Meet Oumesh Sauba, founder of MyT
Oumesh Sauba is the founder and CEO of MyT Limited, a revolutionary AI-driven accounting app and software designed to support freelancers and micro businesses with their bookkeeping and records. He is also director of his own Croydon-based accounting firm Sauba and Daughters Co, and has over 15 years of experience as a Chartered Management Accountant specialising in financial accounts, management accounts and taxes.
What inspired you to launch MyT and what is the end goal?
I’ve always been interested in technology and knew it could be used to transform the way accountants work. I started working on a project to explore how AI could help reinvent accounting processes for many businesses and freelancers in 2015. I got my cousin on board who helped build a proof of concept for the OCR-AI algorithm we use today. MyT was founded in 2017 and provides small business owners with a secure, affordable and intuitive service so that they don’t have to struggle keeping on top of their records.
The end goal is to make MyT a household name, making sure that all businesses think of MyT in the same way that a vacuum cleaner is called a Hoover. To achieve this will require focus, commitment and will power - which we’ve got plenty of.
Describe your business in three words.
Easy
Intelligent
Competitive
Keeping an eye on the numbers in any business is important. How do you ensure that you’re always up to date?
I am constantly keeping an eye on the latest updates to make sure we are using the most up-to-date technology to stay on top of our numbers.
What was the journey like when you decided to raise funding for your startup? And what tips would you give to early-stage founders getting ready to take the same path?
I invested my own money in the business to build the app and the OCR-AI algorithm but it became clear that if we wanted to meet our goals, we would need to get investors on board. To do this, we’ve run a very successful Seedrs fundraising campaign and have so far raised 132% of our £100,000 goal from 247 investors, which is just incredible.
I would recommend that early-stage founders seek out investors who align with their vision, then, once they’ve got a product or concept that’s ready to launch, online crowdfunding can be a powerful tool to reach the right audience.
What plans do you have for MyT over the next two years?
We are planning to use our funding to put together and implement an aggressive marketing strategy to attract more users. We really want to get the MyT name out there so more business owners can feel the benefits of the software.
What’s the single most important decision that you made that contributed to your business?
The decision to create the OCR-AI algorithm to enable the integration of the AI functionality with bookkeeping software.
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap, how do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
We are bringing AI technology to every self-employed person, freelancer, businesses and accountants. Accountants can be real dinosaurs as they stay in the past. With MyT I am trying to bring accountancy into the future and make sure every user has their accounts, invoices and tax returns up to date in real time.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
It takes a lot of hard work to be successful. If success and failure were easy then everyone would be an entrepreneur.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
We put a lot of time and energy into ensuring we’re at the forefront of innovation. What sets us apart is our commitment to making sure that we stay there.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
Are they ready to fail? Only failure will bring success. If someone is afraid of failing then entrepreneurship is most likely not the right path for them.
How do you believe the evolution of tech will affect your industry over the next 10 years?
I think that in the next decade, most of the work of an accountant will be done by AI/ML. Accountancy will shift to embrace new technologies and ways of working rather than stay stuck in the ways of the past. Businesses are going to want to know the possibilities and the potential benefits of their actions when it comes to their finances and bookkeeping.
