Turning 60: the beginning of a new chapter

Martin Port turns 60

I usually post about business milestones but this week I’d like to talk about a personal one: Today, I turned 60.

There’s something about a landmark birthday. They make you think about the past and make plans for the future.

I’m not very good at looking back but it feels good to be hitting the big six-oh knowing that, over the years, I have managed to build several businesses – three right here in Leeds. During my professional career, I have created more than 1,000 jobs. I feel extremely proud to have been such a significant employer as that was always one of my priorities as an entrepreneur.

Between the ages of 20 and 40, I feel that I was learning all I could about business, building my network, and seizing every growth opportunity I could. Then, between 40 and 60, I began building successful businesses on those firm foundations, and becoming a more considered and strategic entrepreneur. Eighteen months ago, when we raised investment from Great Hill Partners, I really felt like I had reached a new career milestone. The deal showed that people outside the business recognised and valued all we had achieved – it was a great moment for all of us here at BigChange.

I believe that the next 20 years will be about sharing my experience and insight with other entrepreneurs, becoming an active investor, and, of course, building on BigChange’s success.

On my birthday a year ago, I announced that Richard Warley was coming on board as CEO and he has done a stellar job over the past 12 months. When I look at BigChange today, the DNA and culture remain the same, but Richard has had a profound impact on growth and has really helped the business to reach its full potential. I remain committed to helping Richard and the rest of the team to turn BigChange into a unicorn, worth £1bn.

Looking to the future, I honestly can’t see myself slowing down. I still have bags of ambition and I’ve learned the value of working smarter, rather than simply working every hour of the day. Often, it’s the small changes, the little ideas, the smart partnerships, that help you reach your goals, rather than going at 120 miles an hour all the time.

Now that I’m 60, I have a few words of wisdom to share. I hope some of you younger entrepreneurs out there might find them useful. I learned these things by doing – often, I learned them the hard way. I hope to save you time, money and energy!

The three most important things to remember when building businesses are:

If it doesn’t work out, try again

I’m so glad that I didn’t give up when my first business failed to scale. It would have been easy to get a job and abandon my dreams of running my own business. If I had done that, I would have always wondered what might have been. Instead, I kept learning, kept trying, and that’s what has brought me to this point in my career today. I’m so thankful for that stubborn streak in me that insisted I have another go. Don’t give up – just learn from your mistakes.

Cash is king

You hear this a lot when you’re building a business. Just because it’s a cliché, doesn’t mean it’s not true. Always make sure you have enough cash in the business to support your growth. Stay on top of all your numbers all the time. If you suddenly run out of working capital, that could be the end of your business.

Take care of people

As you get older, you appreciate the value of great people in the business more and more. When you’re young and building a business, there are so many things to worry about – so many distractions. As an older founder, you know that every moment you spend investing in your best people is repaid tenfold during the lifetime of your company.  

Premier League Football At Elland Road This Season

There’s no better way to watch a Premier League fixture than from the BigChange executive box at Elland Road Stadium. Our stylish and sophisticated hospitality suite provides a relaxed setting where you can soak up the matchday atmosphere, and this season, we would love for you to join us. Follow the link to register your interest.

Top entrepreneurs know when to ask for help

Top entrepreneurs know when to ask for help

Entrepreneurs are good at a lot of things. They have incredible ideas that can revolutionise industries and change the world. They know how to sell their dream and win customers. They understand how to grow their ventures and inspire other people to come along for the ride. Very few entrepreneurs are good at one thing, however. And that thing is process.

Over the years I have seen many talented entrepreneurs struggle to establish reliable, scalable processes within their organisations. For these individuals and their businesses, it’s often the one thing that holds them back, slows their growth, and generates operational risk.

The truth is that most people who run great businesses need operational help. Even companies that are pretty hot on process can always find ways to improve. It’s the number one thing that entrepreneurs tend to approach me about these days. There are sticking points within their businesses that they cannot seem to resolve. I like to do shop floor days with these business owners, some of whom are customers, to help identify operational wins. It’s amazing how powerful an outside perspective can be.

When it comes to operational excellence, you need two things: great advice and great tech. The advice is crucial: you need to know what to change and which processes to prioritise. That’s when technology comes into play. I built BigChange because I passionately believe in the power of technology to streamline processes and save countless man hours (and a lot of money too).

The software we created eliminates inefficient paper processes and allows these founders and their teams to focus on what they’re good at: serving their customers. Whether it’s automated invoicing, recurring contracts, or seamless synchronisation with accounting software, we’ve made life easier for almost 2,000 organisations worldwide.

I’m obsessive about process but I too have help with the fine-tuning. I’m so lucky to have both Diane Fenney, our head of commercial, and Tansy Sheehy, our customer service director, who both bring unique insights and experience to bear. Every single action within our business is rigorously analysed and stress-tested, from how our colleagues in sales approach new customers to how departments share learnings.

As a business owner, you should never be afraid to ask for help. Never shy away from seeking new perspectives. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know. It’s only by asking open-ended questions and constantly seeking feedback that we can learn new ways of working and find those improvements, however small, that will contribute to our future success. A recent study by entrepreneur support organisation Endeavour found that companies whose founders were mentored by a top-performing entrepreneur were three times more likely to go on to become top performers themselves. So, don’t delay, ask for help today. 

Welcome to my new website

Hello and welcome to my new website, martinport.com.

My previous website was launched back in 2011 and so much has changed since then that I thought it was time to start afresh. I hope you like my new website, which will continually be updated with news, blog posts and videos.

Back in 2011, I had sold my last business – Masternaut – and was thinking about my next venture.

That venture ended up being BigChange, an all-in-one job scheduling, tracking and customer relationship management software company. I launched the business on New Year’s Day in 2013, so we’re fast approaching our 10 year anniversary and what a journey it’s been so far.

Clearly we created a solution that hit the spot for businesses with mobile workers across different industry sectors. BigChange is now used by around 2,000 companies and 50,000 field service engineers, and we operate overseas in territories including continental Europe, Australia and Canada.

Our fast growth caught the eye of many investors and in 2021 I sold a majority stake in BigChange to private equity firm Great Hill Partners in a deal that valued the business at £100m.

It was a huge moment for me and the business, but signing on the dotted line was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

The success of BigChange isn’t just down to me. There are many people who have contributed to the success of this company.

Firstly there’s my team, who work tirelessly to create a technology that puts customers first. There is also my family who are always patient even when I’m consumed by work.

Finally, we would be nothing without our loyal customers – many of which have been with us since the beginning.

Supporting great causes

Of course, there have been many proud moments beyond the business over the past 10 years. One of the biggest joys of being a successful entrepreneur is that it has allowed me to support many great causes.

I’m an ambassador for Transaid, the Africa-based transport charity, and I do my best to support a wide variety of charities and organisations to make a difference.

In the past year I’ve begun working with a new charity – the Yorkshire Children’s Centre (YCC) – which I was introduced to through my role as a board member with Business in the Community.

The YCC is doing excellent work at helping young people overcome difficulties and challenges. I’ve met some of the students they support and I’ve recently funded an exciting new project for the young people starting in September that will help them learn about the world of work and finding employment.

My aim is to make a positive impact on the many disadvantaged and vulnerable young people the YCC supports.

It’s work like this that truly inspires me to keep growing businesses so I can continue to help others where I can.

You can find more about some of the charities I support here.

Becoming an angel investor and business adviser

Alongside my role as chairman of BigChange, I have also expanded my business interests to support other fast-growing companies this year.

I recently led a seven-figure fundraising round into tradesperson marketplace Rated People and hope to announce further investments in due course.

I’m also a strategic adviser at MoreLife, a company that makes the lives of individuals healthier through weight management services.

It’s fascinating working with so many companies and charities and I’m looking forward to seeing what opportunities and challenges lie ahead. 

Where next?

I love hearing about the secrets of others’ success and I’ve launched a podcast – Growth Stories – where business leaders from all walks of life talk me through their motivations and ambitions.

It follows on from my video series with former England footballer and manager Kevin Keegan, and I’m enjoying hearing tips from others who are the best in their sector.

I’ve really enjoyed the past decade or so and I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of my family, colleagues and customers. I’m forever grateful to those who have stuck by me along the journey.

Here’s to the next decade and beyond!

BigChange: even more inclusive and successful in 2022

Even more inclusive and successful in 2022

Our government may be falling apart but at least the UK tech scene is thriving. I read that the UK recently overtook China in terms of technology investment, raising £12.4bn in the first five months of 2022, which is amazing news. It is a privilege to be part of the nation’s technology sector and I’m delighted to report that BigChange continues to beat its growth targets while also meeting its ambitious goals around people and corporate responsibility. Here’s a little look at what we’ve achieved so far this year.

Maintaining momentum

We continue to excel in customer acquisition, winning almost 200 new customers over the past six months. That represents around £14m in new contract wins, across a diverse range of sectors.

In building services and property maintenance, we were delighted to welcome both RGE Services and First in Service into the fold. Motivair Compressors bolsters our pumps and compressors division. In plumbing and heating, we have welcomed Boiler Plan UK and Sun Realm Heating. Reflecting the changing world around us, we have seen continued success in the EV charging sector, and are delighted that Muller EV is now a valued customer. Internet provider, FibreNest Utilities, a subsidiary of Persimmon Homes, also joined the client roster this year, and we are still performing strongly in cleaning services, winning JM2 Services. 

Our international business is also thriving. BigChange Canada recently won its first customer with more to follow in the second half of 2022. We now have 200 customers in France, Cyprus and Australia. Our continued success against a backdrop of economic uncertainty proves that our software does exactly what we promise, giving customers the edge they need to navigate difficult trading environments.

We believe that customer wins will only accelerate over the coming months. We have attended eight events across the UK and overseas so far in 2022, where we have demonstrated the power of our technology. We have a further seven planned and it is such a delight to be able to meet prospective customers in the real world again. We have seen really fantastic results from these interactions.

All about customer success

Once a customer joins BigChange, we make it our mission to help them achieve their goals. This is why we have established a 15-person strong customer success team. All customers are automatically assigned a go-to person to help them grow during their BigChange journey.

Customers can leverage the insights from the BigChange University to help them get the most out of our software. BigChange University is now digital, which means our busy customers can access bitesize content at times that are convenient for them. We are also incentivising customers to keep building on their knowledge of BigChange through a new certification system which recognises Core, Advanced & Expert users.

Our BigChange Network exists to help customers to collaborate and support one another on their growth journeys. Over 200 customers have joined the Network over the past six months. 

Our commitment to supporting existing customers is reflected in our renewal rate, which beats industry figures by a significant margin. One of our biggest customer success stories, Sheffield City Council, just renewed its long-term 1,500 licences for tracking and JobWatch, and this is typical of customers’ commitment to BigChange.

People first and foremost

I’m delighted that BigChange has retained its two-star rating from Best Companies, reflecting our strong culture and outstanding levels of engagement. We are not resting on our laurels, however. We always review the Best Companies feedback to look for ways to improve our people strategy.

Growing the team

We are still hiring! The company continues to grow and attract international talent. In the last quarter, we hit 250 people. Our new tech internship, which has just launched and complements our existing internship scheme, will help maintain our talent pipeline and allow us to actively grow the UK’s tech talent pool.

An equal opportunity employer

BigChange is home to a diverse and passionate workforce, and we want to keep on breaking down barriers and providing opportunities for people with different skills. This is why we are actively encouraging people with disabilities and special needs to apply for our opportunities.

A new starter with autism recently joined our customer service team. We have the tools and neurodiversity training in place to help them to thrive here. We have partnered with Lighthouse, a school for autistic young people, and have committed to supporting three young people on supported internships from October 2022 for eight months.

Investing for the future

2022 has been a huge year for development. We have invested heavily in new features and functionality. From improvements in job finance, and updated search functions, to new SMS and alerts features for stock replenishment and expenses, we are listening to our customers and giving them the tools they need to be even more efficient.

We believe that the future of BigChange lies in empowering customers to make our software their own. This is why we are investing heavily in “self-serve” technologies. Our software is becoming more and more intuitive by the day. I’m really proud of everything our technology team has achieved and look forward to bringing you more updates soon!

Yorkshire Children’s Centre

Yorkshire Children’s Centre (YCC) is a regional charity that supports vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, and their families, within Kirklees and surrounding areas.

Its vision is for all young people to have opportunities for a better life, and Martin is proud to support the vital work the children’s centre does for the local community.

World Jewish relief – Ukraine crisis appeal

The impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are catastrophic. For us at BigChange, the conflict feels even more personal because eight of our colleagues are Ukrainian nationals, based in Kyiv.

So we are supporting Ukraine nationals wherever we can, and one way is by donating money to the World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine crisis appeal. It’s the least we can do at this unsettling time.