Ellie Horvath
Jules Robertson of Tally Workspace.
Tell us about yourself?
CEO & Co-Founder of Tally Workspace.Tally Workspace is the most transparent workspace marketplace – making as effortless as possible for companies to find and compare workspace.
Whether that it’s full time offices, hot desks or meeting rooms.Jules holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge MBA and prior to founding Tally Workspace was key in scaling the B2B fintech Soldo from £0.5m to £13.5m ARR as part of the companies growth to a £45m Series B raise.
What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?
Being an entrepreneur has taught me many thing. To read lots of books (business books!) – you will always find new ideas and inspiration from reading how other have succeeded and failed. Join lots of communities – as a first time founder, I am doing everything for the first time.
It is amazing to be able to lean on people within founder communities and ask their advice.To think big – no idea can be too wild. It can be easy to get bogged down by the day to day. It is important to look up and think big. To hire those you can trust and know more than you do.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Learn how to do growth marketing and have an experimental mindset. Growth marketing is not just a fancy way to say marketing. It takes a traditional marketing model and adds layers for example A/B testing, high level funnel analysis and technical analysis of every aspect of a user’s experience.
The insights gained from these strategies/experiments can be quickly implemented in order to test ideas and refine product-market-fit.
A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?
As a founder, I definitely do not have as much time as I used to to socialise which I think is important to accept. Work-life balance to me means saying no, sometimes even when you don’t have anything else on. It means prioritising and learning how to turn off when you are not working.
It also means listening to your body – some days you just won’t be able to do as much as others and that is a good thing.
Give us a bit of an insight into the influences behind the company?
We started Tally Workspace as the way we work has changed but the way workspace is provided hasn’t. At Tally Workspace , we are on a mission to change that.
Companies no longer require a fixed desk for everyone but equally, it is still important for teams to come together and collaborate in either a dedicated home or within more flexible, on-demand workspace.
Both coming from startup backgrounds, we knew that the cost of workspace is prohibitive to many growing teams but the need to provide flexible workspace is essential for both collaboration and culture.
The traditional office space market has poor visibility, low choice and high costs. We started Tally Workspace to provide teams with an effortless way to find workspace personalised to the need of their team.
We wanted to provide a clear, transparent and fair marketplace that enables teams to be confident in their workspace decisions.
What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?
Transparency – When you book with Tally Workspace you know what you are getting. From user reviews to detailed listing pages and clear cancellation policies. Personalised – We care about making sure you get the best workspace for your team.
We know the market and make sure you get the best space for your team’s needs. Effortless – You only look for an office once a year, we understand that finding an office should be easy, we do the admin so you don’t have to.
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?
We now have a sales team with an amazing Head of Sales that previously headed up sales at Perkbox. We use a relatively traditional outbound method of sales.Of course ‘founder-sales’ is always important as no one will know and love the product you are trying to sell as much as you.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced so far in your business, and how did you overcome it?
Deciding what to focus on. Im not sure we have achieved this but in an attempt to do so we have been interviewing lots of customers to see where we add value and of course look at the revenue.
What do you find are the advantages of operating your business in London?
Access to talent, amazing communities and events.
Are there any issues with having a London based business? Have you experienced these?
High costs – but I am sure everyone says this! The size also means that it is hard to go to multiple events on the same day!
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?
Of course, it means that a lot of team live outside of London – meaning it is harder to get everyone together – socially and for collaboration.
If you had to relocate your business to another city in the UK, which one would it be and why?
Bristol – I went to university there and the buzz of the city and its startup community are amazing.
How has BREXIT impacted your business (if at all)?
It has has minimal impact to date.
What is your vision for your company in the next 5 years?
Continuing to add more and more value to our customers and of course to grow that customer base.
And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?
You are always welcome to drop me an email on [email protected]. You can also visit the website at https://www.tallyworkspace.com/ where you can learn more about Tally Workspace.
Tally Workspace is the most transparent workspace marketplace – making as effortless as possible for companies to find and compare workspace. Whether that it’s full time offices, hot desks or meeting rooms.
Follow Tally Workspace on Twitter or Linkedin.
