The Great Obami Roadtrip
By Barbara Mallinson - 20 Jan 2009
URL: www.obami.com

The story of how Obami (the safe social networking site for South African schools) has come to be is best illustrated using the analogy of a good old fashioned roadtrip - an incredible journey, with challenges and opportunities around every corner.

The Destination
We all know that road trips have to start off with a destination in mind. In the case of a business, and for me, Obami, this meant some serious goal setting. What I didn’t realise at the time, was that my final destination would have to change –originally, Obami was built as a generic social networking site, but with the soaring popularity of Facebook and Twitter, the highway to a successful business was rather congested. So, I did a bit of research and updated my GPS co-ordinates... Destination: Education, SA!

The Car
A developer friend and myself sat down one day (a couple years back), in my basement flat in London, to get the ball rolling on the Obami website - the set of wheels that was to get me from A to B. I soon hired a second developer to act as the Obami mechanic, and we cracked on with building a basic networking service. For the sake of continuity in this comparison, let’s say that Obami started out as the everyday Toyota Corolla – reliable but perhaps a touch too much of the ordinary.

Then, with the decision to move Obami over to South Africa and offer it as a niche platform for schools, the site underwent a fair bit of customisation; MTV Pimp My Ride style. Finding the right developers, locally, took some time, but in the end I settled on Lilo, a web development agency that could help fine tune the Obami motor, and add the all important go-fast stripes.

The Fuel
Before setting off on my expedition, I had to fill up the tank. But, acquiring funding for a start-up business isn’t as easy as dropping by your neighbourhood BP station. It takes time, perseverance and even begging in some cases! Luckily, a few saved pennies, a grant from the UK Government and generous support from friends and family, helped to keep my fuel gauge out of the red.

The Convoy
Changing Obami’s strategic direction and business location (from London to Cape Town) was hugely exciting – I would be coming home to do something good for my country. At the same time, however, it was daunting... I wasn’t familiar with the road network as I moved from smooth tar to dusty gravel. I needed others to keep me company, to drive in convoy and show me the way.

Fortune came (whilst streaming one of Reuben Goldberg’s Internet Economy episodes) in the form of IS Labs, an incubation fund set up by Justin Spratt, Greg de Chasteauneuf, Jeff Fletcher and Ian Carpenter of Internet Solutions. Their ongoing support through free hosting, Internet access and industry connections, has played an important role in keeping Obami in the fast lane.

More recently, the convoy has been joined by the Emerging Media vehicle – “PR rockstars” who also want to do their bit in growing the local Internet market.

The Passengers
In this metaphorical post, it makes sense to compare Obami’s users to the passengers I have, and will be, picking up along the way. My taxi, lit up with the trusted ISASA member badge, first got St Mary’s Waverley on board, who were then followed by St Benedict’s Prep, Crawford College Lonehill and Auckland Park Preparatory, to name just a few.

Of course Obami is, by no means, exclusive to private schools, but with a 98% Internet penetration, it made sense to pick them up from the roadside first. Hopefully more passengers, from all over SA, will be waiting, thumbs up, around the corner.

The roadtrip is far from over. In fact, it’s only just beginning, and there’s a growing fleet of cars carrying pupils, teachers and parents, and very soon, some well respected business partners too.
It’s one helluva journey, but I can’t deny I’m enjoying the ride.