Startup Founder Casey Sullivan
Casey Sullivan is the founder of Bookafy, an online appointment scheduling software used by sales teams, support teams and service-based businesses around the world.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I have always, as far back as I can remember, had small businesses. When I was really young I washed cars and took my neighbor’s trashcans out once per week. Later, I started a landscaping business in high school. Then I worked at a large mortgage bank. I was “Intre-preneurial”, meaning I was able to build my own business with in a business. I love that. I really only left a big company to pursue something specific. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll return to a big company, but I really wanted to spend my time working on a project I loved that could have a great impact on others.
Can you remember what the biggest barriers to entry entrepreneurship were for you?
For most people, I think the biggest barrier is going from a solid compensation plan to feast or famine. I grew up on that, so it was never really something I had to get accustomed to. I’ve never had a salary, so I think the most common hurdle I somehow stepped over when I was really young.
What does success look like to you personally?
This actually has a lot to do with why I left a big company. I was making insane money, living a good lifestyle, investing a ton, etc. But, success for me changed a lot: When I was really young I pursued profit like a drug. I thought that “success” was more money, more stuff. But, as I have grown up a bit I’ve definitely come to think of success differently. I guess I think a lot about what my last days will look like. Who will be by my bedside, how will people remember me, who did I impact, was I generous, did I pursue my passion, did I leave a legacy? I think about that a lot more than how many dollars I earn and customers I get.
Granted, I have also learned that earning well does help me fulfill “success” indirectly. I can use money to help people, and to create memories. Rather than use people to make money. So that is a big shift for me. We have been successful at Bookafy, and I think “success” has boiled down to: are we helping other people, are we making a difference, do we make good relationships with our customers and can we employ rad people?
What is your role at Bookafy?
I am the founder, but we don’t really use roles like CEO, etc.
What does a productive day for you look like?
I spend my time on three things: First, we have a bunch of partnerships with Private Labels, where we essentially power their software. It’s their brand, our software. I spend a good amount of time working with them, and if I can make our partners successful, it’s very productive. Second, I answer the phones and do customer support. We have a few support people, but I still like answering the phones when I can. If I could spend my whole day taking calls, I would feel very productive. Third, I oversee our development team and product team. We are constantly adding features, improving design, making changes, and I find my time is very productive when we are in that zone with our team.
Which problem are you solving with Bookafy?
We help businesses by allowing their customers to schedule appointments online, 24/7.
“It would be normal to have 15–20 text messages going back and forth to schedule one session. I was honestly tired of that, and as I looked around I realized that I could literally change people’s lives if I could figure out how to automate…”
Where does your motivation to solve this problem come from?
My motivation really grew out of my own frustration of booking appointments with service providers. For example, with my son’s running coach it would be normal to have 15–20 text messages going back and forth to schedule one session. I was honestly tired of that, and as I looked around I realized that I could literally change people’s lives if I could figure out how to automate the scheduling, reminding, marketing, etc.
What does success look like for Bookafy?
We just want to help as many companies as possible. We just reached 3,500 customers and we have a goal of being at 50,000 in the next 5 years.
Which one thing would you love to tell your younger self?
I would definitely tell myself to pursue something I love, rather than simply pursue the money. There are a ton of “great jobs” that make a lot of money, but finding something you love to do is so much more rewarding. And, honestly, the money is a bi-product of being awesome at something, anything.
What has been your biggest failure?
Oh geez, I have started a couple of companies that failed. That was brutal. I felt like I had a big opportunity, but the companies just never got off the ground.
What would you highly recommend aspiring entrepreneurs to do?Definitely, do not pursue anything that you don’t love. It is so easy to quit because this is a hard lifestyle and entrepreneurship is very difficult. But if you don’t love what you do you will quit long before you could ever become successful. Most companies aren’t successful for years and years after launching. There aren’t overnight successes (almost never). So I would urge a budding entrepreneur to only do something that they love so they can stick with it even when times are tough.
How many users and paying customers do you have?
We have just over 3,500 businesses that have signed up and on average each has about four users.
How big is the team?
We have four support people, one designer and four developers.
What are you currently failing at?
Marketing. We have spent so much time and energy on “product” and almost no time on marketing
What are you currently struggling with?
Besides marketing, we also struggle with free trial conversions. Helping a customer go from trial to fully functional has been more difficult than I would’ve imagined. We can market to a business, and they could “fall in love” and drink the cool-aid, and then they never fully use the software. I will call them and it is on their list to do, but they don’t fully implement. So yeah, that is a big struggle.
What makes you worry?
I am pretty worry free at this point.
What’s your favourite emoji?
I don’t use emojis. I am not sure why. I guess if I had to say it would be :)
Who is your favourite super hero?
I like Tony Stark. Iron Man. Maybe because he just seemed like he was able to do whatever he wanted. He could pursue any idea or passion he had. That seems amazing!
Challenges expressed are in no way meant to solicit commercial acquisition.
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