NICK DAWE A TALL order “The guid<strong>in</strong>g mantra, our ‘why’, at Lime&Tonic, is to enrich people’s lives through unforgettable experiences” 44 | <strong>January</strong> 14 | <strong>EP</strong>
BUSINESS WHERE DO YOU GO FOR RECOMMENDATIONS ON ACTIVITIES OR EXPERIENCES IN YOUR CITY OR WHEN YOU TRAVEL ABROAD? MANY OF US RELY ON FRIENDS, BUT A RISE IN REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION WEBSITES HAVE FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED HOW WE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. THE “THINGS TO DO” SECTOR IS ESTIMATED TO BE WORTH €230BN WORLDWIDE. LIME&TONIC ARE AIMING TO BECOME THE LEADING ONLINE PLATFORM FOR MARKETING PREMIUM EXPERIENCES. WITH AMBITIOUS PLANS TO BE IN 50 CITIES BY THE END OF 2016, NICOLE THOMPSON MET CO-FOUNDER STEFAN CORDINER TO LEARN MORE The company started out <strong>in</strong> 2011 offer<strong>in</strong>g special activities <strong>in</strong> Prague and has quickly expanded to a range of more than 1,000 experiences across seven cities around the world. These can <strong>in</strong>clude themed afternoon teas, private group d<strong>in</strong>ner parties at unusual venues and a series of different masterclasses. Lime&Tonic launched <strong>in</strong> London <strong>in</strong> summer 2012 and this year saw the launch of their digital concierge app. “I was first approached with the idea <strong>in</strong> 2010 by my co-founder David O’Sullivan. By this time I had already completed my third start-up and was look<strong>in</strong>g for my next opportunity. Through my previous ventures I had learned a lot about the management of start-ups and had developed a list of th<strong>in</strong>gs I would never repeat when form<strong>in</strong>g a bus<strong>in</strong>ess. While Lime&Tonic didn’t meet all the criteria at first, the core concept was very appeal<strong>in</strong>g and it was the first idea that I was will<strong>in</strong>g to make work.” Stefan speaks with an air of quiet confidence. The experiences lead<strong>in</strong>g up to found<strong>in</strong>g Lime&Tonic have shaped the way the company is managed. After obta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a degree <strong>in</strong> management specialis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> hospitality operations, he worked for a number of years <strong>in</strong> hotels and restaurants <strong>in</strong> Sydney and the London area, before mov<strong>in</strong>g to Prague for love. It was here that Stefan found his second love – he’s a committed entrepreneur. In the space of 10 years he has set up four ventures and been <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> numerous other projects, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g one of the first onl<strong>in</strong>e company formation bus<strong>in</strong>esses, a specialised accountancy consultancy and an onl<strong>in</strong>e residential real-estate portal for <strong>in</strong>vestors <strong>in</strong> Central and Eastern Europe. Alongside his different ventures, Stefan also established the Czech Angel Investor Network (which was part of the European bus<strong>in</strong>ess angels network) and developed contacts that have become fundamental to the Lime&Tonic bus<strong>in</strong>ess today. “After successfully launch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Prague, the next city we chose was Sydney, where I’m from. It was important for us to expand <strong>in</strong>to cities where we already had contacts. Look<strong>in</strong>g back,” Stefan says, laugh<strong>in</strong>g, “Sydney was probably not the best choice as the second city. The time difference meant Dave and I weren’t sleep<strong>in</strong>g for the first few months! “Each city we have picked afterwards has been with the help of our contacts. Not only did the bus<strong>in</strong>ess angels become part of our user base, they would also help source contracts for our follow<strong>in</strong>g locations and usually help out as well. “The guid<strong>in</strong>g mantra, our ‘why’, at Lime&Tonic, is to enrich people’s lives through unforgettable experiences. This is the first company that I have been <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> where everybody really, really stands by the company’s values. Not only do our team members believe <strong>in</strong> our concept, but the merchants are happy, we have a lot of engagement from the customers purchas<strong>in</strong>g the experiences and a very supportive group of <strong>in</strong>vestors. We share the feedback that we receive from our customers dur<strong>in</strong>g company meet<strong>in</strong>gs. One of our experiences <strong>in</strong> Dubai has become very popular for engagements – it has witnessed four successful proposals already. “Over three years we have delivered over 85,000 paid consumers to the restaurants of our 250-plus premium/ five-star merchants, deliver<strong>in</strong>g €2.4 million <strong>in</strong> sales. We have more than 1,100 experiences across our seven cities.” So how does London compare to other cities? “London has been a tricky city, but we’ve learned from experience that this is due to the size of the market available <strong>in</strong> large cities. The consumer base tends to be more fickle because they have more options or already established competition. Metrics <strong>in</strong> London, such as average spend per head, are lower than smaller cities, yet cost of acquisition per consumer is much higher. We still consider it to be an important base and have managed to create well-respected partnerships so far – we just expect our growth period to be less steep here than smaller cities where we have managed to dom<strong>in</strong>ate the market.” After hear<strong>in</strong>g Stefan speak so passionately about Lime&Tonic, I ask the <strong>in</strong>evitable question: what is the exit plan? “When go<strong>in</strong>g through our first round of fund<strong>in</strong>g we were asked to put a plan together by our <strong>in</strong>vestors. Our market<strong>in</strong>g platform gets more powerful as our user database grows and, as we expand <strong>in</strong>to different countries, we become more relevant to consumer-fac<strong>in</strong>g bus<strong>in</strong>esses, like credit-card companies, who may be search<strong>in</strong>g for a concierge solution for their gold and plat<strong>in</strong>um cardholders. Ideally we would be taken over by a company that matches our desire to keep on enrich<strong>in</strong>g the lives of our user base through the provision of unique experiences.” Vienna and Istanbul are set to launch as official cities <strong>in</strong> <strong>2014</strong>. They will also be focus<strong>in</strong>g on the US market and look<strong>in</strong>g at “secondary cities” such as Las Vegas, Aust<strong>in</strong> and Seattle, where their competitors, Sosh and YPlan, aren’t present. Lime&Tonic will also be start<strong>in</strong>g their next round of fundrais<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> America after f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g the London market quite sluggish while look<strong>in</strong>g for funds. With hopes of establish<strong>in</strong>g a database of 10,000 experiences <strong>in</strong> 50 cities by 2016, it will be <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g to track Lime&Tonic as they expand. • <strong>EP</strong> | <strong>January</strong> 14 | 45
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