Triplancer: reflections on building a tourism startup in Egypt
Explore the story behind Triplancer, a startup that aimed to revolutionize the tourism industry in Egypt. Learn about the challenges faced, lessons learned, and the impact of this journey on the author's professional growth and future ventures.
The inspiration
My journey with Triplancer began when I met my partner, who was already working in the tourism industry. I had just come back from an internship at Amazon, and from a previous attempt at a tourism startup. I was ready for another go, this time with someone who knew the field and could run sales and marketing.
Our shared vision was to simplify complex processes for travel agencies, and through them improve the experience of their customers. We wanted to help tourists enjoy their trips more by providing value to the agencies organizing them.
Building the team and the MVP
I worked on the project alone for six months, during which I developed a minimum viable product. After securing our first sales and generating some revenue, I brought in friends, part-time and full-time, to join the team. We also provided internships, giving people real experience in a 0-to-1 startup environment.
The challenges
We encountered several. One of the major obstacles was our target users' unfamiliarity with technology - many were still using pen and paper. Some locations lacked internet access. There was resistance from employees who feared the system would expose corruption. And we faced competitive pressure, with some companies attempting to replicate our service for their own exclusive use.
Understanding the users
To overcome the product challenges, I spent time shadowing employees, interviewing managers, and observing company owners. That hands-on time gave me a much deeper understanding of their processes, and let us design a system that was easy to use and required minimal onboarding.
Growth
Our primary strategy for acquiring customers was word of mouth, relying on the expertise of our sales partner.
The downfall
Triplancer was unable to withstand the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry, combined with the economic situation in Egypt - inflation and currency devaluation. Our target users' resistance to adopting technology made widespread implementation difficult on top of that.
What I took from it
The challenges faced, the skills acquired, and the relationships built have shaped everything I've done since, and left me with a drive to keep building and learning.