After running various tech businesses, Michael Galvin noticed a struggle all entrepreneurs face: the eating away of precious time due to mundane tasks.
That’s why he co-founded Geniac, a company based out of London’s WeWork Moorgate, that assists business owners with bookkeeping, payroll, employee management, legal solutions, accounting, and administration.
“We recognized that when you’re building a fast-growth business, the administrative burden can be huge,” says Galvin. “It’s a massive distraction for founders, and not a good use of their time. Geniac’s ultimate mission is to give founders and business owners their time back, so they can focus on growth and create really great businesses.”
Galvin, an American who graduated from the University of Florida, began his career in management consulting, working everywhere from Price Waterhouse Management Consultants and Cole Systems Associates, Inc. to Accenture.
During his three-year tenure at Accenture, he met Eduardo Martinez Garcia, who became his co-founder at Geniac.
“It was our shared experience (and frustration!) of setting up and running multiple startups that gave us the idea for Geniac,” says Galvin. “We wanted to make it easier to start, run, and grow a business.”
Last summer, Geniac had only six employees. Now, 26 people provide a tech product and personal account management. According to Galvin, new clients are signing on every day; currently, they have hundreds using their services.
Like every startup founder, Galvin has an erratic and demanding schedule. At home, he has a wife and two daughters. He heads out to the office around 7 every morning, and may end up in a different country by the end of the day.
Even at a business that enables other businesses to run smoothly, there is the ongoing challenge of never having enough time in the day. “But hey, that’s the startup life,” says Galvin.
On the flipside, the benefits of working long hours are huge. Galvin takes pride in the fact that he’s able to help businesses navigate through administrative work and give them a push to succeed.
“Every day brings its own rewards,” he says. “It might be when a client tells us that we’re their most valued supplier. Or that we’ve saved them huge amounts of time. Or money. Or stopped them getting in a jam. It’s also great when we roll out a new feature like our Finance Dashboards or our new onboarding experience, and clients immediately tell us how much they love it. And as an American, I am personally very proud when we can help a U.S. company expanding into the U.K.”
Photos: Oscar May