Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
01:31:45 · David M. Brear, Hannah Dawson
[01:31:45] S10: It's amazing how many don't, isn't it? [01:31:48] S16: Yeah, it is. It's astonishing. And so we're working really hard and again, a little award winner today, So partner app of the year, really working with our accountants in the zero sphere to ensure that that is step one. You wouldn't advise your best mate who's about to start a business to not go into business without a plan, would you? So let's ensure that that's step one, but what we've been working on, we're kind of opening the kimono here a little bit, but the last year we've been working on a new platform to really try and drive easy decision making, but also to close the loop because it's really, really important that you just don't just go, hey, you're going to be screwed in three months. You know, let's give them a solution at the same time. So that's absolutely what the platform will do. [01:32:30] S10: And and that's a that's a big thing, you know, being in a situation where you're not just, you know, sorry for your loss at the scene of the crime. You know, the crash has taken place and we're here [01:32:38] S16: to Yes, make sorry. Bye. [01:32:39] S10: Yeah. So, you'd like not being the ambulance, trying to be the people preventing the problem happening in the first place.
01:32:39 · David M. Brear, Hannah Dawson, Becca McClure, Caroline Plumb
[01:32:39] S10: Yeah. So, you'd like not being the ambulance, trying to be the people preventing the problem happening in the first place. [01:32:45] S16: And I think that's the really important thing about the ecosystem that Xero has created is that when you're talking Carrie about joining ecosystems together, it's really important that, you know, we start as a product. We will be a platform with our own ecosystem and then working together with, you know, other providers that we can close that loop. It's so important to be that time and place because small business has not got the resource for the analysts, for the in house CFO, those sorts of things. They're, you know, running on a wing in a prayer often and just want to understand look this is where I'm going. You've told me these are the assumptions that I've got now I've got a solution for it. [01:33:22] S14: Yeah, and you've got the accountant in the middle of that that's trying to put these all these things together. I think what would be really helpful too for Xero is potentially I think for an accountant it can be quite daunting with all these new sources of funding coming up and it's helping the accountant navigate that. You've got brilliant tools like futurely that help them understand where they, you know, help them help the client understand where they might have issues, but then it's understanding what might be the best kind of sources of funding. Absolutely. [01:33:55] S2: It's a bit
01:33:55 · Caroline Plumb, Becca McClure, Keri Gohman, Sarah Kocianski, Hannah Dawson, David M. Brear, Will Farnell
[01:33:55] S2: It's a bit [01:33:55] S14: of a minefield and potentially you know you're discussing it earlier. It's still fraught with a bit of risk for us. We can do it, but it's fraught with risk. [01:34:04] S13: Yeah. That's a great point and a huge part of what we want to do is help accountants sort through the solutions and understand which ones make sense for each small business owner. I also just wanted to take this moment to say we've now all adopted my hand motion. [01:34:18] S0: Hand gesture is back. Yes. We love the hand back. [01:34:20] S13: It's ecosystem. It's bank feeds. [01:34:22] S0: So so I'd like to just take a little little step back. So it sounds like you guys are working through this problem and you're coming up with loads of solutions. But we've we've talked before on VidSec insider about how actually difficult is the reason you have to do this is because it's incredibly difficult to access credit or loans if you're a small business from a high street bank. Does anybody have any horror stories to tell? Oh, No. I [01:34:44] S16: actually do. We were bootstrapped until really recently. And so, you know, I'm quite happy to turn around and say that actually at one point we looked for a loan, you know, very traditional provider. Unfortunately, they don't understand SaaS metrics. They don't understand monthly recurring revenue. They understand, you know, if you're not making a profit yet. [01:35:03] S10: Go on, name them. Name No, [01:35:05] S16: I can't. [01:35:05] S6: No. Okay.
01:35:05 · Will Farnell, Hannah Dawson, Keri Gohman, Sarah Kocianski, Sian Kelly
[01:35:05] S6: No. Okay. [01:35:06] S16: Still with them. But it was really, really difficult. And, you know, it doesn't matter the growth that you're you're experiencing. They don't understand MRR. It's not it's not part of their you know makeup. So that was challenging. [01:35:21] S13: And also I would say the other thing that's really tough for business owners is there's no everything's a bit of a black box. So when you go to a bank, don't really know. I mean as if you're a consumer, there are certain ways that you know what your credit score might look like and other things but as a small business owner, there's no real education out there that tells you these are the things that you need to do and by the way you're improving or you're not over time. So... [01:35:44] S0: That's the thing [01:35:44] S16: as well as the credit scores are so out of date. Exactly. [01:35:48] S9: Exactly. And there's some [01:35:49] S16: You're new things kind nine months anyway and then you know, it's just astonishing. [01:35:53] S13: And we definitely want to help them navigate but it starts with education. It how it's about the work that we want to do even to help the banks and financial services understand different data sets. How they can be used? How to be predictive in new ways taking advantage of new technology and obviously you guys are starting to partner with Barclays and change the game there.
01:35:53 · Keri Gohman, Anil Stocker, Sarah Kocianski, Hannah Dawson
[01:35:53] S13: And we definitely want to help them navigate but it starts with education. It how it's about the work that we want to do even to help the banks and financial services understand different data sets. How they can be used? How to be predictive in new ways taking advantage of new technology and obviously you guys are starting to partner with Barclays and change the game there. [01:36:13] S3: Yeah. So I think so I really think that it's not just about to your point about confusion. Yes. There's lots of apps out there. There's lots of different solutions. So I don't think it's enough to just for the likes of Xero to just connect to an app store and show lots of different options. I think finance has become more embedded in the software. You almost need to curate the experience. So if you're uploading a big invoice and you're getting paid by Samsung and that's a regular payment, there should be a pop up that says, hey, we know that this takes a long time and we can preapprove you and get you financed from market invoice. Or we embed in the financial planning software like with... That has been built on top of on of zero to say when you're planning your year, you know that you have these demands for cash at certain times. Plan ahead. Be proactive. Don't just do it last minute. [01:36:54] S0: And I think that point about cash flow is actually one that I've heard over and over again today and it seems to be the missing piece somehow from the journey that exists at the moment. [01:37:05] S16: Know... It's not. It's there.
01:37:05 · Hannah Dawson, Sarah Kocianski, Keri Gohman
[01:37:05] S16: Know... It's not. It's there. [01:37:06] S0: Trust You're there. Sorry. Sorry. I was going to I was going to ask you to explain like how how important it is and how it plugs that gap. Well, is [01:37:14] S16: a bit... So I talk in satnav, right? You know, when you're driving your car. Hey, there's a new route. It's faster. Your business today is different from the business in a month and it... You know, from three months from six months. And so it has to be this, you know, ever changing beast that you're looking at all the time with your advisor actually and that's the touch point that you have with your accountant to say, right, okay, this is our target for this month. How are gonna how you gonna get there? [01:37:42] S13: Yeah, and I think that's an important just point about the advisor. It's great to see your numbers. It's great to have technology that can help you automate the way your business runs. It's so critical that you have an advisor to help you take action, to help you figure out what your individual situation and choices should be. No small business owners the same. So how they interpret the information and what they do with it is going to be unique and they need someone to help them navigate.