After reaching the final of Britain’s Got Talent with his family singing act ‘The Neales’, Phil left the world of music and showbiz to pursue his own business in creating a social alarm-clock app.
What do you currently do?
I am the Founder of Snoozle, a platform that gives young people meaningful reasons to care about their sleep routine- from falling asleep to audio content though to a fun, social wake-up experience to voice messages from friends.
We have been delighted by the impression Snoozle has made since we launched it this sumer. It is a free app for users, and we have secured a ‘cost per acquisition’ of under 30p, which is a strong indication that what we are doing is resonating with our target audience.
Our number of Active Users is growing week on week, and we’re focusing on delighting those first few thousand users before we look to scale rapidly. In the last few days, we have secured a partnership with one of the fastest growing companies in the world, and we are working on our next round of funding for early 2019.
What defines your way of doing business?
Everything I do, I like to think I do with integrity. I believe there is a temptation within a start-up to ‘fake it until you make it’ which ultimately causes problems down the line for the business and for the people in it. If you’re not happy for someone to look under the hood of your business then it can result in your constantly compounding exaggerated traction with further exaggerations, which can cause anxiety and stress.
Snoozle is a feel-good business; we want people feeling great from the very first moment they wake up to positivity from their friends, right through to when their drifting off to sleep. If we don’t feel good about what we are doing and how we are doing it, then we won’t deliver that for our users either.
Who do you admire?
I draw a lot of inspiration from the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Gary Vaynerchuck, Ryan Reynolds and Katheryn Ryan. All celebrities who add value to their audience through awesome content and a genuine desire to connect with their fans.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
It is easy to say I’d have started Snoozle earlier, but I doubt I’d have had the capabilities to thrive. I think with a big focus on healthy sleep and huge growth in audio, the timing is spot on for Snoozle now.
The biggest learning I have had though, is to not wait for the ‘perfect time’ or the ‘perfect product’, as the only way to get close to that is by getting your product out there and working with genuine customers to perfect it.
What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Do not be afraid to tell people what you’re doing! I have quite a lot of people reach out to me asking for advice on an idea they have that they are too worried to share. Telling people means you get feedback and it also might give you that little extra incentive to move quicker before someone else delivers your idea; feedback is a gift.