The web business tapping into affordable escapism

After a year and a half of planning, the website went live in July and has seen significant trade already.

Daniel, 32, who was previously a trust fund manager and is the financial brain behind the venture, said: "We started the firm in November 2008 but spent the first part building technology videos with suppliers. We kicked it off in July and sales are going well.

"Over 3,000 people have bought from the site between July and many are repeat customers. What we've seen is although there's been a recession and you have to justify spending, many people are still looking for affordable escapism.

"People still want to spend time having fun but it's got to be at competitive prices and value for money."

The company has around 1,000 gift ideas, ranging from cookery classes and spa days to white-water rafting and tank paintballing.

Sales have come from countries such as Ireland, France and Australia as friends and relatives order gifts for those in the UK.

According to the duo, what puts their product above the others in the market is their use of video to give people a feel of what it's really like to take part in the activities.

The videos are recorded with presenters participating. Keji, who has an IT background and designed the site, said: "When we carried out research, the issues people had were, 'how do we differentiate ourselves?' And, 'how do visitors know the gifts are good quality?'

"In the end, we decided to put videos on our site to help people understand what they are going to buy.

"One presenter, Jess, went to drive a Lamborghini. People think driving experiences are for guys but she had so much fun - that opens it up to a whole new group of people.

"Around January we want to hire more presenters. We've got customers from a broad range of ages, so we need to represent that."

Keji arrived in the UK to do his degree and was joined by Daniel, who did his degree in Nigeria, soon after.

After successful careers in their chosen sectors they decided to leave the security of contracted jobs to go it alone.The early signs are the risk has paid off.

"It's taken us two years to get it just right so as you can imagine it cost a lot to start up," said Daniel. "A lot of personal investment, as well as support from private investors.

"Because we've put in our own money it shows we have a passion in our business. We've put everything in."

The duo are now already planning their next step.

"There's an endless number of things you can do with this," said Keji. "All the research shows there is a lot more success when people know more about what they are buying. Perhaps in the future we can use it to sell things like hotel rooms or clothes."

Go to tellallmyfriends.com