This week we have been fortunate enough to interview Myrah Caesar (pictured) Managing Director of AddVantagesave.com – a website dedicated to providing ‘Big Discounts for Small Businesses.’
Myrah’s business partner, Naa Boakye was not present at the interview. AddVantagesave.com was founded this year and has offices in London and Cardiff. We asked Myrah 10 questions about her business.
1. How did you two meet? We have been friends since we were 12 having met at a youth camp. After that we attended the same school – Wesley Girls High School in Ghana, were accepted to different Universities in the US and ended up moving to the UK around the same time.
2. When did you decide to go into business together? After seeing a picture Naa took with Theo Paphitis (from Dragon’s Den) on Facebook, Myrah discovered Naa’s interest in business and called with a business proposition which actually fit in with an idea that Naa had already been toying with. The rest is history.
3. Who or what provided the inspiration for your business? With Myrah, her inspiration came from her frustration during her early days in business development for a new start-up. She spent countless hours scouring the market for reliable suppliers and negotiating discounts, which took away from her role sourcing new business for the company.
With Naa, her inspiration came from her experience managing expenses for a multi-national company and realizing that running a profitable business depends not only on growing revenue but quite importantly on reducing costs. By creating AddVantage, we fused our experiences and solved the critical issues we had identified in our previous roles i.e.how to source good suppliers and good discounts for small businesses in a way that saves them time and money.
4. What is the purpose of your website? We want our website to be a source of good information on quality suppliers of business services and above all, for it to be a one stop shop for small businesses to access specially negotiated discounts.
5. Who do you perceive to be your target audience? Small businesses who struggle to find and build strong supplier relationships and good discounts because they lack economies of scale.
6. What one ‘takeout’ would you like web visitors to go away with after viewing your site? In the current economic environment business owners are looking for ways to cut costs without compromising on quality. We want our web visitors to know that AddVantagesave.com can provide that service.
7. Suddenly this ‘Groupon for SMEs’ space has become quite crowded, what makes you different? It’s interesting you say that because we are not a daily deal site, instead we provide a win-win for both our Members and our Partners who supply the products and services: For our members, we offer longer term discounts for business products and services accessible as and when they need it.
For our Partners, we provide a membership base that is interested in building long term business relationships.
8. How would you describe your organisational structure? At AddVantage, fresh thinking is not just a slogan, it’s a way of life. Anyone on the team can raise their hand and input into the direction of the company their contributions are very welcome.
9. What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in your journey so far? AddVantagesave.com exists to solve a critical issue for small businesses by providing them with quality suppliers. We had to find the quality suppliers first!
10. How did you overcome it?
As entrepreneurs, we needed to be resilient, innovative and dedicate a lot of time and effort meeting with potential partners and setting up deals while we were establishing ourselves – very challenging but rewarding.
Thank you so much for taking time to speak with us. We know that your story will inspire others who are considering starting their own business venture.
To our readers – visit www.addvantagesave.com and let Myrah know what you think either via the contact form on the website or tweet @addvantagesave on Twitter.
Kindest regards,
Marketing Fundamentals Team
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