Providing bespoke luxury holidays in Scotland, Away from the Ordinary is a fledgling travel company set up by founder Aeneas O’Hara. The idea came from his experiences crossing the globe sampling the finer things in life. It represented a way to leave the corporate world and do something that he had a true passion for.
The network was in place, the drive was there but he needed help getting off the ground. As with any new venture there was lots to do and some focus was needed to work out where best to invest the seed funds.
So our first task was to run Aeneas through our Product Sprint process and find out as much as we could to kick things off.
Starting with an MVP
Away from the Ordinary is all about selling luxury trips to people who can afford boutique experiences. Aeneas’s initial hunch was to create an all singing, all dancing product and start selling using that.
We disagreed
We preach working lean, and this was no exception. The key for this startup – as it is with any – was to begin small, use the flexibility of being able to change as you learn and grow from there.
So we set him the task of finding someone to book a holiday for, and that was his MVP.
Connecting with and learning from your customer is the most important thing you can do. Get to know them, find out their problems and you’ll be in the perfect position to solve them.