dinnerpoint.com

Dinnerpoint provides a nightly service for people on the move enabling them to meet up, socialize and network over dinner in cities they are visiting or living in.

We spoke with their founder Will Cochrane to find out more.

Your name: Will Cochrane

Position / title: Founding Director

Company name: DinnerPoint

Website: www.dinnerpoint.com

Your company / website vision statement / goal:

Making it easy for likeminded people to socialise and network at dinner in cities around the world.

What you sell / services you offer (brief description of your company):

Dinnerpoint provides an online service arranging dinners of 4 to 8 people in cities around the world. People choose a dinner from our online list pay us an arrangement fee (£15). We then email them details of the restaurant and their fellow diners, they turn up, enjoy and pay for what they eat and drink. Our customers are mainly business travellers and people who have recently relocated or are new to town, keen to meet up, network and socialise with likeminded individuals in cool restaurants.

Have you always wanted to run your own business? What were some of your previous jobs / companies?

My father runs his own business and I’ve always been keen to do my own thing also. I am particularly glad that I co-founded dinnerpoint with Fenner Austin, a great university friend.

We were both keen to start a business together and spent about two months sifting through business ideas. Our experiences and skills complement each other and being friends has also made it easier and more fun. My background is in consulting (telecoms and strategy) and through this I have experience of numerous start up and technology based companies and managing high growth projects. Added to this, I have had plenty of experience of being in a new town on my own whilst on business trips and it was through this that we had the idea for dinnerpoint.

Have you got any qualifications? Please tell us about yourself academically?

I studied the same MA Hons History course as Fenner at Edinburgh University. I also have a diploma in Marketing and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management where I concentrated on Strategy, Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

How / when did the idea of your website / company come about?

We hit on the dinnerpoint.com idea when a friend of Fenner’s was visiting London from the States and he was unable to go out for dinner with him. Instead Fenner arranged a dinner with other business travelers that I knew and as a result everyone got on brilliantly and had a great night out. We realized that there was a captive market just like them, needing that simple introduction to make their night a success and so came up with the idea of a website that let people do this for themselves, easily and regularly, in large cities around the world.

If you could give readers of this book one piece of advice what would it be?

Starting a business is so much more than just a neat idea. We thoroughly tested the market with surveys, focus groups and regular trial dinners. By testing the waters thoroughly, we have tweaked the service according to feedback and are much more confident that we have a service people want. Only then did we decide to go ahead with a very low budget website. People you work with are of critical importance, if it is a friend and you are working from home, make sure you can separate your day between work and non-work otherwise you will be exhausted after 6 months.

Who are your role models / mentors and why?

I hugely admire Richard Pankhurst – founder of Friends Reunited. For coming up with such a great idea and promoting it so effectively.

Want to read more? Buy the book now:

buy directly from us for $26.95 saving $8 (Free shipping)