Australian FinTech company profile #114 - Bookipi

1. Company Name: Bookipi

2. Website: www.bookipi.com

3. Key Staff & Titles: Tim Lee – CEO, Chad Hardy – COO

4. Location(s): North Strathfield, NSW

5. In one sentence, what does your fintech do?:

Bookipi is a suite of business products for small business owners and freelancers to better manage their money.

6. How / why did you start your fintech company?:

Bookipi founder Tim was a tiler for 10 years. Like most small business owners, he struggled to find accounting software that suited him and his business. He didn’t want to spend lots of money on an expensive subscription and he didn’t want to spend hours learning how to use complicated software. After realising he wasn’t alone, Tim decided to make his own set of tools and in July 2018, he released Bookipi to the app store.

7. What is the best thing your company has achieved or learned along the way (this can include awards, capital raising etc)?:

The most monumental moment thus far was the first capital raise. The positive feedback we received from investors strengthened our belief in our platform and vision.

8. What’s some advice you’d give to an aspiring start-up?:

Find a problem that people need to be solved. Listen to what people say is difficult and find a way to make it easy. That was what Bookipi did with invoicing. Small business owners wanted to upgrade their paper invoices but the existing software was too hard, time-consuming and expensive. Your testers and users are the best tools you have to build a great product so listen to them when they tell you that they don’t like something.

9. What’s next for your company? And are you looking to expand overseas or stay focussed on Australia?:

We are going to continue to build out the best set of tools for freelancers and small business owners. Our apps have always been globally focused and we will continue to expand our product offering globally.

10. What other fintechs or companies do you admire?:

Netflix

11. What’s the most interesting or funniest moment that’s happened in your company’s lifetime?:

When he was building Bookipi, our founder Tim used to go to Gloria Jeans every day to work. He would order the buy one get one free coffee deal in the morning and stay for hours during the peak time. Eventually, Gloria Jeans banned him from the store because they were losing money because of him. That was when Tim decided to get an office.