#433 Breaking the Cash Flow Barrier: Malachi Halliday on Supporting Startups and Small Businesses

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Mehmet: Hello and welcome back to a new episode of the CTO Show with Mehmet. Today I'm very pleased joining me from Dubai, and I'm very happy for that. Malachi Halliday. Malachi, usually the way I love to do it, I keep it to my guests to [00:01:00] introduce themselves and tell us a little bit more about, you know, their background, their journey, and what they're currently up to.

Mehmet: But I'm gonna give kind of a spoiler alert for the audience. If you Are a founder and if you are based here in the region Stay tuned because we're gonna talk about an important topic, which is all about, you know, money and cash flow So Malachi the floor is yours.

Malachi: Fantastic. Thanks Mehmet for having me here Uh, i'm Malachi Halliday Founder of HFS I've been in Dubai for 15 years and for most of that working with founders and startups across different industries.

Malachi: I started my first business here around 2017 and experienced firsthand some of the challenges that businesses go through. And, uh, I was advising a lot of other startups at the time, and I kept hearing that [00:02:00] businesses were struggling with accessing capital. So over the years, I was helping them access capital and, uh, started funding them myself.

Malachi: And then at some point started a business, uh, where we actually became the ones. funding MSMEs across the UAE. So this is where we find ourselves today. I mean, our goal is to fund 2000 businesses across the UAE by 2030. And that's, that's what I'm excited about.

Mehmet: Great. And thank you again for being with me here today, Malachi.

Mehmet: Um, let me start, you know, and asking you why it is a challenge for This sector specifically, I mean, this, this, uh, you know, part of the economy, which is very important. Why we have the challenge in, in, in, in cash flow. You know,

Malachi: when I first was looking for funding for all the businesses that I was working with.

Malachi: What [00:03:00] really infuriated me was how challenging it was to get funding from the banks. And this is probably something that we can dig into more, but I realized that how the market is structured here is fundamentally, uh, credit underwriter unfriendly. So what do I mean by that? Uh, so firstly, We don't live in a necessarily data rich environment.

Malachi: A lot of businesses in the UAE are pretty analog. Uh, they're not necessarily tracking all of their sales and invoicing very well. Uh, they're not necessarily getting the best quality audits. So from a banking perspective, when this data isn't available, it's much harder for banks and other funding institutions to support small business when they typically would have other markets.

Malachi: Um, so access to capital is a tough one in that regard that the funders aren't there, but also the need for funding. [00:04:00] Is even greater because in this region, especially, uh, the payment cycles are so much longer just getting paid by clients. I think every founder in the chat will, especially in the B2B space, will know what it's like chasing clients just to get paid.

Malachi: You have to wait 30, 60, 90 days to get paid. So it's very easy to get cash strapped, not because you don't have sales, but maybe even especially because you have sales because you've been delivering so many jobs and you're just waiting for your clients to pay you. Um, well, at least of all, then whether or not they pay you, there's like one in around one in 10 companies, uh, invoices don't actually get paid.

Malachi: So there's this environment of will I get paid by my customers? Uh, it's hard for me to access funding from the banks. The banks are a bit skittish because they don't have the access to the data and because they think there's a higher credit risk on me. And, and also because odds are in the UAE, I'm an expat because most of the business community in the [00:05:00] UAE is.

Malachi: Our expats, then there is an additional flight risk. So from a funders perspective, then you've got issues of, well, if the business doesn't go so well, what's going to happen with this founder? So there are structural challenges in this market, especially that, uh, have to be overcome by founders and the funders that are trying to address their needs.

Mehmet: That's, uh, you know, like a good, uh, spot, I would say, uh, here now, maybe the traditional question that someone might ask. So these are, might be startup that they just, you know, started operations a couple of years ago, or maybe some established SMEs let's call, but why, why they don't go to the bank. So why the banks.

Mehmet: You know, don't accept to give them funding. I'm going to leave it to you. But, you know, the first thing we know, like, you know, banks usually are tough and they don't usually [00:06:00] provide this flexibility. But tell us a little bit more why that is the case.

Malachi: Yeah, absolutely. So the data availability is really the biggest thing for a lot of these companies.

Malachi: And that manifests or is reflected. In the bank's criteria when they're funding companies. So generally in the U. A. There are priority sectors, but for most small businesses, it's not even about the sector. It's about have you been in operations for three years? Um, do you have an extended relationship with the bank that you're seeking funding from?

Malachi: Um, and then with the audits that you have, can you show profitable increasing growth year on year? And it's very harmful of MSMEs, uh, or small businesses to actually show all of this. And it's hard to, uh, front up the cost of putting all this together. If you're uncertain, if you're going to get the funding from the banks, this is a challenge.

Malachi: Um, unfortunately from the bank's [00:07:00] perspective, Uh, they themselves perhaps aren't as digitized as in some of the markets. So they might be asking SMEs to come into the branch and submit documents. Um, or they might be reviewing hard copies of things, which is quite tedious. And it makes it, uh, not really commercially viable for the banks to serve small customers.

Malachi: And that's why a wave of funding providers. factoring, forfeiting, assets, financing, SAS funding, a wave of funding providers have come into the market, really, especially since COVID, some before, um, but to plug that gap because following COVID, even though it's been a few years now, a lot of SMEs have bounced checks.

Malachi: And if you have bounced checks, uh, then just. Don't bother going to the bank seeking funding. Um, you'll, you'll waste your time. And then of course, when you get projections from banks and other funding institutions that affects your formal and [00:08:00] informal, uh, credit rating, uh, for all of us, other funders in the market.

Malachi: So, uh, for all these companies that have had bounced checks, it's a complete non starter and the banks want to look at that and that's all the data they have. So this is kind of the backdrop.

Mehmet: Now, let me ask you on the positive side of the things now. So, and maybe this will change, you know, how people look, look at this.

Mehmet: So from your experience, what are like the benefits of letting these Startups and small medium businesses, uh, you know getting Easily the access to the fund there they want I mean from economical perspective What will be the benefit when we support these startups with getting their? Credit line in in order to get you know, their hands to the funds that they want So what have you seen the positive impact?

Mehmet: Especially like you helped a lot of of these startups [00:09:00] also and smes yourself, man. Okay

Malachi: I'll give you some examples directly from our portfolio from companies that we're currently funding as well as companies that we've funded in the past. So especially funding for small businesses increases competition in the market, which ultimately results in wins for the consumer.

Malachi: So for example, one of the companies that we're funding at the moment, um, GK Med, they are, they're in the medical supply space and their whole mission, why the founder, why she started the business was to reduce the cost of the products that medical clinics Um, were fine. So they could then pass on those savings to, um, people and families that maybe didn't have the same discretionary spending available or even indiscretionary spend like stuff that they had to spend on because it's medical.

Malachi: So, uh, one direct impact is the increased competition so that people that couldn't otherwise afford these products can afford these products. [00:10:00] Another direct impact is from our portfolio. One of the companies we funded, um, a really cool company called Mutual Fuels years ago. They Uh, they were in the biofuel space and, um, they were taking like used toxic oil from a place.

Malachi: I don't want to describe something as toxic and then say where they were getting it from, but certain, you know, fast food outlets, et cetera. Um, what they were doing was they were processing this stuff, which would otherwise have been terrible for the environment, going to land waste, et cetera. They were processing it.

Malachi: And selling it to one of the state of oil companies here in the UAE. And they ended up, of course, doing very well. They've grown really, really well over the years. But they also have gone on to say 54 million kilograms of carbon dioxide in equivalents. since, uh, since our funding. So there's the social impact, helping consumers, especially those that need help most.

Malachi: Um, there's the environmental [00:11:00] impact and this comes, both of these things come back to competition. Um, but the third pillar really would be what you mentioned and it comes back to employment. Because the more people you have employed through diversified channels in economy, ultimately, the more resilient that economy is, there are less systemic risks.

Malachi: And that was one of the big things you heard a lot about with Too Big to Fail and the GFC in 07, 08, around that time. More small business. More employment, more social impact, more environmental impact, more innovation, less bureaucracy, uh, and more lives changed.

Mehmet: Fantastic. Now, where your company fits in this picture, Malachi?

Mehmet: Like, how do you help them? And what's, if you can, like Explain to the audience who might be interested, uh, your business model. How is the engagement on a high level? Or even if you want to go into the details, that's completely fine. [00:12:00]

Malachi: Thank you. Absolutely. I'm always happy to talk about what we're doing, of course.

Malachi: So for our clients, what we do is of course, step one, we provide them with cash because clients come to us looking for cash so that they can deliver on existing jobs. So we give them the working capital they need to capitalize. on immediate growth opportunities. And then on the back of that, we also provide a two things.

Malachi: Firstly, we provide a fractional CFO, and this is probably the most important thing, more important perhaps than the funding that we provide is the fractional CFO, which gives very targeted advice to help these companies become more and more fundable. So we focus on the relevant KPIs. depending on what their business is and depending on what they plan on spending on over the next one, two, three years.

Malachi: So we'll optimize their business, um, their customer relations, uh, their, their data, what data they're collecting, um, by their, [00:13:00] their, um, their sales, their unit costs, et cetera. So we optimize this so that within six to 12 months, our portfolio companies, they should be doubling their revenue. Not just because we've given them, given them the funding to capitalise on jobs, but we've also given them the advice to manage the subsequent growth so that they don't kind of fall off to the side a little bit, as can happen when businesses have such accelerated growth.

Malachi: So we then help them manage that growth safely and sustainably. Um, but then also within six to 12 months, we can then go on to raise more money for them. That is, uh, more long term funding, uh, the best fit for their business. So maybe they have lots of large customers that are repeat customers. So we can organize something called factoring, which is tailored for that sort of business, or maybe they have a, um, an online platform and they're getting a repeater, like it's a subscription based business.

Malachi: So we'll get SAS funding for them, [00:14:00] uh, or maybe they just have really long payment terms. So we'll organize invoice discounting. So all of these different funding types with different terms, they have different implications for control and cost. But ultimately it's what is the right fit for their business.

Malachi: We're kind of like a funding doctor coming in emergency surgery and then giving them a diet plan or a finance plan that we guide them on every month to get them to a point where they're ready to get a lot more funding. So this is our goal.

Mehmet: It's good to know. Okay, now. Any criteria that usually you look into to, to get in this like revenue perspective, how long has they have been in the business?

Mehmet: Any, anything that you can shed light on?

Malachi: Absolutely. Uh, so we want to fund as many companies as possible, as many, uh, as many amazing founders, of course, but our niche where we add the most value is if they're B2B. So businesses that are selling to other businesses, [00:15:00] uh, if they have at least 100, 000 dirhams of revenue, um, so it's not like an age thing, but just if they have 100, 000 dirhams a month of revenue, that's really important to us.

Malachi: Uh, the next one is that they sell on credit because these companies have the biggest headaches when it comes to cashflow efficiency. Um, then we look at, of course, at what they intend on spending the money on. So if they want to spend it on something like getting a bigger office. terms that has like a long lead time to generate more revenue.

Malachi: So that's not something that they're really keen to support. We're looking for companies that want to spend on inventory or cost of goods sold generally. And lastly, companies that per item or service provided, they make at least 10 percent gross profit per month. So what that means is if they're getting paid maybe up to 60 days, then they make 20 percent gross margin.

Malachi: If they get paid after 30 days, they make at least 10 percent gross margin. So these are the key criteria that we look at when we're assessing if there's a business, we can [00:16:00] really help turbocharge.

Mehmet: It's good to know. Now, uh, one other thing I want to, to ask you about is when. Not only when coming to you, but in general, so these are post revenue.

Mehmet: Let's call them scale ups, right? Or SMEs, right? So when they are in front of someone like yourself, Malachi, and they are trying to get some, some funding, um, how they can be well prepared? What are like some of the things they need to be? , you know, let's say they have to do a homework right before coming in front of, of, of you or, or like any other one who they might be in front of.

Mehmet: So what they should be preparing for before coming and, and asking for, for the, for the cash.

Malachi: It's a, it's a really good question because one of the worst things you can do is [00:17:00] um, go for an application of funding and then not have your documents in place and you waste your time. The funder's time. Maybe you get a rejection and that goes on your record.

Malachi: Um, so it's, it's really important to be prepared. The sorts of things that every funding provider will ask for is what are the constitutional documents? Like where's your trade license, your MOA or articles? Um, where are your KYC documents? So that means like know your clients. So who are your UBOs or ultimate beneficial owners?

Malachi: They want information on who the shareholders are. Who the controlling people are, and the company itself. Um, so every funding provider wants this information. It's kind of the basics, just so they know who they're dealing with. Then the next round of questions that every funding provider is going to ask about is what's the strength of the business?

Malachi: How is it going? Is it profitable? Has it past breakeven? Um, when they've received money in the past, [00:18:00] what have they done with the money? Just to make sure that they're using it in the right way. Uh, so having, uh, a healthy financial picture, which means ideally sales that's growing quarter by quarter, it means that you have past breakeven, ideally.

Malachi: Um, and if so, profits increasing, um, these sorts of things are really important. Also, one of the things which is a little more esoteric is how are you going with collections from your clients? So for example, if you have a higher rate of default from your clients paying you, that might indicate that you have a less attractive product.

Malachi: It might mean your service might mean your business is Uh, not selling something so valuable, which in turn might mean there's a bigger risk that you're a business. Then has, um, shocks to cashflow because people just, uh, that your clients stop buying the product. So this is the sort of thing, [00:19:00] um, also the more you get paid through like bank transfers and through digital means that can be properly verified of like where it's coming from and who the customers are.

Malachi: That's really helpful from a funders perspective, because if you're a business that gets paid mostly in cash, even in PDCs, frankly, uh, it's just, it's less attractive. And this is. This, uh, just this node on PDC is getting paid that way. It's, uh, it's one of those things that's business to business. Because sometimes you want to get paid with PDCs because you know you'll get paid on time.

Malachi: Uh, but on the other hand, if you're getting paid by PDCs, then you can't offer something called assignment, which a lot of funders want. Assignment is where you get funding against your revenues. Um, but then those revenues are sold to the funding providers. They're technically buying your future revenue, but giving you the cash today to use for working capital.

Malachi: So it's, it's a little bit case by case.

Mehmet: Cool. Now, out of curiosity, and because I'm sure [00:20:00] like you have seen different, uh, I would say business owners or founders coming to you. Have you seen a difference between the founders who have maybe raised, I mean, part of their startup raising, uh, doing it much better than let's say someone who bootstrapped the business and coming now for scaling and asking for the funds?

Mehmet: Have you seen, you know, anything between these two categories?

Malachi: So we have a lot of both come and apply for funding. Um, the ones that have bootstrapped, I have found to be generally quite tenacious, a little bit scrappier. Their data infrastructure is usually less formalized, less organized. So what that means is maybe they don't have When they come for funding, they don't have all of the documents in place.

Malachi: Um, generally speaking, when they get to us, they will have passed break even because they're focused on [00:21:00] getting the profitability first. Whereas the companies that maybe they went down the VC route or they got lots of angel investment, they have, when they come to us, they usually have much better data.

Malachi: But maybe that data isn't as attractive from a like a quasi lending perspective. And I say quasi lending because even though we were a finalist for best digital lending platform in the UAE last month, technically, we're not lending. We're doing it, etc. Such an important legal disclaimer there. But these companies that are kind of VC backed, great data, great at telling a good story, that growth narrative permeates.

Malachi: Uh, every interaction you have, it'll always be, Oh, I need the money because I'm about to use it to grow in this way. And then we'll have this result. You don't have to worry about your investment because we're going to be up in the stars by Monday. And this sort of thing is, is how a VC backed business normally pitches to us.

Malachi: Whereas the, um, uh, like the [00:22:00] bootstrapped ones are normally saying, yeah, here are the challenges that we've had to overcome. This is how we've done it. Uh, and you know, we've made great even from here. We're safe. We're solid. You don't need to worry. It's very risk management, very different flavor. Um, with us and our funding, we actually fund more of those, um, non VC backed companies.

Malachi: Because our mission is to support those that otherwise don't have access to funding. So we want to fund, um, people that, uh, don't have access to usable, they don't have a network or. We're trying to promote financial inclusion, ultimately.

Mehmet: Okay, that's, that's, that's a great, uh, initiative also as well, just for the, for the folks who, you know, they didn't raise funds from VCs or maybe from angel investors and so on.

Mehmet: Now, how, I mean, like, let's say we talk about, you know, what they have to prepare. Uh, what [00:23:00] usually are some of the mistakes you see they're doing after raising the funds?

Malachi: So many, so, so many, it's, uh, I laugh, but only so I don't cry. It's, um, the hardest thing is when you see an amazing founder and you kind of like, we care about the founders, we support their partners, we want to see them grow, we care about their mission.

Malachi: Um, so we want everyone that we've ever supported to, to really flourish. And, um, one of the really frustrating mistakes is when we see companies that they raise money and they immediately increase their overheads. because they think that I've raised money, I'll use it to promote growth, I can afford to increase my overheads or I need to increase my overheads to get that growth.

Malachi: And oftentimes, uh, they overlook, they managed all of their revenue to date without those overheads. So that they don't necessarily need it, or [00:24:00] maybe they do need it, but they underestimate how long it takes for the revenue to come in, which they're going to be winning. Uh, the, the process to sell in the UAE, it's very relationship driven, because again, a lot of the population here in the business community are expats.

Malachi: So, uh, trust and relationships are incredibly important to winning sales. So you have to build up that reputation, build up that personal credibility. So it takes longer to get the sale and then after that, you do the job, it takes longer to get paid. So it could be three to six months following the raise or any sort of funding that you really see a huge boost in, uh, in, in actual cash into your bank account.

Malachi: So if you increase your overheads straight away, uh, unfortunately it creates a real parachute dragging you down. So that's a really big one. Um, I would say the other one, not with companies we fund because obviously we checked for this beforehand, but, uh, is company is more on the BC side [00:25:00] that don't have solid, uh, unit economics.

Malachi: So they cover up, um, bad product market fit and they cover up bad unit economics under the guise of. Oh, once we get bigger, we'll have economies of scale and it'll be fine when in reality they maybe they have high churn, uh, so and they have to factor in a higher customer acquisition cost relative to the customer lifetime value and issues like this.

Malachi: It's different. It's very different for a VC versus a non VC backed SMEs across the U. A. But these are examples that we've seen.

Mehmet: Absolutely, like, and makes sense to me also as well. Um, one thing which is, you know, it's good to highlight and this is because, you know, the podcast and I'm, I'm lucky and happy.

Mehmet: That it has a global reach. So this is for also folks who are outside our region So to the point that Malakai just [00:26:00] mentioned is like the sales cycle Here is very much depending on the relationships and you know, um Of course, we, we have processes and, you know, we are a mature market, but still, you know, there's a kind of unpredictability.

Mehmet: And to be honest with you, Malakai, because I spoke to a lot of folks, even in other parts of the world, in Europe, in the U. S. It's not only a challenge that we have here. It's a challenge that I think it's a global one. And this is what brings, you know, me to ask you from, again, because you've done like, uh, Mentorship and you've helped like startups in accelerators and then different places before Like what are like some of the trends you are seeing when it comes to financing?

Mehmet: The msmes like what what are you seeing and do you see also any? blending of Innovation and technology [00:27:00] that can also facilitate this more into the future.

Malachi: So, um, one of the accelerated programs that I did some mentorship was, um, textiles in Saudi. And, uh, while I was mentoring them, I came across a proliferation of, uh, yes, like VC backed companies and, um, angel backed companies, but also companies like that, that had blended. Uh, forfeiting or revenue based finance.

Malachi: So I'm definitely seeing more creative and, uh, tenacious or aggressive searches for capital. And, um, rather than just having all equity or I'm all debt or I'm all in one thing, there's definitely more creativity adding to what we call from a funding perspective, the capital stack, everything from pure preferred equity all the way down to super secured [00:28:00] debt.

Malachi: Um, and everything in between, and even stuff that's off balance sheet, such as revenue acceleration, invoice discounting. So definitely seeing more of that. There's more of a market awareness. of these solutions that are available. Um, five years ago, definitely 10 years ago, but five years ago, it was really just, Oh, I'll get equity, uh, from angels and VCs, or I'll get a bank debt.

Malachi: Um, but now there is an awareness and people are even seeking us out looking for our funding. Um, whereas before none were even aware that such a funding solution existed. Um, at the same time, to your point about the adaption of technology, the biggest thing we've seen, or the biggest. Game Changer, uh, is two things, um, actually.

Malachi: One is the introduction of LLMs. Um, in customer service, which has reduced from a funders perspective, um, reduced customer acquisition cost because a lot of the, um, the initial [00:29:00] processing of customers can just be handled by like an AI tool in LLM. Uh, so this, um, this is one thing which is made. funding a little more accessible and affordable to provide by institutions.

Malachi: They have been a little slower to adopt this than I would have expected, uh, because it's been a few years now that these have been available in the market. That's, that's one thing which I think will have more and more impact as the years go on. The other thing is, especially in our region, in the GCC, Is compared to five years ago.

Malachi: There's much better quality data. So there's still there's still a dearth or a shortage of things like credit insurance on receivables and the impact of that is that international funders have a harder time coming into this region because all of the funding that they [00:30:00] raised is using credit insurance So they could, you know, get g back.

Malachi: Toback guarantees to all of their, their larger funders. So they, international funding providers find it harder to come into this region. So a lot of the funding in this region has to be provided from local sources. Local sources with a, a, uh, a local approach to funding. Um, and this is one of the things that we really want to try and bridge the gap on ourselves is.

Malachi: Um, with the novel data that we assess is trying to build a bridge between what needs to be evaluated and done locally in the GCC region and what's required from funders overseas. Uh, plan to try and secure secure over 100 million into this region from overseas. Uh, and that's, that's one of our strategic objectives.

Malachi: So that, that's one of the bridges we want to do. And one of the, um, uh, one of the areas that technology is It's shaping, uh, shaping the market in [00:31:00] Ebola.

Mehmet: That's super cool. Uh, just out of curiosity, so are you using, or like maybe, uh, are there plans to use these LLM tools for you, like to do more like due diligence and this kind of stuff?

Malachi: So, uh, we are, as I mentioned, proud to say. Uh, we were a finalist for the, you know, the best digital lending platform. Um, you see, I'm, I'm super proud of that. Uh, all the credit goes to my team and then all that, all that's on the digitization where we use it, um, sort of internally is primarily on a credit risk evaluation level.

Malachi: So we're looking at the documents that we receive. And this is again, why. Standardized documents are so important and having good quality documents if you're providing, uh, you know, proper like up to standards, um, like financial by profit loss and balance sheet, etc. It's easier for us to extract that data and do an automatic analysis.

Malachi: If you're [00:32:00] providing us, you know, financials that were written on the back of a napkin that we have to manually do everything. Unfortunately, no one's. Quiet on the back of the napkin, but you can appreciate all of the businesses that give us financials in Excel. So this sort of stuff, it makes it harder for us, uh, and any funder, but we do use it in the credit evaluation.

Malachi: Uh, stage. We also use that when it comes to what we've built when it comes to the, um, the actual evaluation of financial metrics itself, not just the data extraction. Uh, we did look at applying it in sales and that's something we intend to do. Um, however, uh, for the time being, we want to, uh, offer as.

Malachi: Customize an experience for our, for our clients in the UAE as possible. I want it to be hands on. We want to provide that human aspect. There are others in the market that are entirely digital. And then you apply, you never speak to a [00:33:00] human, uh, and then you just get a rejection and then you don't know why our whole ethos is we're trying to support those that can't otherwise get support.

Malachi: They're not digitally enabled, so we can't be digitally reliant. Necessarily. So we have humans working with humans, and then we help them in some ways, uh, digitize or at least improve the quality of their data so they can work with those funders. But unfortunately for the time being, we have to be that bridge between your typical analog old school business owner, uh, and you know, the, where funding is headed.

Mehmet: It's good to know this. And to your point, and I'm happy that you mentioned this is to keep the human element into the picture also as well. So, because I think this is where, let's say if, if you get an application. And maybe they missed a few things, so still a human would go and tell them you need to work on this.

Mehmet: So it's kind of like this advisory. Uh, aspect of it. So [00:34:00] as good, you mentioned this, uh, like, you know, uh, any final advices you want to share with us and also tell us where people can get in touch as well.

Malachi: Absolutely. Um, one bit of advice I think I would give for all customers, sorry, all businesses in the UAE is really dial in on your collections.

Malachi: This is something that most B2B businesses in the UAE really have a tough time with. Um, it's everything from building a relationship with the individual in the payment department, rather than just sending emails, which no one reads. Um, it's having like multi channel follow ups. It's having a product or service which your customer really relies on.

Malachi: Um, and really has value to them so that they know, Oh, this is the guy I'm going to pay first. And then it's also, you know, negotiating where you can better payment terms instead of 90 days, push for 60 or 30. [00:35:00] The impact of that shorter collection period can be absolutely monumental on, on your growth.

Malachi: Because then you can get more revenues over the same overheads, and it improves your profitability, it improves your track record and your growth metrics, so that it's easier for you to get funding. There's so much that your collections can impact across your business. Of the thousand things that we advise our clients on, I would say really try and dial in on that.

Malachi: Um, and yeah, that would be the final bit of advice I could share today. And, uh, where to reach us, of course, LinkedIn, um, or our websites or any of our team, uh, or of course, uh, through the CTO show, um, any companies that do like to see this podcast and then reach out, um, we're going to be giving you priority access who goes straight to the front of the line and give you a relationship manager just to handle your application.

Malachi: Uh, because, uh, you know, it sounds more like who you died and learn it here. So really [00:36:00] appreciate that and appreciate the time.

Mehmet: Oh, my, my pleasure, Malachi. And thank you for this generous, uh, uh, also offer that you've put for, for the audience. And they don't have to go and search. I'm going to make the life easy.

Mehmet: If you go to the show notes, if you're listening on your favorite podcasting applications, we're going to find. The links in the show notes, if you're watching on YouTube, the description, but okay. I really enjoyed the discussion and I think it's an important, very important, um, aspect of the growth of the economy.

Mehmet: And of course of these MSMEs and startups also as well. Uh, and I really really enjoyed how you emphasize on, you know, the collection aspect on how they put the Order in the house, I would say for their financials So they have so they can have the prosperity that they aim for and I always tell people, you know When you start a business, you should aim, you know how to grow it more and to grow it more You need to have a healthy [00:37:00] financials and thank you for you know, the efforts you have put Uh to make sure that also they have, you know access to funding when when they need it I appreciate also, you know, being with me here today, Malachi.

Mehmet: And this is usually how I end my podcast episodes. This is for the folks who are listening or watching us. If you just discovered this podcast by luck, thank you for passing by. I hope you enjoyed. If you did so give us a thumb up. And share it with your friends and colleagues and if you are one of the folks who Keep coming again and again.

Mehmet: Thank you for doing so and thank you because of all your efforts and all of your You know encouragement we made it to be in the top 45 business podcast in dubai By feet spot. So thank you for For making this happen keeping, you know, the podcast coming in the top hundred and sometimes the top 50 chart in the UAE and abroad.

Mehmet: So thank you for the support and we'll meet again very soon. Thank you. Bye. Bye.

​[00:38:00]