Offline shops connect with online people | #BizInsight with Christer Hansen Eriksen

The social implication of PAM

If people continue to shop offline, millions of jobs are secure. We would hate to see yet another shop having to close down due to increased online shopping.

How we came up with the idea

While doing a project for malls we discovered that offline shops aren’t getting the full potential of an online presence. Most shops have a online presence, often through Facebook and Instagram. This is really positive, and it shows us that the shops are seeking solutions. The challenge is that neither Facebook nor Instagram is made specifically for shops. The shops therefore adapt to the media, instead of having the media accustomed to their specific needs.

For instance, with Facebook and Instagram you won’t get introduced to shops you didn’t know existed, let alone might like. Another problem can be that a shop is spamming you on Facebook with too many posts. You aren’t able filter it, it’s all or nothing.

The people behind

We are three founders; one educated, one dropout and one self-taught. We also have a highly skilled development team.

We are located in a city where the startup community is close to non-existent (Bergen), and in a country where investors choose to put their money into the fishing- or the oil & gas industry (Norway). The odds are definitely against us.

Besides hiking steep mountains, skiing to work and catching fish with our bare hands like all Norwegian do, we have one thing in common; our obsession with quality. True craftsmanship and customer service is something that fascinates us in this day and age. One might say we have an opinion or two about mass production and cheap products. This reflects on what we are creating, and how we choose to do things. When people start using PAM they’ll soon notice that we are quality and not price focused. We are not another coupon or price comparison app.

How we got started

Fortunately, there are people in Norway who arrange events like Startup Weekend. Some of us met there, and some of us met through a local incubator.

Financing

We’re self financed and bootstrapped at the moment, not because we want to but because we have to. Getting investments in Norway is hard, and the amounts raised are usually quite low. Finding overseas investors is not an easy task, but we will begin shortly unless they find us first.