Q&A SERIES // First Table’s innovative ‘Hospo Lifeline’
First Table founder, Mat Weir.
WE caught up with First Table founder and tech entrepreneur Mat Weir, to talk about how Covid-19 impacted First Table, the innovation that came from the pandemic and the $26,000 hospitality lifeline giveaway.
Mat’s idea for First Table came from a want to solve the problem of slow starts to evenings at restaurants. From humble beginnings as a one-man-band in Queenstown, the Kiwi founder embarked on a journey to build a creative solution that would be a win-win experience for foodies and restaurants alike.
First Table is a restaurant discovery website offering diners 50% off the food bill when they book the 'first table' at breakfast, lunch or dinner at partner restaurants. It’s the perfect incentive for diners to try new and exciting restaurants while saving money by dining early.
How did Covid-19 affect your business?
We make our money when people book a First Table at our partner restaurants. With restaurants closed across the globe – our six markets cover New Zealand, Australia, Bali, the UK, Ireland and Vancouver – we went through a period of zero revenue.
How did you pivot your business to grow from Covid-19?
Something I’m really proud of is retaining all of my team. Firstly because we all care about each other, and secondly because First Table has a vital role to play during the Covid-19 recovery.
With a database of over 500,000 diners, First Table is in a good position to influence people to dine out at restaurants again.
But with First Table unable to operate in levels three and four, I was able to shift my teams focus to launch a community project that would help the hospitality industry – FirstEATS, a free to list takeaway directory.
Why did you launch FirstEATS?
Reopening for takeaway options in level three was a lifeline for many hospitality establishments as it presented an opportunity to generate some revenue.
With Uber Eats dominating New Zealand’s market and more competitors launching, we saw an opportunity to create a free takeaway directory that would help eateries avoid high commissions and keep 100% of the profits.
To date, FirstEATS has helped over 500 eateries get direct orders and made it easy for New Zealanders to find local options for takeaway food.
What have been some of the silver linings that have come from this pandemic for First Table?
In some ways, our team have felt more connected than pre-Covid as we were meeting on Zoom all the time. Being an international company, this type of remote working wasn’t new to us. As our markets continue to reopen at different stages, it’s also helped our team band together and support each other in a stressful time of uncertainty.
A silver lining for the business is that we’re seeing the demand for dining out in New Zealand bigger than it was before.
Where did the idea for your $26,000 ‘Hospo Lifeline’ giveaway come from?
After seeing the FirstEATS directory make such a positive impact, we went back to the drawing board to come up with another idea to help challenged eateries.
Our marketing assistant Megan came up with the giveaway idea as a way to remind eateries that the directory remained a free promotional tool for them to use. It was also an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges that the industry faces as workers respond to disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Any business with pick up or delivery options can enter Hospo Lifeline. Simply add your venue to FirstEATS and fill out the online form to be in to win over $26,000 worth of business support. The package includes online marketing, branding, strategy, financial, subscriptions and more.
Head to FirstEATS.nz/hospo-lifeline to find out more about the prizes and how to enter.
Do you ever run out of ideas?!
We’ve always got more ideas than the time we have to implement them! There’s no chance we’ll run out any time soon.
How can people in the Queenstown Lakes best support the hospitality sector?
The hospo sector has gone through a tough time, and they need our kindness and business.
We’re seeing diners around the world eager to get out to enjoy eating and drinking, but they’re looking for ways to make their money go further. By dining out on First Table, you’re helping restaurants kickstart their night by booking a table at their quietest time and watching your wallet.
What has been the biggest hurdle you’ve had to face during the pandemic
The fact that our restaurants were all closed. We felt we were quite diversified operating in eight countries around the world, but we hadn’t predicted a virus would reach and impact all of these markets at once.
It’s also been a massive mental health challenge for everyone and the fear of the virus returning lives on.
Is Queenstown a good place to be, post Covid-19, as an entrepreneur or Startup?
Queenstown is full of amazing and talented entrepreneurs and people, so it’s always a great place to be. We also see an opportunity to expand our team here in Queenstown now that there’s more housing available.
We’re just gearing up to move into a new office in downtown Queenstown so it’ll be nice to be back in the thick of it and have our favourite hospitality hot spots on our doorstep.
Do you have any advice about how to remain innovative during times of turmoil?
Covid’s forcing innovation and the progress towards digitalising businesses. We’d recommend engaging with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), Callaghan Innovation, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other experts in the tech sector to see how they can support your business and its recovery.
What are your plans with the future for First Table and FirstEATS
We want to launch First Table in the world’s top 100 cities. Our plan for FirstEATS is to continue doing our bit in connecting people with eateries’ low or zero commission ordering channels.
