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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Hamza Datoo
“It makes no sense to focus on something you have no control over, so just get up every day, put your best foot forward and be as consistent as possible...” – Hamza Datoo
Today we feature Hamza Datoo, the founder at WorkWyse. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Hamza, Founder and Director of WorkWyse. We’re a B2B outsourcing services marketplace, currently focusing on the marketing sector.
Marketing agencies use our platform to connect with small businesses that are actively seeking a marketing expert. The current solutions have it all wrong, they charge agencies for leads based on the proposed budget, whereas we believe that the intent to buy is the most important factor in landing a client.
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I’ve been in everything from IT, hospitality, automotive, and most recently, digital marketing.
I’ve always looked for solutions to problems but I didn’t realise how difficult it was trying to sell digital marketing services, especially as the industry is heavily saturated now.
Companies often forget that millennials operate differently; we don’t like forcing people to buy nor do we like being sold to when we’re not looking.
Especially as the lockdown was at its peak last year, you couldn’t visit businesses like you used to.
I thought, why not digitise this process?
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
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Imagine your business is looking for a marketing expert.
You could ask your network or you might Google it. Check out some reviews and testimonials of agencies that rank high. You might contact them and ask for a price range and what services they have. Do they know your industry well?
There’s a lot to go through; it takes an average of 3 weeks to select a marketing agency via the usual route.
We’re trying to streamline this process to the point of getting matched and selecting a marketing expert within days.
Our marketplace is fully automated, with no subscription, no commission and no sign-up fee and we service the UK (nationwide).
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
It’s hard to define what success truly is. All we know is that we’re constantly providing value to small businesses, especially during a time where large corporations swallow up as much business as they can.
It’s crazy how an idea that started after I was let go has managed to become something that’s used nearly every day by so many professionals.
As scary as Covid has been, it’s helped us really grow and digitise an outdated sales process.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
In the initial stages of anything, you try to work as fast as possible. Being agile and carrying out testing is vital for any startup – but no one tells you the cost of impatience.
For example, settling with a software solution that’ll “just do” can mean you’re stuck with something that is either very costly or unscalable – this means you’ll have to spend more time to solve it or more money in testing out other solutions.
It happens in everyday life too. You’ll see and buy something you like, only to find out you could have got a better product for the same price or the same product for a better price.
Work fast but plan ahead!
It’s okay to get rejected. It happens all the time in sales, as well as in life. I just wish I didn’t take it so personally before.
Some people might hate your product or hate you, and that’s okay, you can’t please everyone.
But you won’t know what you can get unless you push forward, ask, and get rejected a number of times.
It’s that mentality that keeps you going through the tough times.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Run as lean as possible – you don’t need a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Attitude over aptitude. You’ll struggle to find people with the same level of excitement as you have about your solution, and when you do find them, they make the best co-founders. Motivational drivers are key to understanding who to hire and why.
The thing with experience is, it comes right after you need it. Giving advice to others is great but it’s nowhere near as powerful as going through it yourself – that’s why it’s really the best teacher.
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
We’re fully remote and we handle all of our internal comms through Slack, with the various integrations for our analytics, dev software and marketing tools, it ensures all our data flows through to one place and to the right people.
The second favourite tool we have is Jira. I absolutely love the features such as product roadmaps, task management and the ability to monitor & delegate tasks to team members.
My third favourite tool is LinkedIn. As it’s a “professionals only” social network, it works amazingly well in helping us connect with our target market. We’re able to have conversations with decision-makers in real-time. We really couldn’t have gotten far without it.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
It’s okay to get rejected. It happens all the time in sales, as well as in life. I just wish I didn’t take it so personally before.
Some people might hate your product or hate you, and that’s okay, you can’t please everyone.
But you won’t know what you can get unless you push forward, ask, and get rejected a number of times.
It’s that mentality that keeps you going through the tough times.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
Through posting great stories, I’ve been able to gather in-bound leads and land meetings consistently. I’m not into big wins but small, daily victories. They’re the ones that add up to making real change.
One of the best things I still hear is when agencies tell us they’ve been looking for a solution like ours – we get this often because we’ve worked hard to make a solution for a very specific audience.
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
It sounds crazy, but I guess I have to be.
Although the B2B space is much more niche, there’s lots of room for growth. The “Amazon of B2B services” is the aim.
Catering for every service your business outsources, from training providers to accountancy – we want to cover it all.
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Your job is to not quit.
Everyone loves hearing success stories about founders landing a sweet Series A or getting featured in Tech Crunch.
It’s flashy and cool but those big wins don’t happen naturally, you’ll only hear about those who made it. It makes no sense to focus on something you have no control over, so just get up every day, put your best foot forward and be as consistent as possible.
Ever heard of the legend of Milo of Croton? As a teenager, he carried a calf every day on his back up a hill. By the time he was a grown man, he was carrying a fully grown bull!
That’s where daily consistency gets you. You’ll look back and surprise yourself with how far you’ve come.
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and WorkWyse”
To learn more about WorkWyse Visit www.workwyse.io
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