One of the contestants in this years Startup Weekend was Christopher Ong, a recent graduate from the University of Western Australia and currently working for a global Technology Consulting firm. He pitched his idea for a Restaurant Booking App – TableSpace. After enticing a team, building out a prototype and even taking some bookings over the course of the weekend, they were unlucky but not deterred.
After the weekend had finished, the team has continued on, validating their market and ensuring their message is clear before launching for hungry Perth foodies. Here’s how Chris describes the benefits of Table Space.
Whether because of a slow night, or last minute no show, even the best restaurants have empty tables. TableSpace helps great restaurants stay full every night of the week!
TableSpace is a dynamic, powerful yield-management tool that uses a web-based auctioning service to make the dining marketplace more efficient. Any empty seat in a restaurant is lost opportunity for revenue, and lost opportunity to discover new customers.
With TableSpace all restaurants have to do is list a deal and sit back and wait for us to fill that table with profitable customers. We take a percentage of each winning bid, so we don’t make money unless our restaurants make money too.
Why now?
Restaurants are ready to be significantly disrupted by web-based technologies. Many restaurants have limited web presence, pen-and-paper booking systems and very basic yield-management systems. There is a great opportunity for TableSpace to help make restaurants more efficient and effective.
However, restaurants are only the tip of the iceberg for TableSpace. We expect to roll-out our “Auction as a Service” model to similar industries like entertainment and property.Why us?
Unlike other yield-management systems (Groupon, Scoopon, Dimmi etc.), we ensure that the restaurants get the best possible profit for their empty table, as determined by the auction market. Because the price of meals is determined by the market, tables aren’t left empty and customers get great prices! TableSpace is also a strictly no voucher booking service, so our users get treated the same as the restaurant’s own full paying customers.
What next?
We’re currently preparing our website for our launch in April 2014. We’re also looking for Perth restaurants that would like to partner with us for our launch.
We wish Chris and his team the best of luck, and will be watching closely to see how this pans out. More info on Table Space can be found at http://www.tablespace.com/.
