Paid is a software platform, for both buyers and suppliers, that transforms the purchasing process. It’s easier and faster for everyone.
We automatically take care of time-consuming administrative tasks enabling both the buyer and the suppliers alike to focus on their work and their relationships. We deliver cost savings for buyers and faster payments for suppliers. We believe that we can help smaller businesses thrive and the biggest businesses innovate and move quickly. But what is really important to us is our wider mission, which is to create equal opportunity for businesses of all sizes, all over the world.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
In our experience, having both been small business owners, small businesses really want to work with large enterprises, who represent stable cashflow, and cash really is king as an SME. However, the cumbersome supplier onboarding process for a big enterprise and extended payment cycles makes it near impracticable and unattractive – according to BACs, over half of SMEs take large company payment practices into account before trading with them.
Natasha: I also worked in enterprises where perhaps surprisingly they face an almost mirror image problem – they want to be agile and access innovation that smaller suppliers provide but they are hampered and frustrated by their own processes. I once tried to purchase some engineering consulting and the process cost the company more than the consultancy work itself!
We really wanted to solve this problem for everyone, giving enterprises agility and innovation, while providing small suppliers with economic strength and access to wider business opportunities. We do that with our procurement automation software platform, for both buyers and suppliers, that transforms the purchasing process, delivering cost and time savings for buyers and faster payments for suppliers.
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What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
Our advice would be to do what you love and go for it. There are now many ways to test out a business concept early with little to no money to see if the relevant market sees the value in your idea.
Once you have early traction, we believe accelerators provide a great place to move fast and meet and learn from other great founders, investors and mentors. We got an amazing amount from the Barclays powered by Techstars London 2019 program, it truly revolutionised the businesses.
What can we hope to see from Paid in the future?
We believe that we can help smaller businesses thrive and the biggest businesses innovate and move quickly. We are on a mission to create equal opportunity for businesses of all sizes, all over the world.
What this means is that we want to see businesses of all sizes be successful and have time to focus on their relationships, transforming the way we see large and small businesses work together.
We are currently live with a multinational telco and an insurance company and plan to add many more enterprises to our client list over the next 12-18 months, helping tens of thousands of SMEs continue to thrive and contribute to the UK economy.
