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“We are not currently including as many casual dining venues on YoTable, as the majority of these do not usually offer reservations.” Going forward, it looks like the co-founders will be talking to international hotel groups that have their own in-house restaurants, simply because “they totally understand the system, as they already offer online room reservation”
Table for two?
YoTable wants to be Saudi Arabia’s F&B booking platform of choice By Kareem Chehayeb
A
s the MENA region’s F&B industry continues to soar, most entrepreneurs view this as an opportunity to open up their own F&B business. But Reda Islam, Rashed Islam, and Mahmoud Elsaid were inspired to partake in this growth a little differently. Having found the process of booking a table at a restaurant through the telephone frustrating (which can be due to everything from unanswered calls to voicemail responses), the three got
given their other entrepreneurial endeavors and their many years of experience, it’s safe to assume that they’d have the skills to bootstrap their enterprise off the ground. Regarding ROI, they simply aren’t focusing on it, explaining that they are still in YoTable’s “launch phase and are currently offering free trials” to bring in more users and restaurants on the platform.
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together to develop YoTable, an online restaurant-booking platform that they believe is a lot more efficient. Developing YoTable was based on what the cofounders call “technology product development,” relying heavily on user feedback and trial-and-error. Fortunately, the co-founders also had the “resources and network” of the businesses they were already a part offor instance, Rashed Islam owns restaurant review site JeddahFood.com, Reda Islam has 25 years of experience in IT, and Mahmoud Elsaid has managed three businesses in the tech sector in the Middle East and Europe. When asked about how expensive starting up YoTable was, the co-founders simply respond, “As [with] any business, setting up a company is capital intensive.” The trio
then in IT and development, platform enhancement, sales and marketing. So far, it looks like YoTable has been well received in its native Jeddah. Most of the restaurants that have approached YoTable are “popular fine dining” establishments, which the co-founders say is their main focus, as these outlets almost always require a booking. “We are not currently including as many casual dining venues on YoTable, as the majority of these do not usually offer reservations.” Going forward, it looks like the co-founders will be talking to international hotel groups that have their own in-house restaurants, simply because “they totally understand the system, as they already offer online room reservation,” and so, connecting their restaurants
claim to have not brought in any angel investors, choosing instead to self-fund their venture. This shouldn’t come as a surprise though- given their other entrepreneurial endeavors and their many years of experience, it’s safe to assume that they’d Co-founder have the skills to Rashed Islam bootstrap their enterprise off the ground. Regarding ROI, they simply aren’t focusing on it, explaining that they are still in YoTable’s “launch phase and are currently offering free trials” to bring in more users and restaurants on the platform. Once YoTable is more comfortably settled in the market, they’ll probably look more into it, given the costs they will have to bear