Celebrating World Entrepreneurs Day
Every year, 21 August marks World Entrepreneur’s Day – a day to celebrate the people who start a business alone and create awareness for entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovation.
So, it seems fitting that today we sit down with our very own Founder, Matt Burge, and look back at the incredible journey of Formitize.
What drove you to create Formitize and what were you doing at the time?
“The idea for Formitize was created from a really magical moment. I had been working in a B2B telecoms company, and it was a fascinating time for the world as apps came into play and started to be used as a business tool.
“At the telecoms company, we had a reseller who was looking to develop an app to collect order information for us to process, and he brought it in one day and showed it to me.
“It was a very rudimentary, basic form that was just collecting customer information. But, the ability to fill in a form in the field, process it, and have it available in our back end made me say, “Wow, this has got massive potential”.
“He talked about a young coder who had built it for him, and as soon as I saw it, I thought “This has got applications not just for our industry, but for every industry, wherever there’s somebody in the field collecting information, there’s big capability”.
“So that’s how the Formitize concept began. That’s where the spark was born, and that young coder that I talked about is still our Lead Developer now.”
How has the Formitize model changed between 2012 and 2021?
“Over the years, our business model has changed and transformed from its origins as a paperless forms solution that collects information in the field and passes it through to existing systems. We’ve moved from just being that, to really looking at being an all-in-one solution that includes asset management, a full CRM, job management, job scheduling, compliance registers, and so much more.
“It really is a much bigger, much more diverse system. We believe that people don’t want to jump in and out of different software solutions – they want so much of that in one place. So, that’s the direction that we’re taking, and it’s paying off.”
What are you most proud of after nine years?
“After nine years in the business, I’m most proud of the client base that we have, the ability that we have to generate solutions for all types of businesses very quickly, and the team that we’ve built that’s able to service those clients. We have thousands of clients all over the world in all sorts of different industries, and our team is able to work with them to deliver a solution that transforms their business. It’s amazing to hear and see that happening every day.”
What would your greatest business advice be to people starting out in an industry?
“If I were to give my advice to people starting out in any industry or starting a business from scratch, it would be this: Genuinely understand it, and make sure that the product or the service you are bringing is going to make a difference. If it’s just the same as everything else, then you risk fighting an uphill battle. If you’ve got a point of difference, and the market is there, then go for it.
“Be prepared for the lows, as well as the highs. It will have incredible ups and incredible downs – that’s part of the journey, so you’ve got to be prepared to drag yourself through that quicksand and those times when you think it’s too hard.
“I also think it’s important to get honest opinions – not just from family and friends, but also from experts outside your circle who are indifferent to how you feel and will give you their thoughts on what you’re doing.”
Where do you see Formitize in another 9 years?
“Looking at the future of Formitize, I’d like us to be the world’s favourite smart business platform. There’s a lot of software platforms available out there, but a lot of them – while they’re big – might not necessarily be enjoyable to spend time in. For me, I want us to be a platform that people love using, and we’ll be working hard to achieve that.”
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