I Like Local

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I Like Local: The Airbnb For Authentic Local Experiences From And With Locals

Oldenzaal, Netherlands Asia and Africa
Year Founded:
2013
Organization type: 
for profit
Project Stage:
Start-Up
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
Website:
http://blog.i-likelocal.com/
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/I_Like_local
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/andilikelocal
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

I Like Local is the Airbnb for authentic local experiences from and with locals in developing countries. Result: Travelers get a more in-depth travel experience while local communities get access to a worldwide market, and can generate income in a simple way.

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

WHAT IF through I Like Local, local communities find a different way of income that get them out of poverty and shifts their dependance on natural resources that depletes nature.
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Help in alleviating poverty and unequal distribution of tourism income

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

By offering them a worldwide platform and helping them with bringing their service to market, they can generate income with something they daily do. Examples are: fishing with a local fisherman, eating with a local family, providing a tour in their environment, teaching handicraft skills, letting travelers help on their farm, just to name a few. For communities at the Bottom of the pyramid we work with NGO's focused on Community Based Tourism. Furthermore we work with local sustainable travel agencies and locals directly.

Awards

none so far
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

The locals, families and communities generate a sufficient way of income via I Like Local that gives them the opportunity to fulfill their basic needs: food, shelter, healthcare and education. They receive a constant stream of bookings that is managed by either the NGO they work with, one of their community members or a local travel agency that meets sustainability requirements.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

At this moment our impact is still nihil as we went to market 1 year ago and people need to get to know about I Like Local. Our goal is to become large enough that we can generate a minimum salary per local/family per month that could provide them with their basic needs.

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

We are growing with 75% a year in terms of locals or local organizations we work with. Currently focusing on Africa and Asia. As we are getting more publicity online, more and more locals and organizations know to find us. Main collaboration partners are larger NGO networks and tourism boards that help to spread the word. In terms of buying clients we are setting up partnerships through which we can create a larger reach and generate more publicity and bookings. We hope that this also accelerates the attraction of locals and organizations.
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

Currently it is self-funded. We are building a proven concept at the moment which makes it easier for investors to step in. We already had one investor, but we didn't accept their offer. As soon as we have a proven concept the company will be easier to valuate and lower risk to step in. This proven concept we hope to reach in the next half year.

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

No one in this way. There are a few companies that provide something similar (www.withlocals.com, www.triipme.com, www.vayable.com), but their focus is on the traveler and not on the local. They don't have the intention to create value for the locals as we do.
Team

Founding Story

I Like Local started with a passion for other cultures and wanting to give something back. Convinced that old structures and habits need to change in order to keep up with todays challenges, I believe that organizations need to make a shift from profit maximisation to a balance in profit making and social & environmental value creation. Thereby combining strengths to create more positive value worldwide. I found a way to combine this belief with my passion for other countries and cultures. I Like Local was found.

Team

Founder: Sanne Meijboom, former business consultant in the Netherlands (University degree), lived and worked in 5 different countries world-wide, fulltime focused on I Like Local Sombat Southivorarat: Online marketeer (University degree), part time involved Daniel Quintana: Social media expert, founder of the Nomad Creative (University degree), part time involved Lisanne Rentier: business developer and partnership creator, background in travel, part time involved Web designer, programmer: Stijn Voss, student Computer Science (University degree), founder of I-Sti, part time involved As soon as we have an investor or generate sufficient income we can hire above employees full time.
Background
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:

From a friend

Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:

Founder

Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]

No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Leadership and the Unilever Awards
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.

My experience as a business consultant has already helped me a lot with setting up this business in terms of how to create a viable business, how to bring it to market.

Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?

I have a mentor and many people in my network that are experts in online marketing, running an online business, who advise me.

File attachments: 
File information_deck_i_like_local_unilever_awards.pptx
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