#WIB – Q&A With Samantha Staats Founding Partner Of Airshot

1. Can you please tell us more about your business?

A. Airshot is a stand-alone app that delivers business data in an engaging format. It can be utilised by an array of industries to motivate and incentivise sales teams/employees to drive behavioural change and increase sales. Through this focus, we enable businesses to target communication & sales on the PROFITABLE, growth elements of their business.

2. When, how and why did you start your business?

A. One of our passions has always been incentives, and the opportunities that successful incentives offer a business: from concept, through the process, to the prize. What we realised, very quickly, was that the traditional channels were cluttered and the margins for success were low. There was very little engagement and most winners were by pure luck! This needed to change. We realised that you needed to give the user (whether it’s a retailer, sales rep, or call centre agent) the tools to affect change. This became the WHY.

In terms of WHEN the idea was born probably 7-8 years ago! We started the process of developing and building the app about 5 years ago and then launched officially in 2019.

HOW, well, with many unknowns, a lot of lessons (some tough and some really really awesome) and of course some capital. The technical team that supported our product from day one are what took Airshot from being something that might be quite cool to the magical app that it is today. They bought our vision to life.

3. What is your role in the business?

A. I am a founding partner but all-round go-getter. My eyes are always peeled, ears are to the ground. I’m constantly looking for the next cool thing to complement our product, who is the next cool brand/business to collaborate with. I take inspiration from so many places and believe that it expands my ideas, allowing that to flow to our product and its development, if and when the time is right. Equally, entrepreneurship and start-ups normally run very ‘lean’, meaning I am also, accounts, salaries, sales, and admin. I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

4. Where did you study and what did you study?

A. I don’t have any tertiary degrees to my name. As cliched as it sounds, I am in the school of life. I left SA for the UK at 18 (1 month out of school) and spent 4 years there, working and learning. Then returned to SA and have been back for 18 years.

5. How did you finance your business?

A. There were 4 founding partners. We financed it between ourselves. We developed the ideas over a few months after the initial prototype. Once we could all but touch and feel it, we needed to decide what it was “worth”? Did we believe in it enough, but equally, were we willing to lose that capital if it just didn’t work. I can still remember that day! We went all in. We decided it was worth it. And it was…

6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

A. Mornings start in a flurry of all things kids. Kids off to school and then normally at my desk by 7:15 am. Such a good time to prep for the day and also catch up on my personal / home admin. Then the workday goes and it’s a balance of crossing things off my to-do list and meetings (teams and face to face. My goodness, do I love the face-to-face ones. I am so energised by face-to-face meetings). Normally my afternoons are reserved for fetching the kids, sports matches, or extra-murals, and then dinner. I’m always available to take calls and put out fires and then anything that has not been seen to in the day, I will do at night. Often a quick reply solves a problem that might sit with me overnight. I love that I have the opportunity to manage that. And then rinse and repeat really!

7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?

A. I am incredibly fortunate enough (or perhaps I have really learnt the art) of balancing this well. I run 2 businesses and am still there for my 2 kids, 90% of the time. I love being on the side of the cricket field or supporting at a gala. We only get to experience our kids for such a short time, so I want to soak it in. I work whilst they are at school, and then in the evenings when I have to.

Fortunately, COVID has allowed for this flexibility (although I have always worked from home) and no one is offended if they catch me at a sports match. Of course, there is a time and place for formal and I will always ensure that I know when to be on full business mode.

I am confident with juggling it all, and truly quite like it. I think that having a husband who supports this entrepreneurial journey allows the balance. He works incredibly hard to allow me to indulge in the above. At the end of the day, we are a good team and I couldn’t balance the above without him. Grannies also come in helluva handy! Whilst we always need our moms, it’s incredible how often kids crave time with their grannies, or maybe it’s a break from their moms! haha

8. What drives you and inspires you?

A. My passion for my family, travel, and success keeps me going. I take inspiration from the most unique places – often not linked directly to my business, but that’s where those ‘ahaa’ moments come from. When you’re not trying too hard, the results are best. The authenticity of what we dream of achieving for our product is what keeps my head held high on those tough days, keeps the drive alive knowing that really, it just has to work! There are so many good humans, doing good things out there, and I love to be inspired by them.

9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

A. I would love to have a philosophical answer here, but when I say that my best ideas come out of the blue, this couldn’t be more true. I can hear an advert on the radio, be in a meeting about something totally unrelated, or just scrolling through Instagram and be totally inspired by something out of left field.

10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?

A. For now – traditional channels (Facebook / Linkedin / Website) but we have a very cool campaign coming up that I am SO excited about. We have been so fortunate that a lot of our success has been word of mouth and for now – that’s our ace up our sleeve.

11. What is next for your business?

A. We want to continue creating uber-cool features that make Airshot a tool that keeps users actively engaged but more importantly, striving for their best. We need to ensure that we are ahead of the curve in terms of what is hip, hot, and happening in the tech world. Also, integration is a huge focus for us. We have designed Airshot to ensure that we can integrate with data systems that bring our graphs to life. Digital Coupons / Rewards is also a big focus for us – instant gratification and rewarding stellar performance will ensure return customers and happy employees.

12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?

A. Be brave and be bold. Any sort of entrepreneurial journey is hard – there are so many ups and downs, my goodness, truly a rollercoaster. As women, I feel we often juggle a lot of peripheral activities. To me, this is our superpower.

One of my favourite sayings: “The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second” – Tony D’Amato.

Life is a game of inches – keep moving forward.