Developing software requires a certain skill and discipline. However, bringing that completed product to the market requires expertise of an altogether different kind.
This was the challenge facing Ian Abraham, of Caerphilly, when he met Ioan Evans, a Cardiff-based IT specialist at a Business Networking International (BNI) meeting about 2½ years ago.
Mr Abraham had developed business process management software that cut the amount of time it took client companies to begin introducing improvement from months to as little as two hours.
Between them, the two men developed a “Blockbusters-style” board game, in which participants are able to write the names of processes on magnetic hexagonal pieces and fit them together to examine work flow and efficiency. They formed a company to push the product and called it MapItAndGo.
“Most flow charts involve Post-it notes placed around walls,” said Mr Evans. “We thought that was pretty unwieldy. We also realised that if you have this on a table, like a board game, you have people’s attention. It’s also very inclusive.”
Once MapItAndGo clients have placed the pieces in a way that optimises process efficiency, Mr Abraham and Mr Evans work with them to complete a series of forms, called step receipts, which build to a full specification document that is written into the software to develop a customer- specific solution.
“Whereas it can sometimes take months to work up a full specification document – by which time some aspects of it may be obsolete – we can have it done in two hours,” said Mr Abraham. “We usually work with clients who are facing a specific problem. Usually, once people see it written down, it gives them far greater clarity.
“Most businesses have their own names or acronyms for their processes. One of the strengths of the software is that it is able to incorporate those terms. We don’t have to introduce anything new in that respect.”
In the past two years, MapItAndGo has built a solid client base, such as blue chip estate agent Belvoir, but the two partners believed they had hit a ceiling. “We designed it to be a global product, but we knew we couldn’t deliver that ourselves.”
The solution came in the form of an investment of capital and expertise from Federation 100, venture capitalists led by Mike Harris, the founding CEO of both First Direct and Egg.
Assisted by Federation 100 partners Anurag Gupta, a major influence on North American yoga wear phenomenon Lululemon, and Mynoo Blackbyrn, the founding CEO of the IT Skills Forum and the Inspired Leaders Network, Mr Harris will work with MapItAndGo to achieve ambitious sales targets by end of this year.
Mr Evans and Mr Abraham spent a week in February preparing for and pitching to the heads of Federation 100 in London. Since winning the backing, the two men have been involved in intensive planning with their new backers.
Federation 100’s Mr Gupta said: “We only take on companies that we identify as having what it takes to turn out unprecedented results in three areas – financial performance, operational excellence, and remarkable social impact.
“Having looked at the MapItAndGo service – and, more importantly, the MapItAndGo team – we have no doubt that this company can execute on all three of these measures, and that is why we are teaming up with them.”