SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
Egypt Based Seafood Marketplace Launches, Does 70 Orders, Makes 15% Commission
07 Aug 2021
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hey folks, my guest today is Ahmed Shalabi. He's building a very cool tool called IU App. It's a marketplace for online seafood ordering. He operates the company since 2021 in Alexandria, Egypt. He has a mechanical engineering background with passion in tech, and he also has an MBA from the University of Northampton from back in 2018. Ahmed, are you ready to take us to the top?
Yeah, I'm ready.
Okay, what's the passion for seafood? You're an engineer, but you also love seafood, I guess, huh?
Yes, I live in Alexandria, which is famous for seafood restaurants and it's a seaside city. So we are brought up to love seafood and fish. And I've been my entire life, fish meal is the main plate in our family. So here comes my passion to seafood. And in other words, seafood is not a great focus for similar apps in the market. There is a clear gap we are making in delivering seafood.
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Chapter 2: What is the seafood ordering app Ayooh and who is its founder?
That's the real reason you haven't quit and gone startup full-time, right?
No doubt.
Well, you have two kids as well, so you have to balance, right? You have real expenses.
Of course.
How do you grow the business? I mean, it's impressive you've gotten 70 people to use it last month. How did you get them to use it?
Digital marketing, just small campaigns on Facebook and Google Ads.
How much did you spend on Google Ads last month?
I spent around $500.
Okay, $500.
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Chapter 3: What sparked Ahmed's passion for seafood and how did it influence his business?
Who do you compete with? What's the biggest ordering app right now for Seafit? Or do you compete with Uber Eats?
In my niche, there is no competitor because I'm fully dedicated to fish restaurants and seafood. But Talabat, having the biggest market share, also have some seafood restaurants on board. So I'm not assuming them they are not a direct competitor. But you may assume that they are competitors.
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Because my commission is less than half what Talabat takes from them. They are asking them for around 35% on order.
What was the name of that company? Sorry.
Talabat. Talabat. Talabat. Yes, owned by Delivery Hero Germany, the mother company, Delivery Hero. if you hear about it.
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Chapter 4: How many orders did Ayooh receive last month and what does that indicate?
What's their website? iCoders. iCoders. Okay, interesting. Okay, great. So what happens after you go through the budget?
Yes, I've just run out of budget, so I am looking for funding, fundraise. And if you can see, Fundraise Institute, I'm an alumni from Fundraise Institute, and they are making funding lab. But they are seeing that I am still in the early stage, so they can't fund me at this stage.
How much do you want to raise?
For marketing campaign only, I need just half a million Egyptian pounds.
Just so you know, if you're doing the conversion, he budgeted 350,000 Egyptian pounds. That's about 2,500 US dollars. So if he wants to raise 500,000 Egyptian pounds, that is about 4,000 US dollars is what you're trying to raise.
Yes.
What percent of the company are you willing to sell if someone gave you 500,000 Egyptian pounds?
I didn't calculate numbers, but I might give 2%.
2%? That's not enough. No one gets excited about owning 2%.
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Chapter 5: How does Ayooh generate revenue through commissions?
And you said two kids and you're married, right?
Yeah.
How old are you, Ahmed?
41.
41. Last question. What's something you wish you knew when you were 20?
I wish I learned coding.
Guys, there you have it. Daytime, he's a mechanical engineer. On the side, he budgeted $2,500 to launch a side project, a marketplace, an app to order seafood. In Egypt, Alexandria specifically, last month, 70 consumers placed at least one order. He made one 5% commission. Average order size is 250 Egyptian pounds. So he did call it a couple hundred bucks in US dollars revenue last month.
He looks to scale 20 restaurants on the platform. He just launched it looking at raising 500,000 Egyptian pounds for 2% or 3% of the business. It's about 4,000, 5,000 US dollars in the next couple of months. We'll see what happens. It's just him right now, and it has been bootstrapped. Ahmed, thank you for taking us to the top.
Thank you.
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