IBS Journal March 2018


43


There are a lot of companies trying to solve problems for the bigger end of the small business market where companies have lots of employees. But actually 90% of small businesses are self-employed people or owner-managed and have very different needs. By building a product for the smaller end of the market we can build a much more comprehensive offering that solves some of the bigger problems, specifically around tax.


What was your smartest move?


I don’t know if any move is necessarily ‘smart’ because the process of building a great business requires trying lots of things and seeing what works, but there are a few moments and decisions that have had a big impact.


One of the best ways that we’ve connected with customers is by creating a Facebook group called Coconut Bite. It’s been amazing to have immediate feedback from customers on features and other important aspects of Coconut, such as card design. We also have some really vibrant conversations about what challenges people face and how we can solve them. It’s been incredible that so many people have been actively involved in it and has really defined who we are as a business and centred us in what our customers need.


We were also lucky enough to join two amazing innovation programmes, Techstars London and the OpenUp Challenge run by Nesta. The support that we accessed has been incredible. We’ve also worked with other awesome founders and had access to world-class mentors and resources, which really accelerated our learning. These were defining moments in our journey so far.


Another thing that’s worked really well for us is building our business with freelancers. In the beginning we worked entirely with freelancers and they are flexible and really understand the problem we’re trying to solve. It was a great way to build a business and it means we have the knowledge and network to continue with a flexible workforce.


What has been your biggest setback?


In a funny way, our biggest setback so far also turned into our biggest selling point. We were originally called Monizo. While we were never


We want all self- employed people to feel more financially secure by using our product


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wedded to the name, it became clear that we needed to change when another challenger bank changed its name to something similar – no prizes for guessing which that was.


Finding a new name was one of the hardest things we’ve had to do. You have to consider so much – whether it has the right meaning for customers, whether it travels, can people remember it or shout it to their mate in a noisy pub. Monizo never really stuck for us because everyone pronounces it differently and it was hard to remember because it was quite indistinct.


While it was hard to build a business and re-brand at the same time, we have landed on a name that really resonates with customers and we love it. We’re called Coconut because when people go self-employed they envisage themselves working from a beach somewhere. They often don’t realise the dream, but in some ways we hope we can take them back there.


Where do you want to be in five years’ time?


We have big aspirations. The old way of thinking about small business banking needs to change. The SME category includes businesses with 250 employees alongside part-time self-employed people. And in our experience the needs and desires at the ends of this spectrum are completely different. In the future there will be more realistic segmentation of this market with products that meet the needs of specific groups, and this is where we come in.


In five years’ time we want to be the leading business current account for the self-employed and owner-managed business community – which make up 90% of SMEs – both in the UK and around the world. There are so many challenges that are unique to this group, and we can solve a lot of them through the Coconut current account.


Another area that’s really important to us is financial security. Our survey showed that only 28% of people are contributing to a pension. It also showed that 44% want to grow their businesses. Providing access to finance and investment products that enable our customers to buy houses, invest in pensions and get access to capital to grow is a big aspiration. We want all self-employed people to feel more financially secure by using our product.


www.ibsintelligence.com


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