In our latest chat, Justin Hales, CEO at Camplify, reminisces about the Christmas holiday struggle that led him to notice numerous idle caravans in his neighbourhood, sparking the innovative idea behind his business.
Transitioning from a stable job to navigating the startup world, Justin shares how positive feedback and a successful accelerator program bolstered his confidence to launch Camplify. He reflects on his childhood caravan travels across Australia, which deeply influenced his vision for making adventurous holidays accessible through a peer-to-peer RV rental platform.
Justin, can you take us back to the moment when you realised there was a need for a service like Camplify?
In November 2014, my wife and I were trying to work out our Christmas holiday plans, which didn’t involve leaving our dog at home. We really wanted to revisit the nostalgia of both of our childhoods and book a road trip experience, so we searched online to rent a caravan and struggled to find anything suitable for what we needed. It was not until this that I started to notice all of the unused caravans in our local neighbourhood, which got me thinking about the need for an effective peer-to-peer RV rental app.
What was going through your mind when you saw all those unused caravans?
Initially, I was only thinking about which one we would like to use for our Christmas holiday and found myself envisioning which caravan would suit myself and my family. However, I started to think to myself ‘wouldn’t it be great if there was Airbnb for caravans’… Giving birth to the idea of Camplify!
Leaving a secure job to start your own business must have been a big leap. What gave you the confidence to dive into the start-up world and pursue this idea?
When I spoke to people about Camplify, I always received such a positive reaction, so I knew from the get go that it was a strong idea that people would value! We also got into an accelerator program which gave me a lot of support, also having a fast fundraiser to reach our starting point will make anyone feel assured in leaving a secure job to pursue a passion.
Caravanning played a significant role in your childhood holidays. How do you think those early experiences influenced your approach to building Camplify and its community?
As a kid, I spent every holiday travelling in my family’s 1980s Viscount caravan around Australia, so I grew up appreciating the land we live on.
Growing up in Australia, it is rare to travel overseas at a young age due to the distance to holiday destinations such as Europe, but seeing and exploring Australia as a young boy meant I saw a lot more of the country than most people get to see in their lifetime.
Having this as my experience growing up, I understood how accessible it was to do that, so I really wanted to harness that in the Camplify community, to ensure that camping and exploring Australia through van life is accessible to anyone – regardless of budget and needs.
The journey from an idea to a thriving business is rarely straightforward. Could you share a particularly challenging moment and how you navigated through it?
Along the way we faced a number of challenges. We found that legislation was outdated, and did not account for disruptive businesses like Camplify. To operate effectively, we had to find creative solutions to be able to operate at every corner.
We also had struggles scaling our business, in terms of financial challenges, there were times when funds ran out, but luckily due to our external support, funding was always just around the corner.
Another hurdle we faced was with insurance, finding the right insurance partner was a lot more difficult than initially imagined. We encountered this as a large roadblock until we found a partner who understood our business, offering us the support and necessary insurance coverage to our customers.
As someone deeply involved in enhancing user experiences through software, how do you ensure the product remains user-friendly and meets the evolving needs of your community?
We ensure our product remains user-friendly through user testing with our customers These are the people using the platform most often. therefore they are the best audience to test with and get direct feedback from. We often release features to our customers and ask for feedback, which luckily our loyal customer base provides early. This means we can evolve the changes in partnership with the customer in mind.
Here at Camplify we also ensure we are all using the product, we have the apps downloaded and often will jump in to check new features and how they look on multiple platforms. All the staff are encouraged to use the platform, this just ensures we are all aware of how it is working and looking, so we can notice as soon as something plays up.
Camplify has grown significantly since its launch. Looking back, what aspect of the company’s growth or impact has surprised you the most?
Most surprising to us is that the customer needs around the globe are so similar. Locally there might be differences, but at the bottom line, all customers want very similar things. This allows us to focus on our core offering, and look to service several various countries over the coming years.
