Startup Q&A with UrCook

As part of the series "Startup Q&A @co:hub66" we regularly present regional startups and give interested and future founders insights about individual success stories as well as "tips from founders for founders".

This week, we asked Nouredine Benaissa from UrCook questions about founding and the success story of the Saarland-based startup.



Who are you?

We are UrCook, founded in June 2021 and our team now consists of five partners. In fact, we developed the idea for UrCook a year earlier, before the first big lockdown. Unfortunately, our hands were tied during the lockdown, but with the second Corona wave we started to actively implement our idea. In the end, our concept is similar to that of "Lieferando", but instead of delivering food, we deliver the cook. This means our customers can book the chef to their home, to an event or for an event of their choice.



What problem are you trying to solve?

The main problem is that good food often loses quality on the way from the restaurant to the customer's home. This is exactly the problem we want to solve. Many people know that the food in a restaurant never arrives at home as it is served in the restaurant. The second problem is that even in a restaurant or when ordering food it is difficult to find something for every taste. And of course, the individual feeling that the chef:in is there just for me is missing. This is exactly what we offer through our platform. Our customers no longer have the problem of having to choose from numerous offers and questions such as "Which restaurant do we want to visit today" or "Where can we find a good parking space? All these problems can be saved by booking a cook. In addition, you have the feeling of a special experience. Another problem that we solve are intolerances, also here everything can be adjusted to the individual needs of the customer.



What are your three most important company values?

Individuality is our most important value.

It is our USP to offer a concept that can be tailored to the individual needs of our customers. In comparison, catering companies can't be as personal in their offerings, of course. Delivery services also don't offer the same as UrCook, namely a platform that we now also offer app-based, which means I book a chef and a complete experience. According to our customers' feedback, this special experience is what UrCook is all about.



What's the biggest mistake you've made so far?

Mistake is a very, very harsh word. In the end, there was no mistake that I regret retroactively, because every mistake, has brought me one step further forward. So maybe the word mistake is not always the right word. You have to work really hard to achieve something, and many people underestimate that. Most people think that an idea is enough and then the rest will develop by itself, no matter how good the idea is. If you don't put any work into the process and invest lots and lots of time, 90% of the time it will fail. One mistake is not putting enough power and time into the idea. Starting a business is simply a full-time job. It's not something you can do on the side. You can't underestimate the time intensity. Some founders may make these mistakes. You have to have a very big vision and just try everything and learn from it. You shouldn't be deterred by mistakes. So it is better to make one more mistake and learn from it than not to try one thing. You learn from every mistake and come out stronger. So I would say it's better to try once too many than once too few.



What tip would you like to have received yourself?

I would recommend everyone to turn to someone who knows about setting up a business and also has experience in it. That was something that helped me a lot. It's better to address something once too often than once too little, because the bottom line is that it's very difficult to get something off the ground on your own without having any expertise. So it's better to have someone on your side and be prepared to invest a little bit of money.



Are there any other startups or relatively newly founded companies that you say? I think they're really interesting, you should check them out.

• The Vegabonds

• Tribe



What is your vision for the next five years?

For now, we want to launch nationally this year and next year, but we also plan to expand the process internationally in parallel. Through our marketing partner Suga Agency in Cologne, we have a reach of millions and want to use their expertise to make a name for ourselves internationally. That's the first step we're taking this year. We have now built an app to make the whole process more user-friendly and this is in the final stages right now. After that, we want to start a big promo tour where we will just cook a lot of artists to spread the name of UrCook and get people to know the whole topic. Our goal is to think very big, because if you don't think big, you can't achieve anything big. However, you should also always be very realistic. We definitely want to become known internationally as well. But we have not set ourselves a five-year deadline. That can work in two years and if it's only in eight years, it's also okay.



Is there still a dream cooperation for you that you would like to have or maybe you already have it?

For me personally, I have found our dream cooperation with the Suga Agency in Cologne. Otherwise, there is always room for improvement in our wishes, but at the moment we are happy as can be.



If your startup was a song, which song would it be?

• Don't worry be happy

• The show must go on



We wish the entire UrCook team continued success and are happy to have been given an insight into another Saarland startup success story!

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