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Welcome to Future Sharks Lilia! Tell us a little about yourself:
I’m an Investor & CEO at Transformify, previously a Director at PTP Europe Coca – Cola Enterprises, GM & CFO at Skrill/ Paysafe, auditor at EY. ACCA, PGDip Financial Strategy Oxford University.
City where I’m from: London
Hobbies: paragliding, parasailing, sky diving
Favorite quote: “If you know what you want, you will always have it at the end!”
Twitter: @Transformify
Background
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
My first business was founded when I was 21 and still in university. The two small shops were later sold to competition as I decided to pursue a career as an auditor with EY.
Who were your biggest influences? Was there a defining moment in your life?
My father and grandmother were always there for me and their support is invaluable. Speaking of a defining moment, I would say that it was when I saw lots of experienced people lose their jobs due to business transformation. As a senior executive you don’t think much about what will happen if you lose the job bringing comfort into your life until you face it. The best way to be prepared is to have as many alternative sources of income and entrepreneurship and investment are the right choices.
Now
What are you working on? How did you come up with this idea?
Transformify combines the power of fintech with CSR to provide access to jobs and secure payment to people worldwide. Imagine that you are living in a post-war zone with political instability, no investors or jobs, and you don’t have a work permit allowing you to immigrate. You don’t have many choices, right? Transformify was founded initially to help expand diversity and inclusion when hiring by mitigating the risks for the business while providing a source of income. Soon we realized that our business model is much more than that as it addresses unemployment driven immigration, rural development, inclusion of people from vulnerable groups and refugees into the workforce, digital skills gap and much more.
How is your product/service different and unique? What’s the vision?
Addressing pressing social issues while transforming the job market is not something one may encounter all the time. Corporate social responsibility is an aspect that is often overseen and as a result millions of people don’t have access to jobs, online training, and secure payment methods.
Our vision is simple – people need jobs and secure payment methods and businesses need access to global talent no matter the location. Transformify is a B2B marketplace that lets these individuals meet, connect, and benefit from each other. There is no need for the business to have a subsidiary in a foreign country to employ independent contractors. Transformify manages the legal arrangements, billing/ self- billing, and payments worldwide providing a secure environment for everyone. Businesses have only one point of contact and independent contractors get paid straight by Transformify.
Who are your customers? How do you find them?
We have two large groups of business customers – corporates having CSR budgets and technology startups and SMEs looking to hire great talent and optimize costs.
Most of the time these customers find us as Transformify is a certified woman-owned enterprise backed by Virgin and a member of Social Enterprise UK and the Digital Coalition of the European Commission. There are articles published all over the world about what we do and our mission encourages many potential clients to contact us.
Did you experience failure along the way? What did you learn from it?
Launching Transformify wasn’t an easy journey. I have to say that the single most valuable lesson is to stay focused and committed no matter what. Quality is never to be sacrificed and it is better to hire a very qualified employee and pay double as it pays back on the long run.
Value-add questions
Give the readers the best entrepreneurship advice you have.
Cost savings are a necessity most of the time, but could hit you badly if you save from quality hires. Team always comes first and it is your team that will back you during hard times.
Teach us something about {internet marketing, social media ads, fundraising, sales funnels or another topic} Can you recommend any favorite websites to learn that topic?
Time management is key when you manage both remote and on-site teams. Keeping an eye on team velocity and performance will give you a great idea into what is working and what is not working. Valuable pieces of advice could be found on the blog of Time Doctor.
What should an entrepreneur focus on?
Success has two elements – building a great team and securing funding. These should be the two focus areas of entrepreneurs. The team will take care of the product and the clients. Funding is obviously needed in order to be able to hire the right talent and bring the product to the market.
What are some of your favorite books?
I enjoy ‘’ Valuation’’ ( McKinsey) and Corporate Strategy (Oxford University edition).
Where do you see yourself and your product in a couple years?
Transformify has already registered job seekers from 143 countries and business clients from the US, EU, and Asia. In a couple of years we should cover the world and bring hope to millions of people in need. There is no better motivation than transforming people’s lives for good.
Thank you Lilia for letting us share your inspiring story here on Future Sharks! Keep up the good work!
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