“Failure” happens every day in every startup but Siddika Jaffer of The Halal Dining Club believes that embracing the learning that comes with it is the best way to fix a business model, writes Cui-Lyn Huang
1. How did you hear about JFDI Discover?
I was told about JFDI from a friend of mine who knows its co-founder Hugh Mason and the friend suggested I approach JFDI for incubation. After looking through the website, I came across the JFDI Discover program and decided to apply.
2. Tell us about your startup and team – who are you, and what are you aiming to do?
The Halal Dining Club is developing a mobile app to help Muslims who find halal dining options at home and when they travel, with an engaging and rewarding app experience that provides a comprehensive, well-curated list of halal options around the world.
Our team consists of four people – Helen, Ajay, Salman and myself. We come from a mix of backgrounds having worked at large multinationals such as Cadbury’s and Unilever, as well as management consulting and startups. Combined we have lived and worked across Africa, Middle East, Europe, America and Asia. Our cultural diversity and balance of skills sets has given us an advantageous “whole brained” approach to managing this startup from ideation through to growth and expansion.
3. Why did you start this business? How has this impacted your life?
As a Muslim who has lived and worked across countries where Muslims are a minority of the population, I often struggled to find halal dining options. Whilst doing my Masters in Innovation last year, I started to think about major pain points that have yet to be solved effectively for both consumers and restaurants and decided to launch a startup to do something about this massive pain point for a large, fast growing and affluent population.
It has been an exciting journey so far as I have had so much support from friends, family and the public who have come to know about what we are trying to do. However, I have been working extremely hard to get this startup off the ground effectively and am yet to secure the funding we need.
The Halal Dining Club mobile app
4. What were some of the challenges you faced before joining JFDI Discover?
Finding a tech co-founder took a long time, and we are yet to secure funding.
5. How did JFDI Discover help your startup?
The tools that JFDI provide help you quickly conduct experiments to test the most vulnerable parts of your business model to direct you towards a fluid plan of improvement.
6. What was your favorite and least favorite aspect of JFDI Discover?
The bad: We had already spent a fair bit of time validating our business model, so I felt that having to go through validation again was a little unproductive.
Whilst I also understand that the tools used are tried and tested, they do not always take into account the individual dynamics of the startup’s business model. Some of the timeframes in which the experiments are to be conducted, especially for b2b, are a bit unrealistic. Given the very limited check in times, questions we put to mentors were also not always answered well.
The good: The sense of community allowed us to learn from each other. We also had access to curated tools and articles which were great.
7. What is the one lesson you took away from JFDI Discover that you think other founders should know too?
Come face to face with the weakest part of your business model quickly and get out there to validate it. If it is difficult to do, think about ways to monetize in the short term to give you a chance of survival.
I think this is really important because the investment context in Asia is very different to that in Silicon Valley. Indeed in speaking to investors in the Valley, the questions being asked were more about user growth, cost of acquisition and estimated lifetime values whilst in Asia, it is a lot more about revenue generation timescales.
8. Where is your team planning to go from here?
We would really like to be part of an accelerator program to give us access to mentors and investors from a credible point of reference. We are still building our product and looking at ways to monetize in the short term so we can grow organically but we realize that with funding, we can capture a much larger market much faster.
9. Which resources do you look to for startup related advice? Have you read any books on startups?
I have done an incredible amount of reading to understand the best paths to navigate, the questions investors will ask and what it takes to become a truly successful startup. Notable books have included Lean Startup, The Art of the Start, Hooked, Four Steps to Epiphany, Start with Why, Zero to One.
I also use twitter, blogs and news resources and follow investors, social media gurus and startup experts.
10. Who would you recommend to Discover?
I think startups at the idea stage should apply for Discover – those that have conducted market validation on their own may not benefit as much.
Go to The Halal Dining Club’s website and Facebook page for more information!
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Thinking of starting your own business? JFDI Discover will help you find out if you really want to be an entrepreneur. It will reveal if your team is aligned to deliver results. And it will show you how to solve a real problem for customers who are willing to pay thus moving closer to a “problem-solution fit”.
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Cui-Lyn Huang is on the Editorial team for JFDI Asia. Currently pursuing a combined major in Computer Science & Journalism at Northeastern University in Boston, and after growing up on the little red dot. She loves to write, she loves to eat, and loves to write about eating.