VIA Empresa spoke to the youung CEO, Pau Sendra, after taking part in the Startup Competition of the South Summit 2016. They had just closed an investment round worth 1.2 million euros and made their first sales in France. For the name Waynabox to become synonymous with surprise trips across the whole continent is their obsession.
A good two years has gone by since you launched Waynabox. How are things going?
It is a really difficult question because we began two years ago as three founders with a PowerPoint presentation who went to Lanzadera without any idea of marketing, finance, and so on. We did not know how to set up a company. We came from the aeronautic and engineering sector. And now Waynabox is a company that provides jobs, that has a turnover, that has very happy clients and a team that works really hard so that things work well. It is a completely different reality. In two years we have gone from a PowerPoint presentation to a turnover of three million, and the journey has been at breakneck speed. We have had to learn a lot as we have gone along..
What have you learnt during this process?
We have learnt a lot about the sector, about how absolutely everything works. And on a personal level, we could say that we began as entrepreneurs and now we are businessmen. We have learnt to manage teams of people, larger budgets, and the company's very rapid growth. It is knowledge you need when you begin as an entrepreneur, when you are full of enthusiasm and hope. And as a person you often end up finding where your limit is and so you learn to manage yourself, to motivate yourself... to do everything yourself!
You are now beginning to exist as an established company, but what is it like to appear as a seedling among giants like airline companies and hotel chains?
At the beginning it is tough, especially from the point of view of suppliers. They are very large companies, normally they have very slow decision-making processes and it takes a long time to establish a commercial relationship with them. How do you make a place for yourself? Offering the best product possible to the client. Doing something that the client sees they need. This way you reach out to their feelings. That way you can grow in a more organic way, without having to compete directly with other players offering different things.
Let's take a step back. When did you get the idea of offering such a unique product?
In truth our initial idea was very bad. But over time and with constant tweeking you find a product that works. It all began when we went Interailling around Europe and we thought: why don't we try to do this with planes? It was a way for people to travel without making many plans, in a spontaneous way, without spending too much money and without wasting time, like on a train. From here on, we began adding ingredients: the hotel, the surprise destination, a set price that people would not argue with, bringing the airline companies on board, and so on. In fact, this way you make a pot pourri and end up with a product that works.
How did you settle on the ideal price for the product (€150/person) so that it was profitable and at the same time attractive to customers?
We have always tried to make the price the cheapest we can offer. In the end, it is we who made this product, young people who like travelling cheaply. We are a generation that does not have so much money. But obviously there has to be a minimum price for the product to be viable, to be able to find good hotels because the quality was also important.
What is the process of assigning a destination to each client? Is there more technological or human involvement?
It is a combination. We have the Adventure Advisor team, which is charged with finding the ingredients: hotel and flight. For each client they choose the destination based on our technology and a series of criteria, of which there are a lot. From the flight timetables, the hotels available, whether it is a trip with friends, or with a partner, whether they have travelled before... Behind it all there is a person who thanks to the technology can put the trip together.
You said that the idea came from being young people who wanted to travel cheaply. Is that the profile of a Waynabox customer?
The truth is there is a bit of everything. But it is true that we focus on people like ourselves because we know where to find them, how they speak and communicate and what they are looking for. Nevertheless, as the hotels are good and the quality of the product is very good, it is suitable for people of all ages. There are people who travel with their grandmothers, children or in-laws. It is a product that is valid for anyone who has their suitcase ready to go. But it is true that we communicate via WhatsApp and with the flamenco dancer icon but that does not mean the product is not for all ages.
The key to success is that apart from being attractive to clients it is also a way of filling up empty hotel rooms and planes?
Yes, we have a very close relationship with the hotels we work with in particular. For two reasons: we want to help in any way we can and so that the quality of the trip is good. We work with very few suppliers but ensure that they are the best within this price range. They are not the Ritz, obviously, but they are really good hotels.
Could we say that you have created a new category in the tourist sector?
Time will tell! I think that travel is now focused on offering very personalised products. That does not mean that it is a different product for each client, but that companies will tend to only make a product for a certain type of client with a specific need and to do it very well. We focus on surprise weekend trips, but doing it as well as possible. No doubt many other categories apart from surprise trips will begin to appear.
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| Photo: Laia Corbella |
Nevertheless, other sites have appeared offering products very similar to those of Waynabox. Does this competition worry you?
I don't know if it is politically correct to say so... but they left in our web address when they copied and pasted our Terms and Conditions... Obviously alternative versions of Waynabox have appeared, which began later and lack the time to be able to offer trips with the same suppliers we use. It is something that will happen and will be replicated in other markets, which is why we have to be very quick about turning ourselves into a point of reference for surprise trips. So that when people think about them, they think about Waynabox.
The international strategy you have begun is in this line...
Yes, we want to get there first and to do that we are very focused on growth. But without leaving quality to one side. We want to grow but also offer a really good product.
How has the international experience gone so far?
We have just opened in France and have our first sales there. We are very happy because the market is responding well, but there is still a lot of work to do and we have to invest a lot in the new markets. Above all the personal investment in understanding the client, how they travel, the type of hotels they like most, and so on. There is still a lot to do.
Apart from France, what other markets are you thinking about?
Europe is key. Our product is international and Europe is the first step. After that, we will see.
You have introduced some changes to the initial product, such as making the trip possible from Saturday to Monday. Have you got any other extra options in mind?
Yes, the product is changing little by little. In the office we have a wall full of post-it notes with crazy ideas that everyone suggests. Some will happen and others won't. The product will evolve and will continue to improve. For example, travel guides are undergoing spectacular change; but it could happen with other things, such as flight timetables, the days... There could be a few surprises in the coming months.
Is the best sign of success that the client ends up providing you with word of mouth publicity?
It is important and it provides us with the most satisfaction in our work to see that people who are happy with their trip come home and talk about Waynabox. It is the fuel that drives us forward, to see that we are doing something of value that every day we can do better. In the end, the best sales manager is your customer.