Laila Ram: How we made £6m from Goan beach huts

Smaller, quirkier hotels weren't getting the same online exposure as their larger, more mainstream rivals. So Laila Ram and university-chum Nikko Tinto founded a one-stop shop for them.

At the turn of the millennium Laila Ram (now 41) was looking for a new start. She had just returned to work as a consultant after having her first child, but "the hours were too long and inflexible". While booking a trip to South Africa with old university friend Nikki Tinto, she got her idea.

The pair wanted to stay in "quirky, small hotels with lots of character", but online, they could only find established names. "We realised that there was a gap in the market for a niche, online boutique hotels site." On holiday they found that the hotel owners agreed. "A lot of the smaller, independent hotels didn't enjoy working with large travel agencies." Their allocation system meant hotels had to leave rooms free with no guarantee that they would be used or paid for. "For a lot of the smaller players that's a big risk."

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.