For Wovert founder Melanie Mambre, building a business is above all a journey of life.
Mélanie Mambré actually, before her master’s degree in business management, had in mind to form a company “at one time or another”. By luck or misfortune, she joined a company that sank a year later, a small SME, a little ahead of her time, in project management of a timber frame house. The company closes and Melanie finds herself on redundancy. Desiring more stability, he applied for “More calm in terms of company turnover, a bank”. She finds herself a mentor by citing accommodation and can fulfill her passion for travel for a period of 11 years.
initiator trips
Every year from 2006 to 2017, she sets out for a month with “her backpack to discover a country”. During her journey, a surreal bubble of oxygen, she enriches herself with the developing culture and “opens her eyes” as she tells us: “I felt the consequences of our excessive consumption for these countries and slowly I realized that despite climate change or even human problems, indigenous people were always happy and full of hope and were determined to protect their territories. Took action. »
transition to entrepreneurship
His clients often visit him to do more to prepare for his journey than just his home loan. “They knew I was a great traveler and I could advise them. Above all, I told them about this way of traveling with a different, more responsible tourism.”. As the leader believes: “It ended in a burnout because I didn’t feel in my place. It’s true that I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, full of initiative and I naturally found myself in associations when I was an employee.” oriented towards”. An awareness of her ability to execute a project as she progresses and decides to align herself with her values, “Acquire something that is close to your heart”. The desire to enter a positive economy takes hold of her, as she wants to show an elegant way to consume, and she decides to leave the bank.
a necessary refinement of thought
From 2017 to 2018, she takes a sabbatical year to work on an idea that came to her mind during her travels. He thought it was common that there is no travel destination that brings together all tourist structures that pay attention to their environment and are in responsible tourism. She knows the competition will be serious. She quickly understands that her desire to create a sort of “green booking” has to be shattered in front of the major players. So she’s taking advantage of this year to see if the project is viable and to find out about the competition. To refine her project, she decides to take a three-month training course with BGE on business building where she receives the tools. During training, she prepares her project and accompanies him to structure her project. At the end of the training, she goes in search of her first advice, specifically a chartered accountant, as well as her funding. It is supported by various players such as Zone, BPfrance and Bank. The round table is valid, it could finally launch Vaovert in December 2017.
Above all, office and skills
The adventure finally begins and Melanie Mambre understands that a big step for her will be to find an office to escape isolation and gather new skills. “I had been working at home for a year and it is true that I needed a real professional location to do my first job because I really needed the skills, especially in digital communication, which I mastered. didn’t.” After getting hired, she may eventually make herself known because “for digital initiatives, the only way to make herself known is to be very present on the network and therefore build a digital reputation”. Florian therefore completes the team, followed six months later by the first housing reference, Gaul, who takes care of receiving the offer.
a concept that has grown
If at the start of the adventure, the entrepreneur focused on booking a stay, he finds out today that it was only the first brick in the building. “After a year or two, seeing all the support and interest around the project, I told myself that stay sales could only be the basis for a whole universe that could be developed over the years. We had a growth ambition Which will allow us to diversify our business in three or four years and become a true partner of sustainable tourism for professionals and travelers alike. A project that has therefore grown. Today, Vaovert has become a de facto platform for booking eco-responsible tourist accommodation in France.
innovation as an advantage
Recognized company behind “If the principle is simple, it is innovation”. This is the famous “Vovert Index”. which gives a score and meets the establishment’s commitment to environmental-responsibility. “We have invested a lot of time and hours in this topic since the inception of the company” and entrepreneur Melanie entrusted us “The first year of building Wavert, we were really into research and development. It was to fine-tune the qualification process. Our algorithms are now recognized as our innovation and what sets us apart.”
challenges still to be faced
The entrepreneur’s ambition does not stop here as she seeks to develop for professionals to help them move towards sustainable tourism. Tomorrow’s Challenge Remains “To be even more visible. We want to be a real French ethical alternative to the current standard players”, But for the time being, it has already had to respond to another challenge like many companies: the Covid. “Today, immediately, we are suffering from Covid. We had to pull the lever for supply, which suffered an early drop to pick up the pace. This stopped us and so took a jump back as we lost half of our offer. In February 2020 we had 300 establishments and in April of the same year we went to hundred., A successful bet as the company is increasing its number of establishments to 150 today, even though it still has to persuade players to go and call a start-up company. Note, however, that this is quite an important offer to meet all passengers, despite the politeness of the manager.
change in opportunity
If COVID may prove to be difficult for many companies, leaders wonder: “Today we see it go all the way back. Is this finally an opportunity? », For the leader, the pandemic “It has raised awareness and above all, it has raised awareness among institutions and politicians that it was necessary for the tourism industry in France to go down this path”, An opportunity that it intends to seize by relying on public authorities, for which this idea, before Covid, was probably too foreboding, while it generates great interest today. If this is true of public authorities, it is also a question of generalized awareness. “I am not sure that if it had not been for the pandemic, the procurement actions would not have changed so much. There is a definite connection with today’s jealousy”.
Winners of the Call for Projects
For the entrepreneur who has been able to overcome the pandemic, a new phase has just emerged, especially thanks to the fact of being “Atout France calls for winning projects. This is an anointing for us and has been selected as one of 10 French companies that will restart tourism in France, showing that we can still move forward The Inter-Ministerial Committee recognized that we can contribute to save tourism and restart it. We came third, which will be a real boost with the support of the institutions. A move that can allow the company to continue its growth and raise funds to achieve all the company’s ambitions and especially to become a true partner of the transition to a more responsible travel behavior.