Todays guest is Michele Matt co-founder of My Camper
I know Michele from my mountain bike and cross country times in Switzerland were he stood out as the youngster that loved taking the risk and go downhill on a new path without fear.
This attitude and family dinners were his father and grandfather talked openly about their entrepreneurial work, new markets, products or similar made it a natural step for Michele to become an entrepreneur.
His colour is blue. It reminds him of lakes, oceans, water in general and the sky. He enjoys the big space of possibilities when looking over the water or into the sky.
The My Camper story started in 2014 after Michele and his wife took a trip with Charlie (their VW Bus/Camper) and they realised that they can’t use it all the time. It stands around too much why not rent it like AirBnB.
Michele found Miriam and later Stephan and by spring 2015 a small version of My Camper started. For two years they worked evenings and weekends to keep the risk calculated and the cost low. By the end of 2017 the work grew so much that they couldn’t handle it anymore but it didn’t generate enough money to make a living from it. So they decided to go all in and quit their jobs.
In 2018 they got their 1st financial round. A difficult decision for Michele as he was not used to get money from an external investor. Yet he never regret it after doing so.
For Michele the decision to go full in was coming from the heart. He didn’t want to look back at his life and regret it. For him creating something that helps and leaves an impact was important.
Now with the financing the team needed to grow and 2.0 web version needed to be created. During that time the team got lots of strategic support from mentors, angle investors or from networking events. They also learned a lot through testing many things to see what works and what doesn’t.
Latest chapter is the expansion to Sweden in 2020. They looked at the marked in Europe and other parts of the world and realised that the Scandinavian’s are best fit for their product at the moment. Due to the density of campers, people using them, travel location, income, competition and similar.
How much is a successful entrepreneur working?
It’s not about the hours you work but the output and delegation and automation help a lot.
What is your stress management?
By doing sports, walking or running in nature, meet interesting people during the day, meditate for 10min (deep breath) and read.
Advice for starting a business.
- Take one step at the time.
- Start small/ lean with a low budget and 60-80% ready product. Test, test and test and find out what the customer wants. In the end you started a business to help your customer and not for you.
- Also for financing. It was hard and he had fear but then by taking one step at time you advance.
- it’s good not to know all that lays ahead. Sometimes things are much bigger than you think and they might discourage you to continue.
- Go to networking events and workshops. There you get good input and you might find business partners, mentors or investors
- Invest in yourself by reading like Warren Buffet does
- Imagine life like a boat on the big ocean. If you don’t know what port you aim for you’ll never reach it. You might get lost on the ocean. Therefor it is important to have goals and a vision as now you know where to aim for.
Books Michele has recommended or given to others:
- John P. Strelecky - “The Big Five For Life : A story of one man and leadership's greatest secret”
What are the 5 things you want to achieve in life to call it a success. What is your purpose
You can use it for many things. e.g. your safari trip. Which 5 animals do you want to see to call it a success.
- Rhonda Byrne - “The Secret”
Take responsibility for your life. You attract everything into your life so better make the right wishes. Create a vision map showing him were he wants to go. He was surprised to find it almost 12 years later and that many things came to happen.
He thinks it works similar to when you want to buy a new car for example. From when you decide on the make you’ll be seeing that make everywhere as you set your focus on it. Now it is easier for you to see the opportunities in life and take them.
Tim Ferriss “The four hour week” It’s not about the hours you work but the output. Hence Michele delegates and automates
Links:
www.linkedin.com/in/mattmichele/
www.mycamper.ch
www.mycamper.se/en
Books:
John P. Strelecky - “The Big Five For Life : A story of one man and leadership's greatest secret”
Rhonda Byrne - “The Secret”
Tim Ferris - “The four hour week”
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