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Grant Landram is an entrepreneur behind the restaurant reservations site, SeatSimple.com. Below he shares how he got started, some of his success, and some of his failures, and what’s coming in the future. Enjoy!

Q. When was the first time you thought “I’m an entrepreneur” to yourself?

Unlike a lot of other entrepreneurs out there, I didn’t always know that entrepreneurship was for me.  I’ve always been fairly risk averse, and making the leap in to entrepreneurship was tough for me.  I probably didn’t consider myself an entrepreneur until the day I formally filed the papers for my company.

Q. Before SeatSimple were you involved with any other businesses/ventures?

When I graduated from Western Washington University I got a job for a startup that I had previously interned for.  It was a small publishing startup that gave me a good taste of what it was like to have a 9-5.  While I was working for them I started consulting at night and on the weekends and eventually landed a few big contracts that launched my full time consulting career.

Q. Where did the idea of SeatSimple come from?

As a consultant I got the chance to work with a variety of small businesses, many of which were restaurants.  I saw a reoccurring issue where my  restaurant clients were unable to successfully connect their online presence with actual measurable results in-store.  I set out to solve that problem using online reservations, along the way learning that the hardware/software restrictions in restaurants would play a major role in shaping my product.  SeatSimple solves the problem by creating an easy way for restaurants to take reservations online without needing any new hardware or software in-store.

Q. What was your first failure with the company, and what did you learn from it?

At SeatSimple, like any other company, we’ve had issues and setbacks.  I try not to view them as failures, rather opportunities for growth.  That being said, there was an opportunity for us to secure some talent early on that would have moved our product forward.  I was slow to pull the trigger and the talent was taken by another big startup.  In the long run it might have been the correct strategic decision, but it sucks looking back and wondering what could have been.

Q. What was your biggest success with the company?

As with any new startup, there are a few significant milestones that move you toward success, whether it’s raising money, securing your first client, or attracting an experienced board member.  For me, simply starting the company was a big deal.  Making the transition from working 9-5 to running my first startup was a big leap of faith on my part.  I think giving this product the opportunity to grow is a success in itself.

Q. What problems did you encounter whilst developing the concept of SeatSimple? How did you overcome these problems?

Tough competitors with great products, lots of barriers to entry,  no market knowledge and an overall lack of existing market research…. the list of problems goes on and on.  Overcoming these issues continues to take hard work, lots of hours, and determination.  There wasn’t any “ahah!” moment, rather the more and more I put in to the concept, the more promising it became.  That’s when I knew I had to try and make it work.

Q. You also do website design on the side, was this the start of developing your personal brand?

It was the start of developing my entrepreneurial side more than anything.  I learned a lot about what I’m capable of, what I enjoyed doing and how I could make money doing it.  My personal brand followed as I became more experienced in how to market myself, and eventually played a big part in starting SeatSimple.

Q. How quickly did SeatSimple grow/expand? Were you surprised?

The idea was slow to come to fruition, partly due to my own hesitation.  But once I decided to do it, it went quickly.  More than anything I was surprised at my own ability.  If properly motivated, we’re all capable of some pretty great things.  As a student I was never very motivated, but with my own startup I found a new sense of drive that has allowed me to do a large amount in a relatively short amount of time.

Q. Finally, what’s coming in the future from yourself and SeatSimple?

Right now SeatSimple is growing and attracting new clients and partnerships every month.  We have some big plans on the roadmap, but we’re taking it one day at a time.  As we go, I’m looking forward to learning more about running a startup and how to grow from a product idea in to a scalable service that meets real and on going business needs.  Big picture, no matter how much we plan, we never know what’s around the next corner.  I’m looking forward to being surprised, and excited for the future of SeatSimple as well as my own.