Tom Charman wanted to change the way we travel. This desire led him to co-create KOMPAS, an app designed to enhance the travel experience by recommending food and activities based on individual personality and interests, rather than price, location or reviews from strangers, as do most of today's travel apps.
He has taken his innovation to the world by representing the UK at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, organized by the Entrepreneurs Organization , in Bangkok in May 2016. What began as a KOMPAS awareness journey led to a networking opportunity with seasoned entrepreneurs who later become valuable mentors for Charman as KOMPAS grows.
Related: 10 Ways to Find Your Perfect Mentor
“As an entrepreneur, it's too easy to bury our worries and let our ego keep us from asking for help. Asking for advice does not weaken you. It shows that you are ready to solicit experienced opinions when the time comes. ”
He expands on the importance of mentorship in this Q&A below.
Q. Tell me about your business and how it started.
A. KOMPAS was conceived in Munich in 2014. My co-founder and I faced a problem all too common for people living in a big city:Where should I go? and more importantly, Will I like it? Since we had just moved to town, these problems were magnified. After asking how many people struggle with this problem, we found that we weren't the only ones suffering from information overload. We've found that people between the ages of 22 and 30 understand the value of exploration, demanding a level of personalization and personalization as they do. The average person spends £200 [approximately $245 U.S.] a week on leisure activities, such as dining out, events and vacations. We wanted to allow these people to explore and find unique and independent places. My own background from startups and innovation, combined with my passion for exploration, would later help create KOMPAS, a mobile app that uses our proprietary artificial intelligence engine, to help people find places they wish to visit, based on their own. , unique interests.
Q. What challenges did you face when first growing your business?
A. One of the big issues when KOMPAS first grew was finding ways to connect with local businesses. As a small startup, attracting the attention of established companies in a crowded market was certainly difficult. That said, we have managed to overcome this obstacle through the use of social media. We built an online presence, discussing what we do and why we do it, before leveraging our social following to connect with businesses and build partnerships. Today, that readership has grown to over 26,000.
We also had to think carefully about how we scale our own user base. Any entrepreneur in the mobile app industry will tell you that getting the first few hundred people to download your app is the hardest part, but we also wanted to make sure those who download it would benefit from what we offer. Naturally, our social media presence certainly helped us grow quickly, but it focused on particular areas that really helped us grow the user base efficiently and quickly, but in a way that would allow people to come back and see new things happening around them.
Q. What personal challenges have you encountered during your entrepreneurial journey?
A. Unsurprisingly, I encountered several challenges during previous ventures that impacted my personal life. Perhaps the one that was particularly important was being able to build a strong team. This is a challenge that has created problems in previous companies due to misalignment of the future vision of the company within the team. However, I have learned a lot throughout my entrepreneurial journey, and today, building a strong team is something I take great care in doing.
Related: 5 Lessons I've Learned From Over 200 Successful Entrepreneurs
I've also struggled to balance my time in the past. With so much going on, it's easy to forget about socializing, as well as your friends and supporters. I found myself stuck working long hours, so it's no surprise that many of my close friends consider me a bit of a workaholic. It's essential that you have some downtime, to relax, get away from the business and have a chance to think creatively. Find time to think about other things, as mindfulness is especially important for entrepreneurs and founders.
Q. What sets your brand apart?
A. There are three elements that distinguish us from others today. Perhaps most important is the hyper-personalization we can achieve using our technology. We strive to understand each user's unique personality traits before associating them with close places people can relate to. Therefore, we show our users the places they are more likely to enjoy, improving their overall journey when using KOMPAS.
We also generate our own distinctive and honest content for each city in which we we throw. The places you find on KOMPAS are unique, independent, and local access points, and the reviews you read about these places come from people similar to you. We are the antidote to fake reviews and business directories. The reviews you read are honest and tailored to your personality.
The third and final element that sets us apart is our lively itinerary. Those who use KOMPAS can plan an entire day, taking into account the time you have available, your interests, live city information and directions to generate a unique and personalized life itinerary that adapts to you for free. KOMPAS redefines city exploration and helps you find places you never knew existed, right in your own backyard.
Q. How did you first hear about the Entrepreneurs Organization?
A. I first heard of EO while working on a previous company. It was something I could relate to immediately because I could see the benefits you could get from sharing experiences and issues with people similar to you. I've always been passionate about helping people achieve their goals, which is why I set aside time each week to mentor and meet new people. EO seemed like the kind of place you could do that. After traveling to Bangkok in 2016 and meeting people from all over the world with different views on startups and entrepreneurship, I realized that EO was something that matched my personal motivations.
Q. Why do you think mentors are so critical to success?
A. In my opinion, mentors are critical to success for three main reasons. When it comes to business, they are experienced people who are able to form an unbiased opinion of what you do on a daily basis. They are able to help you identify issues that might not be obvious to those working closely within the company.
Second, they can serve as very good sounding boards when you encounter problems at the within your business. The myth that startups are constantly fun, exciting, and invigorating is exactly that, a myth. In fact, depression is a problem that exists in the world of entrepreneurship. Having someone you can turn to for advice when the going gets tough can keep entrepreneurs from feeling alone, lost, or deflated.
Related: 8 Ways to Build a Killer Relationship with Your Mentors
Third, and finally, having a mentor can help your level of personal development. Their experience and understanding can help shape you as an individual and realize what drives you to move forward with what you build. That and they can prevent you from making the same mistakes they faced with similar issues.
Q. How has this experience shaped you as a current mentor?
A. Having mentors who have taken an unbiased view of what I do has helped me to see with a broader eye, not just in the business world, but to approach issues more broadly. This is something that I have applied by working with my mentees. It can help stimulate creative approaches and new responses. Likewise, acting as a sounding board for other businesses forces me to do the same for my own business, which has helped me see issues in a whole new way.
As mentor today, I take the time to make sure the team I work with is in sync, so they can work together to create, build, and get their minimum viable product to market as quickly as possible. As I also specialize in innovation and strategy, I enjoy making sure the teams I work with are on the right track, developing strategic plans and go-to-market strategies. As a result, they are able to achieve their goals quickly and effectively, whether that be driving an investment cycle, creating new partnerships, or expanding their customer base.
Q. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking for a mentor?
Asking for advice does not weaken you, it shows that you are ready to ask for an experienced opinion when the time comes.
A. First, and most importantly, don't be afraid to ask for help! As an entrepreneur, it's too easy to bury our worries and let our ego keep us from asking for help. Asking for advice does not weaken you, it shows that you are ready to ask for an experienced opinion when the time comes. That said, when asking for help, it's important that the person you're asking has experience in the area you're asking for advice. It's perhaps equally important to make sure you're not asking just one person. Ask lots of experienced people, as it will help you get a broader opinion, but also build a network of industry experts around you.
When it comes to finding these mentors, take advantage of networking, events and mutual relationships to pitch for you. Generally speaking, people will always take a while to help you, as long as you are polite about it. When you've built that perfect network of mentors, return the favor by passing on your knowledge and experience to new people. Start helping people who are in the same position you were in before and add value to your knowledge. By doing this, you get a better perspective on how your own mentors see you, which will help you grow as both a mentor and a founder.
Q. What's on the horizon for KOMPAS?
A. Well, I'm not surprised that growing our user base is top of our agenda as we move to new places and grow our product. That said, we are also focused on creating a fantastic product for our users, which is why improving our algorithms and the app itself is also at the heart of everything we do. Over the next 12 months, we will expand into new cities, grow our team, and grow our product. We aim to be the market leaders in city exploration over the next three years, and it's our understanding of data science and our market that will set us on that path.
Related: 9 entrepreneurial lessons you never learned in school
This article originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
