GoSolo
29th June 2021
Starting a business can be an overwhelming experience and for many, the complexity and endless processes can prevent them from turning their brilliant idea into reality.
For Dima, this is exactly the issue he is addressing with GoSolo – a fintech business making the start of your own business as painless and quick as possible.
“I have extensive business and accounting background and even I found the whole process unnecessarily complicated and tedious, so I can completely understand how someone with no prior experience could see the whole process as a complete mystery – and be put off.”
“My combination of experiences led me to GoSolo – it’s a grand vision of a go-to place to found your own business. It isn’t a banking app; it’s about guiding you through all the processes and considerations you need to think about when you decide to start a business.
“It will register your company, help you set up a business bank account, help you with invoicing, bookkeeping, cash flow, budgeting, legal advice, accounting advice – all the little things that together can put people off taking the leap. And anything we cannot offer – we offer guidance on where to find that help too.”
For Dima, taking a leap and starting this business was the next step in his fascinating career from being a technology consultant in East Europe to becoming a UK based fintech founder.
“The bulk of my career was in technology consultancy, delivering large core banking solutions in East Europe and Central Asia. In the 2000s, there was this incredible boom of new banks being created in that region – specifically Russia and Ukraine where I was based – and we worked across over 20 countries, becoming one of Oracle’s largest partners.
“By 2015, that had started to slow. To give you an example, in Azerbaijan, the top seven banks were all my clients, but after a decade, we literally ran out of banks to sell to. Furthermore, we had seen the big Western players such as BNP Paribas rush in and literally buy up dozens of local banks and export their technologies and strategies. So, I knew it was time for a new challenge.”
It was around this time fintech had really started to take off – and Dima knew he had the experience to help founders.
“The start-up scene was completely new to me as I had only ever worked with big banks before – but I liked the agility and flexibility of fintech. I liked how a little start-up could quickly really make an impact on the wider ecosystem. I began operating as a CTO to a number of companies and really became deeply involved in this new fintech world”.
GoSolo felt like the natural next step for Dima – with the UK as the perfect market for a venture.
“It seems to be that the entrepreneurial ambition in the UK is very much above average. Yet, the majority of people who want to start their own business never actually turn the dream into reality.
“I completely understand why – it is nerve wracking to know your income rests solely on your success as a founder, especially if you have a family and kids to support. For example, the issues and planning around cash flow for small business is so vital but can take new founder by surprise and hinder the success of their company.”
“In the UK, so many people have the ambition, the idea and impressive skills in design and creativity to start a successful business – our aim with GoSolo is to create a go-to-place to transform an idea into a viable business.”
//
Dima Pimakhov is the founder of GoSolo and an entrepreneur, advisor and consultant with over 15 years’ experience in Core and Digital Banking and Fintech.