How OpenTable Ensures It Has The Only Seat At The Table

One my favorite things to do is eat! That is no secret for millions of people who agree with me and enjoy the simple act of feeding our faces. My name is Jared Wilson and I am a foodie and I accept that about myself. I often think about what I’m going to eat meals and days in advance and have cravings for certain foods, which can leave my stomach growling and my mouth salivating. I get an adrenaline rush from ‘foodgasms’ and have a blog about my restaurant journeys and experiences. This makes it all the easier to understand why I want to talk about OpenTable. Anyone hungry?

Why Is There An OpenTable?

Offering reservations to about 31,000 upscale restaurants around the world, having 15 million users per month, and with revenue of over $190 million last year, OpenTable has been the best restaurant-reservation app in the marketplace for quite some time now dating back to its inception in 1998. OpenTable allows users to search for restaurants, wherever they may be, and make reservations for the date, time, and size of their party with a click of a button. No more phone calls to the restaurant to see if they’re busy. To make it even more enticing, OpenTable offers the user points for using their system. As a user makes more reservations, they accumulate more points, and these points can then add up to dollars off their future meals. It’s a pretty sweet deal for anyone who loves restaurants.

On the other side of the table, the restaurant receives an electronic reservation management system to replace the old-fashioned paper system and allows the restaurant to manage reports and keep track of guests and tables. Not to mention, the advertising they’re receiving for being on OpenTable. The catch, while this experience is free for the user, the restaurant pays OpenTable a fee for the service and advertising.

So All The Tables Are Taken?

While it’s great to be on top, the new order is staying on top. OpenTable has been the best at what it does and when you’re the best, others have to play by your rules or take their chances without you. Let’s just say that the fees restaurants pay OpenTable, they’re pretty pricey. OpenTable charges $1,295 just for their software, a monthly fee of $199, an additional $99 to be featured in OpenTable’s dining guide, $.25 per reservation booked on the restaurant’s website, $1 per reservation booked through OpenTable or one of its partners, and restaurants pay up to $10 just to give users the points we love to collect.³ When you add all these fees and charges up, some restaurants begin to question if it’s worth it. Welcome competition.

SeatMe is similar to OpenTable, but focuses more on putting the restaurant back in control versus the reservation system. SeatMe’s secret sauce is that they’re easier to use, more powerful, and have no pesky cover fees. SeatMe provides 24/7 access to the manager wherever they may be and a seamless system for users, which includes automatic wait lists; all things OpenTable doesn’t have. What gives SeatMe a good kick in their service is that they already have Yelp dining in. Yelp gives SeatMe great exposure and credibility and is a strong backing system with their 139 million visitors monthly on average. Did I mention they offer all of their services for only $99 a month.

Eveve provides very comparable capabilities and features to restaurants and users. They’re similar to OpenTable in the services they offer, but similar to SeatMe in their pricing model and no cover fees. Eveve believes their strength is in their pricing, which offers savings from 60 - 90% compared to OpenTable. They aren’t wrong to highlight this strength either. Eveve has already gained traction in the market; they average 770 users monthly and already are being used by every 3 out of 10 restaurants.

Dessert Anyone?

The tab is still out on what the future will hold for these restaurant-reservation system companies. OpenTable has a large portion of the market due to its user-base and advertising reach, but with large fees, will restaurants continue to fall in line with their prices or continue to give companies like SeatMe and Eveve greater shares in this industry. I guess it will depend on how well restaurants can fill their seats.

References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenTable
2. http://techcrunch.com/tag/opentable/
3. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2014/05/as_fees_become_problematic_res.php
4. http://www.opentable.com/start/home
5. https://www.seatme.yelp.com/
6. http://www.eveve.com/

Hakuna Matata: Insurance is Our Worry-Free Philosophy

Hakuna Matata means “No worries for the rest of your days” to the vast majority of people from the Disney classic, ‘The Lion King’. Hakuna Matata also comes from a Swahili phrase meaning “There isn’t a problem or trouble”. It’s to have a peace of mind in life, to know that everything will be fine regardless of what happens. Some people call it a vacation, I call it insurance.

Insurance was a $1,041.5 billion industry, in just the US, in 2013¹ and continues to grow at a rapid pace as the world’s population increases. A very large industry when they market the only product that you can’t see, hear, taste, smell, or touch. Insurance companies have always had the struggle of selling piece of mind to consumers, the very essential of what Hakuna Matata is at its core. When you walk into a fast food restaurant and buy a meal, in exchange for your money, you receive a product that hits all five of your senses. With insurance, you pay, what some would say is a very steep price in exchange, for a product that you may never use. “On average, a driver will have an accident claim once every 17.9 years”² says enhanceinsurance.com. I would say most people would say their money could be better spent elsewhere and that’s just not my opinion. According to a 2012 study by the Insurance Information Institute, every one in eight drivers were uninsured with some states having up to 26% of their drivers being uninsured¹. Most states are changing their laws to decrease this number, but this is a trend amongst all types of insurance. The underlying issue here, and not just with auto insurance, is that more and more people do not understand the true value of having insurance.

The purpose of insurance is to make one whole again after life happens, not make them rich. This is the first myth we need to understand, insurance doesn’t exist to pay you more than the cost of what is being covered. So when we have a loss, we shouldn’t expect this to be our big break towards financial freedom, but rather insurance picking us up, dusting us off, and allowing us to go on our merry way.

Insurance comes in many shapes, sizes, and forms; we need to understand that every type of insurance depends on our direct needs and that our needs will change over time. This means that insurance doesn’t follow a one size fits all model. We need to fully understand our policies and coverages and actually attend policy reviews to update our policies and coverages as life events occur. Do not overlook the benefit and value of having these meetings.

Your auto premium will probably increase. This is a simple fact that we need to come to learn, accept, and expect. It doesn’t necessarily mean you filed a claim the prior year and in some cases, your premium may even decrease. We should look at insurance in a holistic way. When we are stuck in traffic and realize it’s because of an auto accident, we need to realize that insurance is paying to cover the losses in that accident. That means our premium is going to help settle the loss from that person’s accident. The same can be said when we’re the person involved in the accident and other people’s premiums are paying for it. Holistically, when the cost to settle claims is greater than the premiums being received, insurance companies raise everyone’s premiums to be able to continue to cover all the losses for the upcoming year. The best way to look at a premium increase is that we’re all in this together just like how the cost of living continues to increase, which affects all of us.

Life insurance is seen as another bill to some, but it should be seen as an investment and even a gift to all. Many Americans believe they don’t need life insurance. In fact, 41% of US adults don’t have any life insurance, that’s equivalent to 95 million Americans³. The biggest gift we can give to our family and those we leave behind when we move on is Hakuna Matata, the peace of mind that their standard of living will not change and that they will still be able to live without incurring any hardships from our departure. Life insurance allows us to do this and the death benefit our loved ones receive far outweighs the premium we pay. It’s hard not to call it a gift when we can ensure our child’s education, the mortgage being paid off, our spouse not having to pay out of pocket for our funeral, and so forth when we’re not around.

If we simply take the time to learn and uncover what our needs are, take the steps to ensure we are adequately covered and don’t just have coverage, understand our policies and coverages and revisit them as life events happens, leave the best gift we can for our loved ones in life insurance, then we will then find Hakuna Matata, ‘no worries for the rest of your days’. Insurance is our worry-free philosophy.

References:

1. http://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/industry-overview

2. http://visual.ly/auto-insurance-facts-and-interesting-statistics

3. http://www.infographicszone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/life-insurance-facts-and-figures-1.jpg

Why Uncle Sam Wants Your Next Startup in DC

The White House, Smithsonian, politics and the government, all things that make one think about Washington, DC. Known as a city for politicians, power brokers, and business professionals, it’s no wonder why so many people don’t think about Washington and its startup ecosystem. With hundreds of active angel investors, a high concentration of engineers and people with advanced degrees nationally, and a metro area in the top 5 in the nation for venture capital; Washington DC should be on your radar as your next startup’s destination.

There are well over 1,000 companies raising capital within Washington, DC right now. As DC has grown, the startup space has continued to expand alongside it. With the large number and depth of different corporations that call DC home, there is no lack of verticals for startups to pursue and contribute to. Some great verticals within Washington, DC include: Compliance management, DC has one of the highest concentrations of compliance experts in the country; Hospitality and green tourism, DC is headquarters to Hilton, Marriott, and Choice Hotels; Geospatial technology, DC has over 15,000 imagery and geospatial analysts with the NGA supporting contractors; and Cyber Security, DC and the surrounding MD and VA areas are home to several military bases and cyber-security companies. There are already hundreds of startups that got the memo and realize these are all great verticals to make an impact within.

A few notable startups include: Social Tables, a platform focused on helping hotels increase their return on meeting spaces. Teranga, a mobile and cloud-based application helping hotels increase revenue while reducing operational costs. Punch Cyber Analytics Group provides advanced analytics and support to government and commercial clients. Virtru has the goal to give everyone secure email through their browser plug-ins and mobile apps. These are just a few of the innovative startups residing within DC, but there is an even bigger opportunity for startups as DC continues to grow and expand. So the next time you visit and think DC, go visit the Capitol, see the monuments and memorials, try the iconic Ben’s Chili Bowl, but also think about the possibilities for change, growth, and development surrounding DC.

References:

http://tech.co/dc-startup-community-intro-2013-11

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/b/03bcf076-7e74-4e98-99ff-a7988122e840

http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/225974