Best Startup
TCW is an innovative software platform which provides clients with a world first view of risk and compliance data.
The software ingest, analyses and verifies using a combination of software development and engineering, providing clients with total assurance that immediate, and predicted, risk can be managed effectively.
In layman’s terms, TCW save lives, saves money and breaks down the barriers of organisations’ restraints which have been present for years.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Be less trustworthy of those complimenting and portraying that they want to assist you in the journey. This sounds crazy, but as a new Entrepreneur it’s easy to believe that everyone has the same beliefs and passion about your product and journey as you.
In truth, most are looking for their own next step on the ladder and forward thinking naive entrepreneurs feel they should give more when, in reality, they gain less.
Having a much leaner approach to the decisions you make and the people you back or support, considering your own personal and business benefits, places you in a stronger position to drive you forward as opposed to others. It’s nice to help, but if its in place of helping yourself, it shouldn’t happen.
What problem does your business solve?
Inherently, the management of risk has been limited to what a human can do with the time they have. When introducing software to a process that is limited in this way, it opens doors to a more succinct process of understanding and interpretation and a better and much deeper view of Asset Management, risk and compliance data.
TCW has smashed this door wide open and developed the only product globally that ticks all the software, data, asset and engineering milestones we need to carry out each day when managing risk.
In essence, TCW makes any client proactive and better informed rather than dealing with issues once they’ve happened.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
I don’t consider what we’ve built to be based on inspiration around wanting to be software entrepreneurs or successful business owners.
That comes with the position we are in now, but the initial view was to create something that fixed an important issue we had in the UK Housing sector. In my previous role within UK Local Authority I was responsible for thousands of properties.
I grew more, and more frustrated that I had to make decisions based on assumptions as opposed to facts.
What is your magic sauce?
The initial idea, finding a solution to a real-life problem and the innovative mindsets of our whole team.
We are constantly developing our software and strengthening our business. I’m afraid that is all I’m willing to say about the Magic of TCW!
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
The technology doesn’t have a ceiling in terms of its capability.
As the leading product in Housing and a few other sectors looking closely at how TCW can change the landscape, our view is to grow throughout the world of data science, compliance and asset management.
We really can provide much needed relief to many sectors, and that is exactly what we intend to do.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
I hear certain things every now and again where business owners and entrepreneurs feel like they fail more times than they succeed.
This is something I feel is a core part of developing and growing any business. To accept that brick walls will be built in your way and that growing around, over or through them is a normal process, is probably the most important part of any growth strategy.
The key is when it happens enough times to make you think, “it’s time to quit”, yet you still keep going, that’s where the magic happens.
From a personal point, the biggest challenge for me was probably back on July 12th 2018. I was due to present to 300 people about compliance, data and the value of accurate technology making life easy for everyone.
This was going to be a milestone for TCW, yet a few weeks before a close family member died in a diving accident in Scotland and the funeral was to be held on July 12th.
I couldn’t change the meeting and I was constantly met with ‘but you’re the only person who can present this specific thing for TCW’.
So, I woke up that morning and helped carry a coffin into church, I spent an hour crying my eyes out and straight after the funeral I jumped in the car, still absolutely gutted, drove to Leeds and presented in front of 300 people.
I literally walked in, did the presentation and walked out. I headed back to the wake and spent the rest of the day with my family.
What’s really interesting here is I can’t actually remember doing the presentation.
There is photographic evidence, so I know it wasn’t a dream. After the event I received an email telling me that nearly every person at the event, who had no idea of my ordeal or why I left straight away, commented that the presentation was the best of the day.
You have to be prepared to make sacrifice and do things that would sit outside of what’s ‘normal’, or your comfort zone.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
I was faced with the exact problem our clients and prospective clients face today.
I know the pain-points all too well, and I am passionate about improving management of risk and, ultimately, the safety of assets. When I present, there is no sales pitch for TCW, I discuss the issues our clients face and how we can improve the industry.
TCW speaks for itself. When people see a demo, especially when they send their own documents to be uploaded into our software for the demo, TCW opens up data, facts and knowledge right before their eyes. As a client once told us “Seeing is believing”.
Once you are aware of the information and assurance you are able to gain and see just how proactive and efficient managing assets can be, it’s hard to justify that a percentage check and spreadsheet is acceptable.
