Business

Entrepreneur Zain Kheraj Strikes Success With New Startup

Published

3 years ago

August 25, 2020

There’s a saying, ‘The enemy of innovation is comfortable complacency.’ Zain Kheraj lives by this motto. A dream is at the heart of any innovation. Zain’s dream was to be an entrepreneur. To live this dream, however, he first had to switch tracks: He had to leave his ‘day job,’ a job which was predicated on an earned University degree. Just as it took an inner drive to earn a degree, eventually changing life tracks required a constant, inner drive. This innate, strong, personal drive has paid off for this young entrepreneur, who now owns and runs multiple businesses, including TrustMySystem (TMS) – a sports consulting and analytics company.

Zain comes from an immigrant family where the prevailing expectation was to get a good education, enabling him to find a corporate job, and thus, to begin building a career path. He did start on that path, having earned a degree in finance at the University of Georgia, followed by securing a position at Berkshire Hathaway. Though he worked at this “great company” for nearly three years, he and his brother had started a side-business during that same time period. That side-business proved to be an awakening for Zain. At that three year mark, he could not leave Berkshire Hathaway, while also responsibly attending to the way of his heart! He, along with his brother, found that the true “master” to serve – their hearts – were embedded in entrepreneurship. “We chose to leave great companies in which we both had great stable futures to go all out on our passion. It was incredibly risky,” Zain mentioned.

During his three years at Berkshire Hathaway, while being a sports fanatic all his life, Zain recognized a gap in the sports betting market – a need for more transparency. So upon leaving his former profession, he and his brother, Farhaz, founded TrustMySystem (TMS). The company is grounded in providing its clients with all the facts, so they can make informed decisions, instead of doing what many handicappers do, and that is, to show you what they want you to see.

With TMS, they wanted to separate themselves from the competition by providing consistently great customer service in a professional and honest manner. This combination of passion, hard work, and transparency has netted them a lot of attention – especially from competitors who are quick to follow in their innovative footsteps. “We are trendsetters in our industry. Usually, when we start a product or a marketing campaign, others are quick to follow,” Zain added.

Despite the initial hesitancy from his parents in fully supporting Zain, the Atlanta-born entrepreneur managed to start up a real estate business and several other small businesses in addition to the TrustMySystem startup. Instead of focusing all his energy on one company, Zain continues to expand his portfolio and skills. He is currently involved in a number of real estate projects, and also hopes to break into the fast-food market. Currently, Zain hopes to open up his own chain of fast-food restaurants – something he has always been excited to try.

There’s a saying, “Where your treasure is, so will your heart be also.” For Zain, that treasure intimately involves the customer. Zain recently explained to aspiring entrepreneurs: Winning is about helping others, and with that, comes a customer-centric approach. He insists that it’s important to always keep things professional by making customer needs and queries a top priority and to stay focused on all the relevant details, to ensure that they are getting quality service.

Zain says that even if everything he had tried had failed, he wouldn’t have regretted a thing. Because he knew it was important to follow his aspirations and see where they could possibly lead.

If you want to know more about Zain and his company, you can follow his company’s Instagram page @trustmysystem and have a look at their website trustmysystem.com.

Business

SamBoat Makes Waves in the US

Published

4 days ago

May 24, 2023

Rosario Farell

The sharing economy’s massive popularity has led to the creation of blockbuster companies like Airbnb, VRBO, eBay, Uber, and Lyft, to name just a few. According to a report by Proficient Market Insights, the size of the sharing economy was $113 billion in 2021 and is predicted to reach $600 billion by 2027.

One of the newest companies to enter this space, SamBoat, now enables the owners of sailboats and motorboats to offer their vessels for rent. Because yachts are expensive to buyand maintain — in many cases, more expensive than purchasing and maintaining a home — yacht owners can offset some of their costs by listing their craft on the platform.

Those who may not be able to afford their own boat can still experience life on the water, however. No knowledge of boating is required, as many charters include the possibility of hiring a skipper.

The inspiration for SamBoat

When young French entrepreneurs Laurent Calando and Nicolas Cargou met, a friendship, as well as a new venture, was born. Cargou was an avid Airbnb user, and Calando had grown up sailing with his family. Throughout the course of their conversation, they realized that the sharing economy covered a lot of bases, but it didn’t include boating, which they were both passionate about.

The pair sensed an opportunity, which quickly led to action. In April 2014, they officially launched SamBoat in the Bordeaux region of France.

“SamBoat’s marketplace exploded in Europe over the next few years,” explains Robert Harrington, SamBoat’s US Country Manager. The company offers yachts throughout the Mediterranean, Aegean, and other popular travel destinations.

As evidence of the popularity of the boat-sharing model, SamBoat grew by over 70 percent in 2022. Since its founding, the company has enabled more than a million people to take to the seas. Now, the platform is rapidly expanding its listings throughout the US.

Where SamBoat operates in the US

SamBoat has already — albeit indirectly — served its American customers for quite some time, as American vacationers have often rented boats in Greece, France, Italy, or Spain through its platform. But now, the company is beginning to serve Americans on the other side of the Atlantic, right here at home.

SamBoat rentals are currently available in many American ports. The marketplace currently offers hundreds of boats just in the state of Florida, where the fleet extends up the Keys to West Palm Beach, and throughout the west coast, including Tampa, Clearwater, Naples, and Ft. Myers. SamBoat also has many boats in Chicago and Seattle, as well as throughout New England.

In the near future, the company will expand its offerings in San Diego and Los Angeles. SamBoat also plans to open in Lake Tahoe, Lake of the Ozarks, Lake Havasu, and Lake Champlain by mid-summer 2023. It also aims to have fleets available in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket by the same time.

“Our goal is to offer thousands of boats to rent throughout the United States by the end of the year,” Harrington says.

How SamBoat expands

SamBoat operates anywhere boat owners choose to list their craft for rent. “Just because the marketplace might not already have a whole regatta in a given port doesn’t mean it can’t or doesn’t operate there,” Harrington says. “Listings grow organically, cropping up wherever opportunity calls boat owners to take advantage of existing demand.”

For instance, while SamBoat only officially launched in the United States this past year, the platform was open to US-based boat owners and renters last year. From January 2022 compared to January 2023, the platform experienced a 500% increase in US-based business.

This means that, if you own a boat, you can bring SamBoat to your home port. All you have to do is go to SamBoat’s website, follow a few simple steps, upload photos of your boat along with its relevant details, and respond to rental inquiries.

“Now is the right time for boat owners to get in early and beat the rush,” Harrington says.

The secret to SamBoat’s success

American consumers have responded enthusiastically to SamBoat’s arrival for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the platform offers the very same boats as other companies, yet their prices are on average 10 percent cheaper.

The reason for this is simple: unlike most other yacht and boat rental services, SamBoat doesn’t charge its customers inflated “junk” fees.

In addition, SamBoat makes renting a yacht simple and easy. Generally speaking, other boat-sharing websites outsource customer service to the owners of the listed yachts. They will only answer the phone or attend to you if you are booking something of a high dollar amount, while the average boat rental costs under $1,000. This can lead to a very frustrating process for someone who has questions but can’t seem to get a response from a boat’s owner.

At SamBoat, however, a real human being answers every inquiry. “Sometimes, that person is me,” Harrington says. This makes it much easier for people to rent the perfect boat that will meet their individual needs.

SamBoat fulfills a long-awaited need for sailing and boating enthusiasts worldwide. With the arrival of SamBoat in the US, it’s an even more exciting time for Americans to participate in the sharing economy.