StartUs Presents: Tourgent

Describe Tourgent in 50 words or less.

Tourgent is a cloud business management service for bus charter companies. We help companies organize their business, save time, analyze and improve profitability.

Why did you decide to pursue your own dreams rather than someone else’s?

Because we never wanted to be like everyone else. When you look at how people spend their lives you can see that most of them take the safe path. The safe path is often a smart choice but rarely a fulfilling one. We believe that doing what you truly desire and what makes you happy often requires taking a less safe and more risky path. In the process, we are willing to sacrifice things like safety and comfort.

We only have one chance to live, so why not at least try to make the most of it.

7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

Instead of changing the world, let’s talk about changing this industry forever and for the better while building a large, profitable and respected business in the process. The bus charter industry is on a crossroad of two extremely large industries: transportation and tourism. This definitely presents us with numerous opportunities and possible strategies which will result in something truly great – maybe not world-changing, but still great.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

We simply focus on growth and everything else is a sub-goal. This seems like a good strategy, as the only thing that really matters is how big you get. When you have to achieve a certain amount of growth per week, every other goal or task is tailored in such a way that it contributes to the main goal – growth. This way it gets easier to decide what to focus on in terms of development, marketing or sales.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

Until recently, we’ve been working remotely since each one of us is from a different part of Croatia. Our working days looked differently due to not being at the same place. Now we have an office but it is still very dynamic and every day looks different.

Some days we work from our apartment since we moved in together, other days we work from a co-working office. Work hours are not strictly defined and we usually work “all day.” For example, yesterday we worked until 5 am with only a few breaks for food. Today – nobody knows what it will look like.

Already pivoted? Did customers use the tour management service like you imagined it in the beginning?

As you could expect there were some minimal changes since it’s impossible to predict how users will use the product before they actually do. We had to put more focus on some features or speed up some things which we planned to do anyway, such as developing mobile apps. Luckily, there were no significant shifts in strategy, vision or purpose of Tourgent.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

Bootstrapped. Everything invested in Tourgent so far was from our own resources and from awards. We have not yet received any rounds of funding from investors but we are in serious talks with a few interested parties. Our goal is not to get as much investor money as possible but to get to the same results with minimal outside funds.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

Competition within our industry is not particularly strong so there are no worries from that point of view. If we are talking about competing with other startups from other industries for capital or funding, that should also not be a problem, especially not in these times when capital is relatively easy to access. Every startup that is working on something useful and sustainable and being run smartly shouldn’t have much trouble raising money as long as they are able to clearly communicate their mission, goals and results.

What do you look for in team members?

It is important to us that our team members are enjoying the startup culture and strongly believe in our mission. Of course. In addition to that we are also looking for other important traits such as creativity, analytical thinking and a desire to solve problems. Needless to say good teamwork habits are crucial for our current and potential team members.

Why would a talent join your team?

To be at the frontier of transforming one significant industry and taking it to the digital age. In addition, to work in a dynamic and challenging but at the same time friendly and relaxed environment which will help them grow as professionals and individuals. Of course all of this is accompanied by an excellent financial compensation.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

This would definitely be winning the Shift Challenge. Usually when we go to startup competitions we expect to win, at Shift we were hoping but the competition was so amazing that expectations were not as high as usual.

Another very memorable moment was when we processed our first payment from a client. By paying for our product, this client confirmed to us that we are creating something of value to people and it gave us additional motivation to continue working on Tourgent.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

We prefer to ask for advice, especially from more experienced founders. However, if we have to point something out it would be that startup founders should work on something that they understand and are truly passionate about. While working on a startup there will be numerous problems and only truly passionate founders can overcome them without losing the enthusiasm or quitting entirely. Another important thing would be to get into this only with people you know you can trust and work with without tensions.

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