In one sentence, what does KashFlow do?

KashFlow makes online accounting software for people who probably think they hate accounting software.

What problems does KashFlow solve?

Even though the majority of small business owners trying to do their accounts aren’t accountants, most software solutions treat them as though they are. KashFlow gets rid of all that jargon and makes the whole process as simple as possible.

When and why did you launch it?

I initially built KashFlow for my own use in 2005 – I was working as a freelance web developer and couldn’t find an easy-to-use solution to do my invoicing and keep track of my accounts.

I shared the program with a few other startups and improved it based on their feedback. With a bit of nudging from my mentor, I began to market the software and haven’t looked back since. 

Who is your target audience?

Our target audience is very small business owners. They generally have little to no accounting knowledge and may have been frustrated by incumbent desktop software in the past.

They’re probably time poor and like the idea of automating as much as possible.

What are your immediate goals?

Ultimately, we aim to become the number one online software provider in the UK. In doing so, we are working hard on developing the product and striving to maintain our currently very high levels of support.

What were the biggest challenges involved in building KashFlow?

The biggest challenge we face is the preconception that accompanies the term ‘accounting software’ – people hear that and they think ‘boring and stuffy’. Spending a little time around us soon changes their mind!

How will the company make money?

It already does – we’re a pioneer of the SaaS model and have tens of thousands of customers using the software. As well as offering outstanding support to keep all of them happy, we just have to keep adding more.

Who is in your team?

As well as having a dedicated dev team in India, our London Bridge HQ is home to a number of different teams including Development, Support, Marketing and Orbit. It’s also noteworthy that we’re chaired by Lord Young, the PM’s Enterprise Advisor and former chairman of Cable & Wireless.

Where would you like to be in one, three and five year’s times?

We spent part of last year setting out our growth plans for 2013, which involve doubling our revenue. This is something we’ve done year on year historically, but becomes tougher as the numbers get bigger.  

Three years from now, I envision that we’ll have added another string to our bow, perhaps through the creation of another software program. I also hope that we’ll have made some headway into a couple of international markets. 

Five years is a long time in this business. In an ideal world, we’ll have reached our target of being the number one online software provider in the UK and it’ll be a case of ‘next stop, the world!’