During the fall-out of Red Letter Days Benoit Linossier was busy establishing his own ‘experiences’ company. He tells us that he hope to capitalise on a market in flux.

Name: Benoit Linossier
Age: 32
Business: The Full Experience Company
Type of business: Experience Providers
Start date: August 2005

When did you first decide you wanting start your own business?
Having worked in large organisations I realised that starting my own business was something that was more suited to my personal nature. The ability to make my own decisions while placing no restrictions on my imagination is something that always appealed to me.

Tell us about your business.
The Full Experience Company is an experience voucher company with an original concept. We offer themed Smart Boxes. Inside each box is a pictured guide, which is designed to help the beneficiary select the experience they would like to have. Once they have made their choice they pay using the gift voucher, which is also located inside the box. Our current range of Smart Boxes consists of Adventure, Zen & Spa and Charming Getaways and is intended for men, women and couples. We are currently in the process of developing several other themes.

Was it your first business idea and where did it come from?
I have had a few business ideas in the past; however this was the first that I found suitable for the UK market. The idea stemmed from the success of this concept across Europe.

Was your decision to start a business inspired by any other companies or individuals?
My decision to start my own business has always come from my own aspirations to be successful. I have always been driven by the desire to build up a successful company from the conception phase right through to the final stages.

What makes you think there’s a market for your business?
The gift experience provider market is already very prevalent in the UK. The current market has been at a bit of a stand still of late and the well-documented problems of the market leader Red Letter Days has left a gap. We hope to capitalise on this with our innovative and original concept allowing us to take full advantage of a market with so much potential.

Once you’d decided to start a business, what did you do first?
The first time I decided to start my own business I resigned from my job in order to commit myself 100% to my business project. The first thing I did was write down a business plan and then study the opportunities in this particular market.

What research did you do?
It was necessary to conduct extensive research on every aspect. This included looking at our competitors and the areas that had not yet been explored- areas that we could focus on and capitalise on. We also conducted research on our target audience’s interest in our product in order to gauge the demand for such a product. All our research enabled us to make detailed assessments on who to target, prices etc.

What other help did you get?
I found great help from Think London, which provided more advice regarding how to establish the company in the UK rather than how to set it up.

Talk us through the process of writing your business plan.
I wrote the business plan with my set objectives in mind. I think it is very important for the company to have objectives and goals so there is always a direction to head in. This gives the company purpose and a target to aim for.

How useful has your business plan been and do you think you’ll stick to it as your business begins to grow?
A business plan is very important as it provides structure and direction. I find myself adapting it quite regularly but it is very useful to maintain the objective.

How much did it cost to start the business?
The actual creation of the company wasn’t too costly. What I found costly was the actual creation/production of the products and paying the employees whilst we had no sales and no actual income from revenue.

How did you fund this?
We took a loan to start up this company.