Tell us about your startup…
Our aim at WLTH is to try to reduce the amount of time and stress you currently put into managing all of your finances so you can spend more time doing the things you love. Additionally, our team believes in using tech to solve everyday problems and making life easier. We feel that fintech companies in the Australian market have a responsibility to collaborate and work together in order to keep solving problems and inefficiencies.
How did you get the idea?
A large problem we found in our wealth management business was the disconnect that occurred when managing clients on our database software platform – clients never had access to this. The idea came about to solve this problem by creating a client-facing CRM tool, which would help consumers communicate with their circle of professionals, whilst making it easier to have everything stored and easily tracked from one location.
What’s the biggest win you’ve had so far?
The biggest win we’ve had so far is being able to collaborate and work with other fintech companies in the sector. We’ve forged some quality relationships and have been able to share thoughts and obtain key feedback to strengthen our value proposition.
What’s your biggest mistake?
Our biggest mistake more than anything was naivety in the early days. We just couldn’t comprehend why software development always took longer to build and test than anticipated. Being so heavily involved at those stages has turned into a positive, and enabled us to work on shortening dev sprint timelines.
We just couldn’t comprehend at first why software development always took longer to build and test than anticipated.
How’s your experience been funding your startup?
We’ve been lucky in that we’ve been completely self-funded up until this point and haven’t required external investment. However, we’re in the process of applying for some government grants at present.
What needs to improve/change for Australia to become a global leader in innovation and tech?
As stated before, I think it’s up to the fintech companies in the market to collaborate and support each other so we sit at the forefront of the market. We also need the larger institutions to invest more heavily into incubators to help promote a startup and creative culture.
We also need the larger institutions to invest more heavily into incubators to help promote a startup and creative culture.
Have you had any challenges sourcing and growing your team?
We‘ve been lucky with our team. We’ve collaborated with UQ to bridge the gap with students leaving university and entering the workforce, giving them the opportunity to join an exciting and non-traditional work environment. On top of that, we’ve just utilized LinkedIn to create connections and identify like-minded individuals who share our vision.
Do you have any tips for scaling or growing your business?
Educate, engage and listen to your subscribers and followers. They’re the ones engaging and using your platform so why not learn from them!
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?
I would be still working in finance, working to solve process and infrastructure inefficiencies within businesses.
What’s the best advice you could give to someone starting out?
If you truly believe and are passionate about your idea, then go for it. Start planning carefully, understand your idea, build out an innovation roadmap. You need to have a clear understanding of where you want to go, and a concise timeline of when you want to achieve it.
You need to have a clear understanding of where you want to go, and a concise timeline of when you want to achieve it.
If you could go back to the start, tell us two things you would do differently.
One thing we would have done differently would be to never outsource our onboarding calls. This is where we conduct a one-hour video call with clients and walk them through the platform. In the early days we didn’t have enough resources to keep up with the onboarding demand so we outsourced it. Once we realised this was such a key and integral moment of engagement with our subscribers, we brought it back in-house. The second thing we would have done differently would have been to get our government grants applied for sooner, so we could have scaled faster.