Best Startup
Tugger helps companies get their data out of their business systems and into Power BI or Tableau for reporting.
Our mission is to help more businesses enjoy reporting on their company data because currently, so many people are put off by the complexity of getting set up.
With Tugger, you don’t need any technical knowledge. Users need to do little more than sign up, and sign-in to start enjoying deep business reporting in popular reporting systems Power BI or Tableau. We even get users set up with key reports.
Tell us about yourself?
I started Tugger with my brother Chris. We’re both developers at heart and we just love finding ways to apply technology to solve a problem.
Whenever we run development work for a client we seem to come away with a completely new solution.
I guess we just get a kick out of making things work better, rather than just following the well-trodden path.
It’s a clique but we always ask if there is a better way, not a more expensive way, just better.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
That’s a tough question because I feel like we’ve made some good moves in the last two years.
Of course, they’ve been lockdown years, we realised pretty quickly that in such uncertain times companies could really do with more data on their business to pivot towards new opportunities or dig deeper into the business to survive.
That’s when Tugger went from an idea in our heads to a company, the time was right. So, I guess two years ago, I’d encourage myself to go for it.
What problem does your business solve?
We make business reporting more accessible for all. So, we make it easier for companies that are already running business reporting, and we make it possible for companies that aren’t.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
The inspiration really is that we spotted there was a genuine need for a product like Tugger.
There are other tools out there that help users transfer their data, but you still need technical knowledge to know what to do with that data.
Tugger customers get their data out of their business systems and into Power BI or Tableau, but crucially we also set them up with key reports around sales, and customers.
So, we offer the whole package from nothing to pretty deep data reporting.
Without Tugger, this would take some lengthy development support, with Tugger someone with no technical knowledge can get started.
We also work with niche software providers so for a lot of companies, there is nothing else on the marketing that can help them like Tugger.
What is your magic sauce?
We can’t tell you that! No, our magic source is our team and attitude. We’re a down-to-earth bunch who just really enjoy what we do. We’re not all about the commercials.
Of course, we’re a business, but we have the ethos that if we have a good product and we treat customers right, our business will grow.
We’re not constantly hammering customers on cost or pushing for more, we’re just happy to spend time with our clients getting it right. Ultimately, want to make this work for everyone.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Boring answer but the next five years are all about growth. Growth in terms of the systems we connect with but also growth of the business. We’re a start-up after all, isn’t it always about growth?
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Getting people to hear about our product.
Stating a new company can be a bit chicken and egg, you need people to hear about your product, but you also don’t have many customers yet so marketing budgets are tight.
Luckly, we have happy customers so they seem to do a lot of our marketing for us.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
There are currently three ways people can get involved with Tugger.
You can use the Tool to transfer your data. You can sign up as a Connector Partner, and we’ll discuss building an integration between your software and Tugger.
Or you can become a Referral Partner, so you can recommend Tugger to companies that you think will benefit.
