The third instalment of my interview with Owen Rees-Hayward of thingloop focuses on competition, money and the recession. But don’t worry – it’s all positive!
thingloop makes it easy to lend and borrow physical objects (tools, books, DVDs and so on) with people in your social network. Save money. Save the planet. Borrow stuff.
Are there any competitors in your market?
“There wasn’t any competition when I started seriously looking into the idea. In the last 18 months, the market has changed entirely. The collaborative consumption market has exploded, and while there are no direct competitors, there are a number of start-ups in the space.
“Even if you’re not competing directly for users, you may end up competing for media/press coverage.
“That’s one thing you have to bear in mind with web start-ups: there’s little in the way of barriers to entry. Even if you don’t start out with competitors, if your idea has any legs, it won’t be long before someone spots the potential and launches a competing service.”
Did the fact that we are in recession affect your plans?
“No, certainly not negatively. As thingloop helps people save money, it’s probably a good time to launch.”
Did you work out how much money you would need to get through the first months/years?
“Yes, I did some basic number crunching, calculated the burn/investment rate. I had to include things like salaries (or maybe the cost of your mortgage and bills), development and running costs (web design, software development, legal advice, hardware, office space, marketing, etc). It all adds up…”
