Satisfaction in Working on a Startup for a Cause… Unpaid
This is article #9 of “180 Days to Startup” series documenting my entrepreneur journey. In case you want to start from the beginning, please click HERE to the first article. You can also check out what Nodis.io is looking to accomplish HERE.
Growing up in a church, I have seen many people volunteer to do something they believe in. Whether it be elders, deacons, worship band members, small group leaders, or building maintenance. They would spend hours a week trying to prepare something for the Sunday Service and some time even days if there is a big event. So why would people spend their precious time to do that? As a Christian, my answer would be for the love of God through Jesus Christ.
However, taking that scenario into a non-faith and non-religious setting, we still have many volunteers in schools, community services, political campaigns, or other social events. What’s pushing them to do so without getting much in return?
It wasn’t because of a detailed cost-benefit analysis. They are all simply working for something they believed in and they gathered together for a common goal.
That is no different than a startup. In my previous article about my family’s experience, I talked about the difficulty that small business owners have in trying to stay afloat. Canada has the astounding statistics of 30% death rate for small businesses within 5 years of inception and 7000 small enterprises go bankrupt every year. Top reasons for their closures include financial reasons (not enough sales/margin to cover overhead) or market fit issues (lack of knowledge or unable to connect with their customers).
Nodis.io is made for those drowning businesses that are in need for more exposure and prospects. This is a cause that our team believes in. We want to help the Davids of the retail world to stand a chance against the Goliaths. We want to help small fashion stores, local gift shops, independent cafes/restaurants, and etc. The mega corporations like Wal-Mart or Amazon have way more ammunition to utilize the power of internet to gain and acquire more customers. They know that over 53% of people would search online to see people’s reviews and popular items before making a purchase in-store.
I had a kitchen drain clogging problem a few months ago. I searched online for the best plunger to buy. The top 10 searches on Google have all pointed to this specific black plunger. The #1 place that Google recommended me to buy the item is a Home Depot 20 minutes away from my house. I went ahead and bought it only to realize it wasn’t good enough for the condition of my drain.
Not one moment during this experience did I thought of finding a local hardware store. In fact there is one that’s just 5 minutes away from me. Unlike big box stores with just 1 staff managing a whole department, local stores have more intimate services with experienced staff ready to help. I might have received a better recommendation with a more suitable product. I ended up spending $150 to hire a plumber to resolve the issue that took him 5 minutes to do. That money probably could have been saved if I had talked to the right person at the hardware store.
A lack of online exposure for businesses in the current era means they are losing out on potential customers. It is also a loss for consumers as we may miss out on valuable shopping experience in proximity stores that we didn’t know exist. Like what I’ve always said when working on Nodis.io…
“Shoppers will shop but mostly at where they know to shop”
As a team, we are passionate at helping small businesses to gain that exposure online. Our method of using Challenge and rewards can help businesses to engage with local communities in a social media setting. The reward tokens that Challengers receive can be exchanged for vouchers, which are redeemable at the stores. This cycle can be repeated monthly to help small businesses building relationships with their local customers.
Our product is nowhere near perfect yet. There is still a lot of work to be done. We are taking in all the good and constructive feedback and trying to be as agile as possible. We are hoping to complete our MVP/token sale page soon.
All of the team members are working full time in 9-to-5 jobs. As for myself, I am doing that along with 2 really young kids (ages 1 and 3). All of us have sacrificed a lot to get to where we are now. Not just so that we can be entrepreneurs, but also to help the small businesses that are struggling.
These clear goals are the fuel for our motivation. This is how we are able to keep on going for nearly 1 full year without compensation.
My next article is about creating a structure and incentive to continue that passion. If you find what I wrote even just a tiny bit interesting, please follow me on Medium and give me some claps. You can also follow us on Telegram and Instagram to get the latest content and project updates. Thanks for reading!
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