Why Do We Do It?

It’s been a few months since we launched our startup. After telling you about cash flow, business, and management, we want to share with you what drives us to build this cash flow management platform, ThinkOut. Out of a pure passion for numbers? Certainly not.

We don’t want to save the world or make it a better place

Like many startup teams, we are driven by enthusiasm and the desire to make a change. We just don’t want to change the world and make it a better place. Surprised? Did you expect the “let’s save humanity” kind of statement? Not here.

Don’t get us wrong. We do want the world to be a better place, but it is not in our power to change the whole of it. Instead, we could change a little part. The one bit we can do something about. Don’t you think that if each of us did their job (and did it well), life would get better for everyone?

We don’t want to get rich, we’re in it for the long run

It is true. Of course, we wouldn’t mind terribly if this happened, but it is not what drives us. We don’t believe that the startup world is some sort of lottery where you can win the big prize, then start living a life of pleasures. That’s in the movies. Ok, maybe in the real world, too, in some very few examples. Startups are meant to create value and innovate, so they should stay for as long as they can do something better, not until the first million.

We, instead, are here to stay and give our very best to find new ways to old problems, make business more enjoyable. We are that kind of people who take pleasure in building things, enjoying achievements, wanting to grow, making things happen.

We don’t want to get famous, but let our product talk about us

The fame’s power of attraction is strong. Now that all Social Media channels are full of articles about startup owners who “made it”, who make the news around the world, it is easy to fall for such a mirage. Who wouldn’t want to act as a role model, to get cited, international attention, to be presented as a “success story”?

We don’t. No false modesty here. We really don’t. We are happy when people are happy with what we build; when they find it useful and it helps them do well. We are happy when we employ our skills for such an end.

So why do we build ThinkOut?

We want to remove pressure from running a business and bring focus on the things that matter

Controlling cash flow has literally haunted us. As part of a digital product agency, we struggled with cash flow management ourselves; we experienced how difficult is to focus on the business vision and development when dealing with the pressure of zero cash date. There is no fun in that. We embarked on the small business journey to take close part in making things happen; it thrills us. And we noticed how constant cash worries took away this joy. We were not the only ones; our clients, partners, fellow entrepreneurs were sharing the same concern. So we put ourselves to work to find a way to solve this. And we did.

We want more small companies to make it

Did you know that in the U.S. 45.1% new businesses fail in 4 years (study by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Another study showed that in 2015 more than a 3rd of small business owners in U.S. anticipated cash flow issues for the following 12 months. Europe is not far from these concerns. A survey by Statista showed that in the UK, in 2015, more than 25% of SMEs saw cash flow as an obstacle for running the business by the mid of 2015.

We don’t pretend that cash flow control is the key to small business success, but it would surely help and change these statistics. We would love to be players in a business ecosystem with more SMEs, where interactions would get closer, each company would develop a distinct personality, employees would do what they really like and owners would see their dreams come true. It’s a good way to evolve and we do want to grow along with others.

So you see, this is the bit of the world we want to make better with our ThinkOut platform. It is not only about cash flow management; it is about seeing more people (like us) building things, changing for better, living their dreams.