A Pain Point Can Become a Thriving Business, with Leroy Lawrance, Founder of Pigee [Podcast #74]
In this episode of the SOL Podcast, Leroy Lawrence, Founder of Pigee, joins us to talk about all things entrepreneurship. His experience in the capital markets as well as his skill set have proven invaluable in his entrepreneurial endeavours. He thus shared a lot of valuable insights about building a business around a personal pain point and implementing the right methods along the way.
Pigee is a mobile app that has been born from the pain point of its own Founder. It is a platform that helps travellers shop from real-world shops with much more ease whilst abroad without the worry of fitting the items in their suitcases. It also saves shoppers from arranging shipping for purchases, which is generally a highly costly and discouraging process. Moreover, Pigee provides a marketplace for buyers and sellers to continue shopping from the stores when they get back.
To begin with, we asked Leroy to tell us about Pigee. Leroy explained how the app works, which needs it provides a solution for, and where the idea came from in the first place. Turning one’s own pain point into a business idea makes a lot of sense most of the time. However, there could be no demand for it in the market. So, we wondered how Leroy validated his idea before going into the business.
Significance of Research before Execution
Validation can be the most crucial step before beginning the real journey. Leroy kindly described the methods he used and the people he sought help from during the process. We also touched upon the importance of research before design and production, and the feedback of the users over the market size. Research is vital because it helps entrepreneurs whilst executing their ideas. Leroy also listed the criteria of his research. The details of which you can find in the podcast.
After that, we focused our conversation on the product itself. We chatted about things like the challenges whilst building the app. How did he find suppliers, arrange the locations, establish customer service and automate the process? Leroy pointed out the importance of identifying the target audience and their needs to create a product best suited to them. How did he provide solutions for each of the needs in the app?
Maturing as an Entrepreneur
Lastly, we talked about Leroy’s experiences as an entrepreneur. He mentioned how his background in the capital market affects his decision making and future planning. Other topics include perfect idea vs timing, the amount of time you need to emotionally mature in your thinking as an entrepreneur, and the lesser-mentioned burden of the spouses of entrepreneurs.
You may also be wondering how Leroy handled uncertainty on the road to success and the potential for failure. If you’re curious about how to market the pain point, the steps you can take to become a successful entrepreneur or how to deal with the challenges that stand before you, check out our delightfully enlightening podcast with Leroy above.
