flow was not done properly. If you are a digital/tech entrepreneur, you probably know what’s the meaning of product/market fit. If not, let me put it this way: it’s simply when a product or service doesn’t match with the actual demand. Or the other way around, it means that your offer doesn’t find a matching demand. Something was clearly wrong with the first version of Pop & Rest. How come our market research is showing us good trends and a fairly strong demand but we are not getting enough traction? Is it due to our low-cost marketing? Wrong target user? Does the demand for our service even exist? Basically we were asking ourselves a lot of questions. The good thing is that our beta stage allowed us to accumulate a lot of experience on acquiring users (even if it was on a small scale) and managing a startup. We’ve also conducted important market research that assures us that a niche market is out there, waiting for us!
In March of this year, Mauricio and I were rethinking Pop & Rest. I was still living in the hostel in Kings Cross and I had severe pain in my lower back due to stress — during three days in April I was not able to stand up and walk! I had painful back spasms which stopped me working for two weeks!
Until June it was hard to recover financially even though I had two freelance jobs along with a commitment to Pop & Rest. I didn’t want to give up. Why? The answer is to find in determination and perseverance. It’s true that I was mentally and physically exhausted but I could never think of failure. Actually, I am OK with failure but it wasn’t my time to fail, and still isn’t. I would rather try to be more patient and stay positive even in the worst situations like the moments that I didn’t have enough money to pay for my food or when I had to change hostel to save money. My friend Allan and I went to live in the cheapest and most dirty hostel you can imagine. Anyway… I was just going through a really tough period. Nonetheless, I have met a lot of very interesting people with whom I have shared many good conversations over a drink or a meal in hostels especially at Clink (there is a bar inside!). Clink is also a great place to work along with other nomad freelancers and entrepreneurs.
Finally things get better. We have new plans for Pop & Rest and… I am not broke anymore.
Recently, I have found the perfect freelance job and got a new place to live with my friend and first supporter, Allan, in Finsbury Park. I am recovering financially but more importantly, we are back in business! This is now Pop & Rest’s time to thrive! For the last couple of months, we have been working on the first space to nap, shower and relax that will be launched in London. We have taken a new business approach that is working better. Mauricio and I strongly believe that we are embracing a good momentum and we expect to raise pre-seed and seed investment very soon. We have a solid plan for the remaining months of this year and for next year. We have also gathered a team of excellent persons alongside us; two designers (one web and one interior designer) and motivated interns (one in development and one in business development).
On a more personal note, I feel way better these past weeks. My mind stays focused and positive. My confidence is back. I am going to the gym 3 times per week and I am having good night’s sleep. You know it’s very important to maintain a good work/life balance. It’s also a key part of our mission at Pop & Rest. We want to help tired workers and travellers feel more relaxed by offering them a private and peaceful space to rest, refresh and relax. We are still at the beginning but I am sure we will grow fast and make thousands of users happy very soon!
THE END.**
**Not exactly. It’s the end of these 3 parts’ story yes but the show goes on.
Besides, if you want to know more about the launch of our brand new service and/or if you may have some cash to invest then CONTACT US ASAP.
IF you want to get your first booking for FREE; sign up on space.popnrest.com.
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