After months of work we've reached a milestone. Expedia has approved Oistr to sell hotel bookings.
They realize that there are going to be other sites out there selling travel so they have a number of solutions people can use. Most sites simply bounce a user out to the Expedia interface, or an interface designed by Expedia with your logo on it.
We went the extra mile though and designed our own user interface that we think is more intuitive and easier to use - the beauty of a new type of design with all the price and selection that Expedia has to offer.
Research shows that a customer that is looking to book a hotel only succeeds around 50% of the time on a site they chose for that purpose. 1 out of 2 are dissapointed with the amount of information available, simply can't navigate the interface or come up against technical obstacles. We have designed Oistr to be as easy to use as possible.
By approving us, Expedia is saying that the Oistr interface is up to snuff to represent their products, it is a compliment. (Not to mention the other compliments they've paid us.) It makes us feel good about the hard work we've put in.
Now we just need to get some more people using the site....
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New Ventures BC and free resources for startups like ours
New Ventures BC is dedicated to helping new businesses get off the ground - strengthening our economy.
They have competitions that encourage businesses to develop and seminars on everything from organizational structure to where to find funding.
I recently discovered the Vancouver Enterprise forum which also has resources for entrepreneurs, there’s the Ontario Centre for Excellence and those are just the few that I know about.
Take into account Meetup groups, Facebook networking groups and more you could spend your entire day every day just networking and looking for money for your business. Some people say that this should be 75% of a CEO’s job description in a start up and it is certainly true at Oistr.
Part of the reason our economy is stronger and better than other countries is these resources that are openly available and sponsored by larger businesses.
Imagine living in a country where you are free to start a business, in fact you don’t have any of the same red tape to go through in order to open your doors, but there is no education or networking or easy avenues to getting funding for your idea. How are you going to start a business besides a shoe shining stand or a tailor?
Earlier in this blog I posted an entry about how much of that aforementioned red tape there is when you’re trying to start a business in Vancouver and how I felt that was a major holdback for our economy. Now I have a better idea of how available help including money is for new businesses and how that makes all the difference in the world.
They have competitions that encourage businesses to develop and seminars on everything from organizational structure to where to find funding.
I recently discovered the Vancouver Enterprise forum which also has resources for entrepreneurs, there’s the Ontario Centre for Excellence and those are just the few that I know about.
Take into account Meetup groups, Facebook networking groups and more you could spend your entire day every day just networking and looking for money for your business. Some people say that this should be 75% of a CEO’s job description in a start up and it is certainly true at Oistr.
Part of the reason our economy is stronger and better than other countries is these resources that are openly available and sponsored by larger businesses.
Imagine living in a country where you are free to start a business, in fact you don’t have any of the same red tape to go through in order to open your doors, but there is no education or networking or easy avenues to getting funding for your idea. How are you going to start a business besides a shoe shining stand or a tailor?
Earlier in this blog I posted an entry about how much of that aforementioned red tape there is when you’re trying to start a business in Vancouver and how I felt that was a major holdback for our economy. Now I have a better idea of how available help including money is for new businesses and how that makes all the difference in the world.
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