THE JOURNEY OF BUILDING THE EVENTURE STARTUP-WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED IN THE PROCESS
In the previus medium post, we presented our startup and our final product.
To summ up, EVENTURE is a digital booking agency which connects bands with potential costumers.
In this article we will describe the journey of building our startup and what we have learned in the process.
Starting the route to make the startup, we initially had to use different tools to investigate our market.
1.MAKE DEEP RESEARCH- GET TO KNOW YOUR MARKET
So, as a first step, we investigated the structure of the music industry and the trends. At the same time, we needed to do a survey of the ecosystem that surrounds the startups so that we can build a viable business that is based on realistic data. One of the researches that we examined was Startup Genome 2019. You can see a previus article in which we have describe the highlights of the research. https://medium.com/@Maritinafiliou/startup-genome-2019-key-findings-and-insights-f702815eb157
After our research, we had to dig a bit deeper to find the gaps. So, we discovered that there is a significant gap, at least in the Greek market, in the booking area. We have confirmed that in general, booking agencies in all industries are a big trend in the last era.
2.IDENTIFY COSTUMERS’ NEEDS AND UNDERSTAND THEIR PAINS
In order to understand how we can make up this trend with booking, we needed to do a qualitative research and get in touch with people in the music industry to understand their needs and pains. We talked with 25 musicians in total, 95% of whom were in a band, and they explained to us that due to the fact that they were unknown artists hey were like unknown artists, it was difficult for them to get in touch with customers in order find a job and play live music at events. So, as a first idea, we wanted to connect bands with customers. Customers would consist of shops, independent singers looking for bands and individuals customers
3.REMEMBER TO BE FLEXIBLE AND MAKE CHANGES WHEN NECESSARY
But with the guidance of our mentor, we realized that this was not possible because it was difficult to connect bands with so many types of customers. So, we decided to minimize our product and connect the bands only to individual customers as we figured out there was a big gap in that. Once there are similar businesses which connects bands to shops or to other categories of customers. One of the key attributes of successful entrepreneurs is the ability to be flexible and make changes when necessary.
4.TEAM WORK IS A KEY ATTRIBUTE OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
There are many great ideas. In order to make the difference, you should have the right team lined up. Otherwise, your startup would not work, regardless of how great your idea may sound. So, you have to spend several hours with your team each day and try to develop and review your project.
5.HAVE A STRICT SCEDULE AND ORGANIZE AN AGENDA
You have to be organized and be commited to your project, in order to develop and run a sustainable startup, that makes the difference. Ensure, that you use your time properly and plan an agenda, that every part of the team should follow.
6.ALWAYS ΤEST YOUR IDEAS USING BUSINESS FORMATS AND TOOLS- DO NOT STUCK ONLY TO THE IDEA.
We queried the original idea using the business canvas. Through this process, we learned that it takes a lot of effort and trying with the team to translate an idea into a model. Theory and practice are a whole different thing. We also learned that we should not stick to the initiate idea but keep an open mind and change the strategy and our direction in order to make it work. Then we had to organize ourselves to build a prototype, a platform with which our business would come to life. We learned how to use technological tools to create it, as we also learned to use technological methodologies, like UX experience, to build the prototype.
7.TEST YOUR PROTOTYPE AGAIN AND AGAIN
Then, when we finished the prototype, we had to test it and see if our customers could use it. We needed to make some changes to make it easier for the customer.
We greatly thank our mentors Betty Tsakarestou and Domnika Skreta who advised us and guided us throughout this journey.
Suspicious mind team: Raphaela Panayiotou Alkistis Joan Vlasia Manteska ANNA LAMPROU
