GoRoadie allows learner drivers to search, compare and book their ideal driving location with ease. In the past, student drivers had to scour through Google and Facebook to find an instructor that can take them on the road — now they all the information is available in one location; including reviews, cost, photos, car type, experience and personality.
At the start of 2019, GoRoadie was lucky enough to work with MBA students at the University of Aberdeen, Business School. We took part in a module that focussed on Business Model Innovation and we collaborated with a passionate team that analysed our current business model and thought of ways to innovate. Not only did the team come back with a model that could potentially change the way we generate revenue in the future but they even thought about challenging the industry as a whole.
Working Backwards
We pride ourselves on working backwards, a technique I picked up from working at Amazon. This methodology originates from the second habit in Steve Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Start with the End in Mind. It encourages the reader to think about their goals and what do they wish to achieve, then work backwards from there.
As a business, we also use a framework called Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to set our high-level goals. This lets us set our fundamental objective — think Moonshot Goal. Then, our Key Results are how we accurately measure that we achieve this objective.
OKRs are great for setting company direction but working day-to-day is far more interesting. This is when we incorporate our Working Backwards mentality. As a startup, we use a very lightweight process. At the start of every week, we say the following:
This week would be awesome if…
And with that, we think of 2–3 objectives that we want to achieve. These tend to be SMART goals that we aim to accomplish within the week. An example of this would be “10 Driving Instructors in Aberdeen sign up to GoRoadie”.
The next part is where it gets exciting.
So, how do we get there?
This is where we brainstorm and think of as many solutions as we can think of. These can be outlandish and wild, but we tend to scale back and think about what we can actually execute during the week. Afterwards, we compile of list of tasks to do during the week which we believe will help us achieve our objective.
And with that, the week is set. It is clear what we will be working on and as we progress we A) complete our weekly objective and B) move closer to accomplishing our OKRs.
Driving Outcomes
Back in February, we did this exact exercise to help us launch in Aberdeen (See our new Aberdeen Driving Lessons landing page). We tried several techniques between email, face-to-face meetings and social media campaigns. Each had their own degree of success. And due to this, we ended up launching in Aberdeen in March. We gained 13 instructors, and almost immediately we had bookings coming through the platform. This has been transformative for our business.
By setting our goals and working backwards we have radical focus. Everyone in the business is aligned and dedicated to the weeks' objectives. As the week progresses, the team updates the status of the milestones and it is abundantly clear to everyone how we are performing.
The working backwards technique can work for any business as it is goal driven. These can be your revenue targets, profit targets, feature development or even financial reporting.
GoRoadie is a UK-based startup, connecting driving students with their ideal instructors. We just launched our brand new Aberdeen Driving Lessons landing page and are helping driving instructors win more business and reduce their admin in the evenings.
