This interview is with Soubhik Chakrabarti, CEO at Canada Hustle.

Soubhik Chakrabarti, CEO, Canada Hustle

Soubhik, can you tell us a bit about your journey to becoming an expert in travel? What sparked your passion, and how has that translated into your career?

Exploring the beautiful Canadian landscape sparked my passion to become a travel expert. I traveled with minimal expenses and sustainably. I decided to share my experience with fellow travelers through my writing by starting Icy Tales to educate them about self-guided traveling tricks and discovering lesser-known destinations on a budget.

Your insights on travel insurance and trip planning have resonated with many. How did those strategies evolve for you over time, and what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who might be just starting to incorporate travel into their business strategies?

I have become more tech-savvy in choosing travel insurance and planning my trips. Automated travel apps have eased my travel experience. I can now focus more on my trips rather than spending time on planning. My smart flight-booking choices help me save money. I advise entrepreneurs who want to incorporate travel into their business strategies to use websites and apps that offer comparative analysis to plan budget-friendly trips and save time for a hassle-free travel experience.

You mentioned using a checklist template for planning trips. Could you walk us through how this template has benefited your business trips and how other entrepreneurs can adapt it for their needs?

Using a checklist template keeps me organized during my business trips. It helps me carry only the necessary documents and travel-related items. For a minimalist like me, this checklist de-clutters heavy preparation for any business trip. Entrepreneurs can use travel apps like Checklist or PackPoint to create a checklist template for a comfortable business trip.

Switching gears a bit, you drew inspiration from the Montreal Mural Fest for your travel app. How do you recommend entrepreneurs cultivate that kind of creative thinking and apply seemingly unrelated experiences to their businesses?

Entrepreneurs should cultivate a learning mindset and creative approach while exploring different places. For example, if they develop an analytical mindset, they can learn from their hiking experience to stay calm and calculative while crossing challenging routes. Using such an experience in their workplace or during business delegations, they can easily handle complex situations.

In terms of turning those creative sparks into concrete actions, how did you go from the initial idea inspired by the Montreal Mural Fest to actually implementing the e-commerce feature on your platform?

Montreal Mural Fest is a vibrant expression of out-of-the-box ideas. Artists from different backgrounds assemble in one place and give voice to their ideas visually. The larger-than-life murals on walls, displays, and vehicles create an atmosphere of cultural bonding, limiting age, gender, and social background. What struck me was the idea of using unconventional mechanisms for artistic expression. It was like investing in something risky but worthy enough to share. I have visited the Canadian landscape extensively and wanted to share my expertise to make others' travel experiences comfortable through practical travel hacks. So, I designed self-guided travel packages that contain weather forecasts, maps, and attire-selection advice for a comfortable experience.

You've emphasized the importance of practical gifts for travelers. From a business perspective, how can entrepreneurs apply this principle of practicality and user-centricity when developing products or services?

I prefer to develop multipurpose and easy-to-carry travel products. Travelers would love to receive things they can use purposefully on different expeditions. For instance, a product that travelers can use during hiking and camping simultaneously improves its utility. Entrepreneurs can research buyer personas, age groups, pain points, and preferences while developing products or services.

Considering your experience with the PackPoint app, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who are trying to identify and leverage the right digital tools for their specific business needs?

Research the market, analyze data insights, and understand your buyers before investing in the right digital tools for your business needs.

For aspiring entrepreneurs who are passionate about travel, what key advice would you offer for building a successful business around that passion, based on your own experiences?

Travel as extensively as possible to understand the challenges during expeditions, and then craft solutions based on your experience. A practical approach often helps you develop customized products and services.