Insights from the Founder of Porta Delivery
By Turki Alsalem
“Choose action over analysis” — those are the insightful words from the entrepreneur and founder of
Porta Delivery, Edward Spence, that encapsulate the importance of self-confidence when determining your own life path.
In the ever-changing business landscape, the question of what path aspiring business leaders are expected to take is sometimes seen as linear and limiting due to expectations that have long been commonplace. For instance, working in the consulting and finance industry and eventually pursuing an MBA has long been seen as the gold standard for what is deemed as the best possible career path for a business professional.
Similarly, entrepreneurship is highly valued, but it has its own unique difficulties often associated with it. However, these different intersections of business are often seen as diverging pathways, while in reality, they share many similarities that may even be the catalyst for true change in the industry. This article takes a look at the different intricacies of these business models while using the firsthand account of an entrepreneur with profound experience in the fields of consulting and higher education.
Every entrepreneur has a story on what motivated them to become independent. In Ed’s case, he was motivated by his father, who was an entrepreneur and helped instill an entrepreneurial spirit in Ed. This was further exemplified as he gained more experience in his career life. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, he started working as an engineer at Xodus Group and eventually obtained the role of project manager and consultant.
Even then, he was brainstorming potential future ideas for what business he could build. Eventually, with the knowledge he gained from being a management consultant, he decided that pursuing an MBA would further aid in his pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavors by immersing himself in a new and diverse environment.
In fact, one of the case studies that Ed came across during his time at INSEAD Business School helped with his inspiration for Porta Delivery. The case study was regarding Blablacar a company that was founded by 2 INSEAD graduates and is in a similar vein of Porta Delivery.
After some time, the idea for Porta Delivery was naturally formed from the experiences Ed had, in which he realized that there was a gap in the item transport market in the UK, which was exacerbated by his prior knowledge. Thus, the idea for Porta Delivery was born.
In essence, Porta Delivery is a service that utilizes empty space in transport vehicles by letting users transport items for other users. Leveraging his knowledge from his past experiences, Ed was able to create an app that promotes a community-driven approach to delivering items.
Furthermore, when asked about the long-term goals and the greatest challenges that Ed has faced since the start of Porta Delivery, he stated that the main focus was to ensure growth and improve customer experience.
Thus, in order to optimize growth, Porta Delivery tested various different marketing approaches including blogs, Google ads and to maximize SEO optimization.
Moreover, Porta Delivery has protocols in place to ensure the safety of the items being delivered. In the long run, the main plan for Porta Delivery is for its user base to have a natural growth rate and for it to be seen as the best solution for transporting items without the hassle of large shipping companies.
Through an extensive journey in business, Ed is a great example of how there is no one right place to excel in business. In fact, even though his different experiences aided in the inception of Porta Delivery, he stresses the fact that future entrepreneurs have to focus more on getting the product to market rather than overthinking the variables.
Because with his background, he had firsthand experience working with companies to help them grow. Ed highlights that starting a business seems like the natural progression after working in consulting. However, he added that it isn’t the end-all, be-all of what determines the readiness of the business.
The path towards success its different for everyone, but it is importation to have a diverse outlook that is supported by a strong sense of purpose.
Notably, his advice to students wanting to pursue the different facets of business would be to avoid any preconceived notions and primarily focus on following the career path that would have the best personal fulfillment.
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