How to Hire a MeetnGreeter to Help You Around a New City

Alexander Lomachenko, Product Manager at MeetnGreetMe, helps global travelers feel welcome everywhere around the world. 

While technically speaking, MeetnGreetMe is based out of Minsk, Belarus, they are a part of our Travel Massive LIVE chapter as well.

MeetnGreetMe is an interesting concept designed to welcome guests all over the world while providing concierge services and personal assistance from local people (MeetnGreeters) along the way.

Curious to learn more? Read on!

What inspired you to create this startup? 

Having worked in different spheres, Elena (CEO of MeetnGreetMe) met with a lot of foreign partners and international tourists who encountered many problems connected with transport, money, accommodation. That is how she came up with the idea of the service.

Read the full story on the Meet n Greet website.

How did you build your startup?

We started with a simple landing page which was for the local Belarusian audience. In а year we launched our global, fully functional platform in spring 2016. Where users can create personal accounts, chat with other people, book and provide services, make payments through secure system and leave feedback for the services provided.

At the moment we are staffed to MeetnGreet people in more than 50 countries around the world.

Our MeetnGreeters provide a variety of services from meeting upon arrival and booking accommodation, to interpreting and chartering a yacht. To date more than 1,400 travelers have already used MeetnGreetMe. Whether you are relocating to another country, travelling on business or enjoying yourself during your vacation, MeetnGreeters can help you with arrival, business and money matters, health issues, personal city guiding, and much more.

What makes your startup different from other similar startups out there?

MeetnGreetMe is different from other services because it uniquely blends online (social networking) and offline (localized personal concierge services). Being a classic example of a sharing economy concept, MeetnGreeMe P2P platform not only empowers change in travel, but empowers all people as well. We give a chance to local people to communicate with world travelers, develop their skills and earn extra money in their free time.

How did you get your startup off the ground and gaining traction?

We receive most revenue from simple and more common requests such as meeting upon arrival, arranging tours to local attractions, perform personalized shopping and arrange personal city guiding.

Gaining traction is more efficient through expanding globally. As a rule, services in exotic countries are the most expensive and demanded ones.

Do you have any tips for new entrepreneurs who want to create a successful startup?

Never ever TRY doing something! Just DO it!

Travel Start-Up is a monthly series that profiles unique online travel start-ups in the Travel Massive community around the world. You can connect with Alexander and MeetnGreetMe on Travel Massive, Twitter and Facebook.