Connectme is a start-up that provides a platform to better search, evaluate and book services and is proudly being incubated by Turbine. Jason Delorie, Co-Founder of Connectme, shares how his entrepreneurial journey started.
Tell us about your story.
I am Jason. I have always had a love for creative problem solving. I enjoy looking at things from a different perspective to come up with innovative, simple solutions. Ever since I was young, I was constantly telling my parents about my many ideas. From motorised roller blades at the age of 8, to The Seatcase (a suitcase you could comfortably sit on when queuing) when I was 11. As I got older and realised that my passion was to one day bring these ideas to life, I enrolled in University to study entrepreneurship. I learnt, amongst many other things, that everyone has great ideas but what makes the difference is the business behind them. I then spent the next few years focusing on making ends meet, starting my career washing dishes in the F&B industry to becoming a manger at several prestigious events such as the Winter Olympics in Russia, the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup. I then made the life changing decision to move to Mauritius in 2015, starting as a business development consultant to recently being appointed innovation co-ordinator of the ENL Group. Although there have definitely been challenges, I haven’t looked back!
As an expat in Mauritius, I was filled with exhilaration, excitement, uncertainty and well, fear. An intense cocktail of emotion that spiked my adrenaline and curiosity daily. As life settled and the mundane took over, all the usual stresses of the world set in. My shower broke, ‘Where do I get a plumber?’ Not knowing where to even start looking, I was faced with several weeks of cold showers before I was able to find a, not so reputable plumber, through word of mouth. Then of course, the electrics blow! I once again suffered trying to find an electrician to come to the house. The pain of going through the same issues again and again, over several different service providers, was the birth of Connectme.
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What is Connectme?
There has to be a better way to search, evaluate and book services. And that became mine and my co-founder’s mission. We are creating an easy to use platform which enables users to search for service providers while focusing on what is important to them; whether it is price, location, availability etc. We want the user to evaluate and compare profiles by using testimonies and ratings for each service provider, thus giving them peace of mind that they’ve found the right person. The user would then be able to check availability, book and pay, all in one place.
As we experienced the same issues in almost every service industry, from plumbers to tutors, we understood the need to develop a separate website for each niche. This enables users to have a more specified and targeted experience of searching and quoting, while knowing an industry expert has vetted each service provider