Arthur de Rivoire, co-founder of All Square, is proud to have created the first social media platform for golfers and the golf industry. He met with Geneva Business News to share how his passion became his job, and how all the effort they are investing in the project is having a very good return.
The beginning
Almost three years ago, de Rivoire started building his dream, outlining what today is All Square Golf. He and his associate Patrick Rahme saw that the golf market “was ‘late’ in terms of technology” and they decided they were going to bring together the golf industry and help it catch up with the digital era.
“At that time we saw a big opportunity in this market and we had nothing to lose because we were two passionate and young entrepreneurs,” he explains. However, the choice was not a simple one. “As graduates in Finance, we turned down attractive offers and launched our business while some friends were going the corporate way,” he continues. Yet he and his partner would not have done it any other way. They love this sport and want to “unify the world of golf in one single platform”.
Today
De Rivoire and Rahme had clear vision of what they wanted to achieve and All Square is already considered as the Facebook and Trip Advisor of Golf. But even while they were developing it, the project moved forward in various phases, each developed with care and dedication. “Doing our market research before launching is something that allows us to gather feedback, and develop solutions accordingly.”
Phase 1 – All Square brings golfers together. “We extend online the conversation that starts on the golf course or at the bar. Golf is a social network, and we have built an environment that allows golfers to connect and share their best golf-related moments,” de Rivoire explains as he mentions that, as of today, more than 60,000 users share their experiences on golf courses using the app.
Phase 2 – All Square connects golfers with golf courses. “We are opening a new communication channel for golf courses to promote their offers and services, to reach a highly targeted audience of golfers. Golf courses interact with their members and visitors, promote their events, answer reviews, and modify their page. We have built a tool that allows them to retain customers and keep the relationship with them and potential clients,” he explains while he shows how the tool works. “We have more than 50 paying clients at the moment, which includes some of the leading courses in Europe such as the Evian Resort, PGA Catalunya or Golf de Crans-sur-Sierre.”
The future
What’s next for All Square? Connecting brands in golf with customers, de Rivoire reveals. “Next season, we will be launching phase 3, which will allow golf related businesses to promote their offers towards our audience”, he adds. However, this does not mean advertising, since that is not how All Square wishes to make money. “We want to offer our users only valuable content,” he specifies. Right now, the All Square Golf platform is “in between phases 2 and 3, and still pushing on phase 1.”
All Square Golf has a clear go-to-market strategy and needs to expand in key locations such as the US, (more than 20 million golfers and more than 17,000 golf courses). Expanding their list of clients in this market, together with the UK and France, is part of their ongoing developments.
Love what you do and you won’t have to work a day in your life
We agree with de Rivoire that golf can go hand in hand with business, and that a passion can become our job. All Square proves that if a project is attractive, viable and commercial-minded, it can and will succeed. One thing de Rivoire seems to think is most important is to remain realistic. He recognizes that “things always take longer than expected, and that is why we plan in advance, and figure out how it works.” He also mentions that managing emotions and hiring the right team is fundamental to achieving their goals.
The team
According to de Rivoire, “as entrepreneurs, we live on a daily rollercoaster, with some tougher days but also with rewarding results due to the team’s hard work.” The team is de Rivoire’s greatest satisfaction: “we built a great team with fantastic people that are fully committed to All Square, and we are proud of it.” He also agrees that the gathering of the team was one of the toughest tasks. “Without a team, you can’t achieve anything,” he states, thanking each one of them for their commitment.
The story has just begun for the All Square team and step by step, its founders’ passion is growing into a business, with the satisfaction of achieving what they’ve worked so hard to accomplish.
