As winners of the Project of the Year award at Enterprise Cayman’s inaugural Caymans Islands Business Design Competition, BizHub’s idea was shortlisted from an impressive range of submissions. BizHub’s innovative marketplace app for mobile car wash services in Cayman allows customers to choose a company and communicate directly with them to book their wash, streamlining the process for both customers and businesses.
Behind the company are founders Kirk Douglas, Valery Davis, and Danner Taylor Nelson and we managed to catch up with them and see where their business is at now that the competition has ended.
CEC: Thanks for joining us, let’s start with a bit about BizHub and where you are as a business since winning the competition?
KD: In brief, BizHub is an online market hub that is developing a platform to revolutionize the global service industry. We intend to do this by making booking, searching, organising, and communicating with service providers easy, convenient, interactive, and fast for both customers and companies.
Currently, we are in our first phase of beta testing, working with multiple car wash companies that are serving a select group of customers who are using our platform and making requests for car wash activity. These customers are using our first online product which is the WhatsApp BizBot and they are linked with companies to book their car wash. We are constantly collecting feedback from these people so that we can make the process better for public release.
CEC: That sounds exciting, what role do each of you play in the business?
VD: Danner’s role is business and finance, Kirk oversees the tech, and I’m responsible for the marketing, administration, and operations. At the moment, I’m the one that companies are going to in order to get assistance during our beta testing.
CEC: It’s great that you all have different specialties that you’re able to bring them together! In terms of the Business Design Competition, have you had any opportunities from it so far?
DT: Yes, the competition has really allowed us to just connect with people who are like-minded or who have already been on the path we’re on. The competition allowed us to gain mentorship from these people as well as access to CEC resources like the meeting room, Tech Talks, and the opportunity to pitch ideas and investors which just improves our business and product overall.
CEC: How did you find the competition process in general and the people who were a part of it like your ‘competitors’?
VD: The process was very fun and informative. It was really an eye-opener because we realised early on that we were going to have to work very hard and it wasn’t going to be easy. But everyone at CEC and our fellow competitors were very supportive, they all had great ideas and were very nice. Particularly the advisors throughout the design weekend were all very open to assisting us, so it was a good process.
CEC: So, what would you say is the biggest thing that you learned from the competition?
KD: I’d say how to shift our mindset from a consumer to a producer and this includes executing our ideas and knowing what the key components are of establishing a business and how to service a market.
CEC: How do you feel CEC facilitated your business plan throughout the competition?
DT: CEC has connected us with amazing dedicated, and smart people who have offered us mentorship that has helped us shape our business plan along the way. With advice from those with experience in starting and running a business in Cayman, we’ve managed to get help in a variety of different areas like finance, tech, marketing, and even legal which is kind of our weak point. So, it helped us to start our company heading in the right direction and that makes us confident about the way we’re moving forward.
CEC: Do you have any advice for someone looking to enter the competition in the future?
VD: To be honest, the most important thing is execution so you need to be ready to put in the work. Have an open mind especially during the design weekend and be a sponge to just take it all in.
CEC: How else do you think other companies should prepare for entering? Or is there something you wish you had known?
KD: I would say focus on the criteria and acknowledge your weaknesses a little bit. Then see how you can use your strengths to overcome those weaknesses, that’s something we did specifically in the competition. I would also say, don’t be afraid to use as many of the resources that CEC provides as possible. Like, don’t be afraid to annoy your mentors or provided advisors because they have valuable information that could help you and you should try to get as much information as possible.
CEC: What’s on the horizon for BizHub?
DT: As Kirk mentioned earlier, we are preparing for public release by improving our platform and we are also hoping to expand into other services in the near future. Potentially next month. Stay tuned!
Thank you so much to BizHub for sharing some of their experiences with us, we look forward to seeing the public release of the platform soon! Companies can join the BizHub waiting list at their website https://www.bizhub.ky/ , or keep up with BizHub’s progress on Facebook and Instagram.
Submissions for the 2022 Cayman Islands Business Design Competition open at the end of this year, so keep an eye out!