One of the hallmarks of an entrepreneur is the ability to exploit a gap in the market. In the case of Micket - an online events ticketing service - it's more a case of prying open a gap that doesn't yet fully exist.
This gap is but a tiny fissure at the moment, but that may change if the Competition Commission rules against market incumbent Computicket, which is being investigated for anti-competitive practices. This complaint is based on its stranglehold on the market through exclusive agreements with events promoters and the venues themselves.
"We're not so much competition to Computicket, and rather see them as a potential B2B partner," says Riaan Nolan rather diplomatically. He is the co-founder of Micket, together with his twin brother Winston and Robert Adams, who have developed and rolled out the ticketing system in their spare time.
They are all still full-time employees with different companies, although that may change if a recent windfall delivers the expected results. Late last year, Micket was named the winner of software development house Byte Orbit's Startup Knight competition, which aims to support and recognise local tech startups that promise to disrupt industries or sectors.
This is the second year the Cape Town-based company has hosted this contest that offers R200 000 investment in the winning startup, and R100 000 for the runner-up.
"This money will be used for marketing and further development of the Micket platform," Nolan says. "What we need more than anything is networking, and people with contacts. Fortunately some of the people involved in the competition sit on some venture capital boards, which is great for us. We also need some developers; three guys can't do everything, and Byte Orbit can help us with the mobile development and feature releases."
Pooled skills
The three founders of the startup have a range of skills they've pooled to get the platform off the ground. Nolan is senior technical manager with Africa Internet Ventures where he has gained experience managing numerous e-commerce websites, while his brother is developer on the Magento e-commerce platform. Adams is an experienced Java and Android developer working in the financial services industry.
If three guys can develop what we have done in a matter of months, with no funding, imagine what can be done with the support we've received.
Riaan Nolan, Micket
Their entrepreneurial spirit came to the fore when an international event promoter ran into problems in 2010 with selling tickets to a Cape Town music concert. The were able to quickly develop a basic system to sell tickets online, but the event was cancelled at the last minute due to Computicket's hold on the market that forbade the venue from selling tickets on an alternative channel.
Nolan believes this was a blessing in disguise as Micket went into overdrive to communicate with ticket holders about the cancellation and processed refunds, literally overnight.
Micket went into overdrive to communicate with ticket holders about the cancellation and processed refunds, literally overnight.
Riaan Nolan, Micket
"This turned out to be a wonderful marketing campaign for us and we got many compliments because of this process and that people didn't have to fight with us to get their money back," he says. "We want to treat people in the same way we expect to be treated as consumers."
Lack of support
He acknowledges that startups can only truly make a breakthrough with the support of organisations such as Byte Orbit and initiatives such as Silicon Cape, which is tangentially involved in the Startup Knight competition.
"I can't stress enough how big a job they do for software and IT startups in South Africa; it's a massive task," he says. "The only problem is they have virtually no support from government. If government were to contribute to these organisations, more people would get more funding and startups would get off the ground more quickly."
The next step for Micket is to make use of the development funding it has received to bolster the platform, user design and experience and to roll out new features that will enable it to more forcefully prise open the market.
"Computicket cannot hold onto the market forever. And whichever way you look at it, things don't look good for them; they are actually their own worst enemy and competition. If three guys can develop what we have done in a matter of months, with no funding, imagine what can be done with the support we've received."
First published in the February 2014 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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