Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in e-commerce but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Omar Soliman, Co-Founder & COO of Couryah Inc., located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We exist to provide a convenient, affordable, and exciting alternative to traditional grocery shopping for urban millennial professionals. By aggregating the latest weekly flyer deals from top grocers and local independent stores in their city, our platform enables users to shop smarter. We have a wide variety of partner grocers that range between national brands, local grocers, butcher shops, ethnic stores, and more. We've delivered tens of thousands of orders and served over 5000 customers, including Harry Potter! When world-renowned actor Daniel Radcliffe visited Halifax in 2020, he ordered from us multiple times during quarantine, and we have a 5-star Google review from his partner Erin Darke.

Tell us about yourself

I come from a hardworking middle-class immigrant family. We moved to Canada in 2007, and I witnessed firsthand the difficulties that my parents faced in providing a better life for our family. Seeing their determination firsthand inspires me to get up and do something that will benefit not only our family but also our community and others. All those heartfelt comments and reviews we get from our customers are so fulfilling for an entrepreneur; they really push us to do better every day.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

As a business owner, I believe my greatest accomplishment had the courage to leave my six-figure corporate job and venture into the business. Entrepreneurship is a dangerous, exhausting, and grueling journey. Most entrepreneurs go unnoticed because we measure success by the end result. After going through the experience, you realize that everything you learn is along the way, not at the end. You enjoy the victories, you grow stronger through adversity, and you thrill and strive despite the insurmountable odds stacked against you.

One of the most important things we are proud of is how helpful we were to the community throughout the pandemic. We've made thousands of people happy by assisting seniors, single parents, and working professionals in need of groceries. We delivered groceries to students from concerned parents in other countries as well as flowers and chocolate from loved ones who live far apart.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The Loneliness. One thing about the entrepreneurial journey is that it can be extremely lonely. You do things on your own you don't have a boss to direct or coach you if you get off track. You must educate yourself, devote time to improving your business and yourself as a leader, and ensure that you are always pivoting on your strategy and business plans when you find yourself spinning your wheels. You must manage your personal time effectively and hold yourself accountable to do what is required for your success. Always believe in yourself and avoid falling into the imposter syndrome trap.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start today and learn along the way: If you have everything figured out when you start, then you are starting too late. You will learn and grow and change your business plan many times over during the life of your business. Do not be afraid of mistakes or trying different tactics early on. It's the only way you will be able to understand your business better.
  2. Do the things that won't scale at first: Don't be afraid to do the manual work or things that you know can't be performed at scale. An example could be calling your Top 20-50 customers every month to ask about the service and understand from them how you could make it better. Creating a manual referral program, even if it requires manual work at the beginning. These are things that you can do to gain real-time insights from your customers and will help you understand better the problem that your business is solving.
  3. Don't worry about what other people may think: One of the biggest challenges that are stopping people from going into a business is the thought of failure and what others may think of them. When you mature and realize that no one's opinion should interfere with you pursuing your dreams and that most of the people you consider friends, unfortunately, will not be in your life in a year or two, you will truly be free. You will realize that strangers are sometimes more supportive than people you know. Build it, and they'll come.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://couryah.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/couryahhfx/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/couryahhfx/
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/couryah_
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/couryah/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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