Over the last 20 months, I’ve had the opportunity to engage in the truly enriching experience of international travel. I have walked the steep mountains in Bhutan, lived in cities like Singapore and HK, got chased by a bear in Nepal, stayed in the best luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, ate a duck fetus in the countryside of Vietnam, went tubing in the Nam Song river and encountered many other experiences during that time.
The diverse locations and people I met have provided me with knowledge I never would have experienced had I remained home. Travelling truly gave me access to a whole different aspect of life discovery.
However, I realised it was time for a change. While travelling was certainly rewarding, I felt it was finally time to settle down into a more productive routine. The art of exploration was enthralling however, once I acquired a certain amount of knowledge, I thought it would be irresponsible to not put it to use.
My transition into this new, more productive state of mind began with a simple conversation. A friend of mine told me about a new innovative and a relatively new concept known as coworking.
Coworking is a completely different way to engage in work. It incorporates a shared working space where people from different places and different professions share a common space. For instance, there can be a freelance fashion designer working on an independent project sharing an office with a graphic designer with absolutely no business connection between the two. Usually, this is the case. The only thing people who share a coworking space have in common is their passion for success. This is a critical benefit. After all, regardless of the venture, isn’t passion for success the most important thing?
As he explained coworking spaces to me, the idea began to grow more and more attractive. While I could easily develop my ideas in isolation, the benefits of combining intellectual energy with other driven individuals could be numerous. Not only would I be surrounded by people who are all focused on efficiency and productivity, I’d be able to network with those very same people. If I need to hire someone who specializes in a different field but they work in a traditional office environment, I have no choice but to hit the streets and try to make connections with a limited idea as to how successful I will be. On the other hand, in a coworking space, I am surrounded by professionals from a diverse selection of industries and disciplines. Hence, my future networking partner could be sitting right next to me. As he explained this to me, the logic was irrefutable.
My friend continued by elaborating on a specific coworking space he had identified – Salty Volt in Bali, now Hubud. He had been all over South East Asia’s coworking spaces but the one in Bali was head and shoulders above the others. I decided to call this my business home. Coworking lends itself nicely to the incubation of startups due to the intellectual synergy it fosters. Inspired by this potential, I have chosen to devote my energies to the inception of a startup.
My idea is quite straightforward. Since everyone loves to save money with coupons – a penny saved is a penny earned. That being said, my startup is going to focus on saving users money while facilitating the redemption of the coupons by the issuing merchants. I’m streamlining the money-saving process to make it simple, more efficient and ultimately lucrative. Its called Coupofy , Free Shipping Code in USA, Bargain Fox in UK & Dr-Discount in Netherlands which will be introduced to the American market initially and will eventually expand to other countries.
Coupofy is already funded by Potential Asia – a child company of Potential UK. The friend who introduced me to coworking is also a part of this start-up and we have selected four more members from diverse backgrounds.
- Harsha – The friend who introduced me to concept of coworking
Georgio – Ex Techstars London and Barclays AcceleratorLuke – Surfer and the founder of Solty Volt coworking space- Zuzana – Certified diver and worked with teams in 25 countries
Anna – Creative writer and victim of wanderlust- Doug – The captain of the ship and founder of Potential UK
- and me
Now, I feel like we are the team from Armageddon who are on a mission to save the world. Meanwhile take a break and watch this song from this movie.
But am I ending my travels? No, travel is always my number 1 priority in life. Let me see how things on in Bali and then decide about my journeys.
