Moving on from KashFlow

Just over six months ago I announced that my business, KashFlow, had been acquired by IRIS.

Going from running the show to working for someone else in a 600 person organisation was always going to be, erm – different!

I knew that and the new owners knew that. So rather than make firm plans for the future, we agreed I should focus on getting the business handed over to them and in the process we’d get to work out if there is a role for me to stay involved.

The handover went much more quickly then we expected and by the end of December IRIS had everything they needed and integration with their own products was well underway. It was also apparent that I wasn’t going to fit in to the new structure. I made sure I stayed available until the new product was released. That’s now happened and with the half-year anniversary behind us we’ve now formally parted ways.

Some of my original team have already moved on, but a lot remain. I wish them the best of luck in taking KashFlow to the next level under it’s new owners. There’s still a lot that can be done and many more new customers to be reached.

So what will I do now?

That’s the question I’ve been asked a lot over the past few months as I wound down my involvement with KashFlow. At first I was pretty convinced I’d be starting something else SaaS related – it was just a question of what and when. Growing a business is very fulfilling. I’d also learnt a lot my first time around that would make it a bit easier a second time.

I couldn’t start anything while I was still ‘on call’ for Iris. So instead I’ve stepped up my involvement with the Princes Trust, started investing in and advising a few smaller tech business, gone into prison to promote entrepreneurship to ex offenders. But, most enjoyably, I’ve spent a lot more time with my two daughters than I have for years.

Now I’m not so sure I really do want to start another business. I couldn’t do something if I wasn’t passionate about it, and that would mean I’d have to work full time on it – I wouldn’t be able to do it part time. It’d be all consuming. I’m not ready for that again yet. Maybe in another 6 months I’ll change my mind.

If you want to be kept posted about whatever I do next, subscribe to this blog by using the form to the right of the page.

Dominique

I knew it wouldn’t be long until you were back to blogging!
P.S don’t think I can subscribe on a phone :-/
- Duane Jackson
  
  Can’t subscribe on a phone? hold on, I’ll get my web team, to sort it out… oh, hang on!
http://www.thetechlounge.co.uk Mark Dalton

Well first of all a big thank you for all you have done. I’m sure KF will continue to grow and evolve but without your enormous effort and drive none of it would have been possible and I know my own journey would have been much harder.

Now unfortunately I can’t subscribe via my iPad either (-1 doughnut) but you have my email and phone number so don’t be a stranger.

Regards
Mark
http://www.selfemployedtemps.com Petrina BAldwin

Well done – a brave decision ..just give yourself some time.
http://www.mattchedit.com/Blog.aspx Matt Chatterley

Definitely sounds like time for your girls to have a ‘summer of full time daddy’ – best possible way to spend your time while you work out what to do next!
Brian Watson

Thank you Duane and of course the team you built for a great product! I am sure that under Iris it will continue to grow and be improve but it take someone with lots of passion, skill and a little good fortune to build a company and product from scratch. It’s good to know you are blessing others with what you have earn and learnt. Above all it great to know you are enjoying your family that is what it is all about. Take your time but I hope that you do it all again because there are not many who can and succeed.
Tarquin Lazenby-Erchhardt

Hi Duane, I find this quite interesting as I run a software business as well and I watched with interest and a little disappointment when you announced you were selling to Iris. At the time, from the outside looking in, the message seemed to be that you would still be heading up Kashflow and driving it forward with the benefits of being part of a larger organisation with access to their accountant base. It does appear now that there was never any real intention of this happening and you had decided it was time to kash out (nowt wrong in that) and move on to something else or was there a progression from initially deciding to sell but keeping the reins to a point where you felt you couldn’t stay and help take it further? I wish you all the best. As someone who has been running my own show since I was 20 (over 22 years ago) I know how tough it can be and the success you’ve had, especially in that market, in that period of time is nothing short of remarkable and the benefits you are now enjoying are fully deserved.
- http://www.kashflow.com/ Duane Jackson
  
  Hi Tarquin,
  
  Thanks for the kind comments.
  
  The reality is that once you sell your business, you don’t own it any more – so these decisions are out of your hands.
  
  Duane
Roger

Hi Duane,

Great job and best of luck in the future. Enjoyed the article.

If you want to develop another accounting software there is a huge gap in the market for an accounting platform specifically designed for high volume ecommerce vendors. All of the existing platforms seem to be designed for traditional “invoicing businesses” where an invoice is issued and then paid, rather than ecommerce platforms where you are paid immediately and all that really matters is daily summaries etc.

Sounds like you don’t want to do it all again right now, but if you ever did that wouldn’t be a bad place to start

All the best,
Roger

UKStartups

Moving on from KashFlow

So what will I do now?

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