Ellie Horvath
Jonathan Schneider of Gardenia Technologies.
Tell us about yourself?
Passionate about enabling corporate teams to prepare for the future through data. ESG, Finance, and Profitability are no longer mutually exclusive, but are an integral part of how business can be a force for good.
What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?
Perseverance, Clarity, and Optimism. The perseverance to constantly try to ask the questions that you might not want to hear the answer to
. The clarity to be sure that the path that we have taken will lead to a sustained change for the future, and the optimism to always be looking for tomorrow’s better days, when it maybe raining today.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Be clear, resourceful and always try to turn a setback into a learning experience. More often than not we are preoccupied with the daily rollercoaster of emotions. Use both the positive and the negative as a learning experience.
A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?
Having recently welcomed our second son, I have recently discovered the challenge of having to try to balance Work and Personal.
My belief is that, I constantly have to be judicious with where and what I am choosing to dedicate time to, what does not make the cut.
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
We started the business trying to bring a completely data driven decision making process to the provision of Working Capital Finance to large multinational corporates. Our hope was to remove all barriers to the availability of Supply Chain Finance to smaller local suppliers.
We successfully did this, and are now focused on enabling corporate teams to become the virtuous cycle of iterative improvements that will allow business to become a force for good.
What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?
We have a single focus on eliminating any manual process that the client might have to perform, so that they are able to seamlessly benefit from world class data processing without having to invest in creating their own capability.
How have you found sales so far? Do you have any lessons you could pass on to other founders in the same market as you just starting out?
One reference client is not enough. Getting a number of different clients that you can rely on for product improvements and prospective clients to reference check against.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?
Our services are designed for large multinational companies, who are not easily able to contract on faith. Applicable proof of concepts that can be referenced was our main point of priority.
What do you find are the advantages of operating your business in London?
Many of our target clients are based in London or have decision makers regularly visiting London, and the fact that London is a global financial centre is an added bonus. This allows, easily access potential clients, potential funders, and world class human capital.
Are there any issues with having a London based business? Have you experienced these?
London is a global city, which also comes with higher setup, hiring and ongoing costs than many other cities. This makes it more complicated to run a leaner start up than normal.
How has the higher than UK average cost of living impacted your ability to work and live in London and how has this also impacted your ability as an employer?
With the new trend to work remotely businesses have to balance the benefits and costs of being in a global cosmopolitan city.
We are constantly competing with large financial institutions or large technology companies for talent. This means, at times, that we are unable to compete on the renumeration for some of the talent.
If you had to relocate your business to another city in the UK, which one would it be and why?
We would not be looking to move with in the UK if we were not in London.
How has BREXIT impacted your business (if at all)?
Yes. It has put a number of barriers to us doing business in Europe and made collaboration with some European companies more restricted.
What is your vision for your company in the next 5 years?
We are starting to build our presences in Europe, which we aim to continue to continue to grow in France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Spain. We have started to have customers in the United States of America, which we foresee being a large market for us.
And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?
Please visit our website or get in contact with us on LinkedIn. Alternatively, please follow us on Twitter. We are excited to hear your story and look forward to learning more about you.
Follow Gardenia Technologies on Twitter or Linkedin.
