Catherine Mandungu is the founding father of Assume RevOps, an organization that started because the pandemic was brewing. She realised the income operations market was booming, particularly inside the tech trade, and due to this fact wished to discover what is essentially an untapped market inside the UK and Europe. Discovering a foothold in an often-unexplored space is troublesome, however Catherine knew she might turn into a pioneer.
RevOps, or “Income Operations”, is a B2B operate that makes use of automation to assist groups make the proper choices to develop their enterprise. RevOps brings everybody collectively, making certain collaboration, from advertising and marketing, gross sales, service, customer support and finance, and unites all these parts with three shared targets.
These targets are.
- Pricing for higher conversion and margin
- Lowering income leakage
- Utilizing buyer knowledge to make sure new income alternatives
The tech trade is valued at $1tn within the UK alone, and with a rise in startups and scaleups, this quantity will solely improve. Due to this fact, RevOps have gotten a necessity, however the lack of expertise inside the sector is stopping development. That is the void that Catherine stepped ahead into. Beginning and scaling a enterprise means challenges that must be met, Catherine is open about addressing these.
Overcoming Challenges
1) Discovering Shoppers
Actually, early on, with no advertising and marketing, no partnerships, Catherine did as many on-line occasions and networking as potential. Referrals from individuals and purchasers who knew her work and have been in a position to suggest her to their community grew to become essential. Though she nonetheless will get a number of referrals from word-of-mouth channels, she is engaged on doing extra round advertising and marketing and particularly leveraging partnerships.
2) Making a sustainable enterprise
How did Catherine create a sustainable enterprise, the place she wasn’t ready for the subsequent undertaking? “I didn’t need the uncertainty of being in between tasks. So, I created 3 engagement fashions. A revops-as-a-service mannequin to make sure a income each month, transformational tasks lasting 3 – 6 months at a set undertaking charge, and variable and eventually brief consulting and training engagements.”
3) Speaking over Zoom
Particularly as a result of pandemic, and having to do the whole lot over zoom, Catherine needed to discover ways to be as genuine as potential to convey her work and her ardour on-line. Earlier than every pitch, she hung out understanding her purchasers and their wants and ensured she might place herself as if she have been working of their organisation. After that, it was all about being as animated and vocal as potential!
4) Avoiding Burnout
“Once I first began, enterprise began selecting up. I labored long and hard hours. Virtually 24/7 and I used to be beginning to burn out. Needed to take a step again, regroup. I then began fascinated about how I might replicate the work I did for scale by creating templates and methods that labored for the trade I used to be catering.”
Catherine’s Background
As an entrepreneurial determine, Catherine is exclusive. She was born in Congo, DRC, after which largely raised within the Netherlands by a single mum of 4 ladies. Coming from a working-class background, privilege didn’t affect Catherine, however fairly private ambition and a need for a greater life. She states her mum is her largest drive and motivation. As soon as she determined to maneuver to the UK to review, there was no stopping her, and she or he has since labored at massive firms resembling Microsoft, Amazon, and Adobe.
Working for giant companies was not her long run plan, as she at all times wished her personal enterprise. Due to this fact, it appeared pure to maneuver into the tech startup and scaleup area.
Together with her footsteps as a information
Robust feminine figures have influenced Catherine, and she or he hopes to do the identical, by inspiring ladies to take the leap and put money into themselves. Her intention is to present ladies extra alternatives, and she or he is doing this by teaching ladies who need to be nice RevOps leaders or who need to get into that area.
Her birthplace of Congo has turn into a supply of affect, with Catherine’s purpose being to assist proficient ladies in Africa in tech and enterprise. She desires to present fellow ladies a chance to flourish, no matter the place they start. Presently, she is collaborating with organisations in Africa to offer extra RevOps consciousness to college students and younger professionals. She can be engaged on a platform that may work as an extension of Assume RevOps to present ladies in Africa the prospect to work alongside her firm, by offering assist to firms within the UK and globally.
“Yesterday, As we speak and Tomorrow”
Though 2020 was a gradual begin, as a result of precarious local weather of the world, enterprise began selecting up in direction of the tip of the yr. Quick forwarding to the current day, Catherine was in a position to develop 241% YoY in 2021, and is projected to develop one other 166% YoY in 2022. Her enterprise mannequin is constructed round RevOps-as-a-Service (RO-aaS), which has allowed her to scale to a month-to-month recurring income of 30K+.
Catherine has made simply over half one million in income and projected simply over 800K in about 2.5 years. As a 1-woman operation, that is an incredible achievement. So, think about what Catherine can do when she begins hiring to scale her enterprise…
