Basecamp caught up with University of Bristol alumni Adam Chambers, who has start-up business; Applichat. Adam won the Development Stage of the New Enterprise Competition and has shared some of his experiences below.
In a nutshell, what’s your business idea?
Applichat source, automatically pre-screen, then assign job candidates from Facebook and Instagram to recruiters’ workflows.
When was the idea conceived and how did it all start?
I created my first recruitment chatbot for a client in May 2019. The idea arose from recognising some problems in the online English teaching industry such as too many applicants, unqualified candidates (often up to 50%) which wasted recruiters’ time.
There was also a communication barrier: 68% of candidates offered a job did not accept it, often because Chinese emails were caught in firewalls and never read.
Time zones were an issue too, the industry is based in China which is 14 hours ahead of most teachers in the Americas.
Using a chatbot for recruitment solves all these issues: it can pre-qualify and segment candidates, delivers content with 80% + open rates on Facebook Messenger and communicates 24/7.
Which competitions/schemes did you apply for and what was the result?
I applied for the New Enterprise Competition and was awarded £400.
How have you found working with the Basecamp Enterprise Team?
The Basecamp Enterprise team are very approachable. Their post-graduation support is great for helping students transition to entrepreneurship.
What difference has the funding and support from the New Enterprise Competition made to your business start-up?
The funding enabled me to commit 20 more hours to the business for a month. Lowering the hours on my second job meant my ‘side hustle’ became the real thing. I gained a client and haven’t looked back.
It also made me realise the value of helping others. I now aim to help recruitment marketers identify the best chatbots for recruiting and show them how to recruit on Facebook.
Any last words?
Yeah! I’m seeking an apprentice from Bristol. If you’re a student interested in creating a recruitment chatbot or recruiting on Facebook, message me on LinkedIn. I’ll show you how it’s done and invite you into the team!