A Valentine’s Day special. Victor and Céline Labrusse are both graduates from the Master in Management Programme. They finished in 2012 and today they are man and wife. They launched the start-up Hati-Hati together, and here they talk about this entrepreneurial adventure and share their secrets for starting a business as a couple.

Hati-Hati is a website for last-minute reservations that helps disorganised people find an activity such as escape games, tastings, creative workshops and more all at the last minute.

How did you come up with this idea?

It came about while I was travelling around the world with my then-girlfriend in 2019. During our travels in New Zealand we found an app for tourists to help them find lots of different, reduced-rate activities. When we came back to France, there was the Covid lockdown, so we had time to think about what we wanted to do. We wanted to create and test this app in the Île-de-France region.

How did you divide up the tasks?

Céline is a marketing expert, and I’m more into sales, so I handle the website’s development. Today, my wife still has another job, but I work full time on the project.

Why is it a good idea to work with your significant other?

We are extremely complementary. She has skills that I do not possess. We love spending time together and talking. And working with someone you trust is valuable. We both share wonderful memories. Professional successes are great when you get to share them with someone else. In short, working together has a lot of advantages. But you need to put into perspective the personal and professional side of things. When we’re at home, we’re not always going to talk about work because it would be too much.

What advice would you give couples who want to start a business together?

It’s really important to know each other well, know the roles of each person, so that one person isn’t always overlapping onto the other person’s skillset. You also need to know how to talk to each other about things honestly when things are not working so you can avoid any swelling resentment. This is true in your professional life in general but even more so with the person you love.

Where are you heading together? What are goals for Hati-Hati?

Hati-Hati offers activities in the Île-de-France region, and we want to expand this offer. Since October, we have offered team-building activities for companies. The goal is then to cover other large cities in France.