Insights From the Founder of Ecommerce Startup Flashpacker Co
Last Updated: By TRUiC Team
Any entrepreneur can tell you, launching a startup is a learning process. Therefore, one of the best things you can do prior to launching a startup of your own is to learn from those who have blazed the trail. We were fortunate enough to hear some valuable insights during our interview with Jason Kraemer of Flashpacker that will inspire, motivate, and teach aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Know that starting your own business is a long and difficult process that will have many ups and downs. Set your expectations going in. This is going to take time, effort, and heartbreak. Be armed with a strong reason for wanting to start your business that you can fall back on when things are really tough. And warn your support system that you may need to rely on their support more than normal as you work through getting your business off the ground. If you go into it with the right attitude and expectations, managing the ups and downs will be much more bearable.
What is your advice for entrepreneurs in your industry specifically?
“Find a niche that tailors to your skill set. There is a lot of competition in the travel industry right now, and demand is severely suppressed. But there is still an audience out there for all kinds of products and services. Just don’t be too broad and end up competing with the big established companies right off the bat.”
What is your advice for coming up with a unique startup idea?
“Carry a critical mindset into your everyday life. View every inconvenience in your daily life as a potential business idea for a few months. Write them all down. After a few months, come back to your written list and start to evaluate them. What is the competitive landscape for this idea? What are the barriers to entry? What is the startup cost? How long would it take to make this self-sustaining? If you haven’t found an idea that checks all the boxes that are important to you, cross out all of the obvious busts, and start a new list carrying over the potentials but looking for more ideas to evaluate. Both of our founders followed this philosophy for years before starting Flashpacker Co.”
What is your advice for overcoming challenges and failure?
“Always have another reason for starting a business. Yes, earning money, being financially independent, and working for yourself are all valid reasons for starting a business, but it's worth having a secondary motivation as well. It could be to learn a new skill, make new connections, or break into a new industry. That way, it's impossible to truly fail at what you’re doing. Even if the business doesn't pan out, you’ll still accomplish one of these secondary goals.”
What is the biggest lesson you learned and what can aspiring entrepreneurs take from it?
“Nothing worth having comes easily. Entrepreneurship has really been romanticized in the last decade or so. Books, YouTube, and Facebook are full of gurus telling you how easy it is to start your own successful business. But the truth is, it’s hard. Not insurmountable. Not life ending. But hard. And that makes it all the more fulfilling when your business is up and running on its own.”
Next Steps:
- Check out Flashpacker Co's company profile and ways to support them!
- Keep up with more startup companies by following Startup Savant on Google News!
- Start your own startup by reading our How to Start a Startup guide.
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