Shannon Caulk, COO & Co-Founder Of Spendly

Shannon Caulk, COO & Co-Founder Of Spendly

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know.Joining me today is Shannon Cox. She's
twenty eight years old, she's aCollege of Charleston graduate, and she's co
founder and COO of a company calledSpendley. Shannon, welcome to CEOs you
should know. Thank you Blaze forhaving me. Well, absolutely thanks for
taking the time out to talk tous today too. So explain to our
listeners it is exactly that Spendley does. We help businesses save money and for

(00:24):
us, what does that mean.They tell us their existing spend on core
services like payroll, benefits, retirementplans, payment processing, commercial insurance.
We analyze that spend and we havean amazing network of providers who can offer
virtually the same exact service for less. So they fight to earn your business
and through our process, businesses cansave about twenty to forty percent per service

(00:47):
and it's absolutely free for them touse. Wow, so it's free.
So if you don't mind me asking, how how do you monetize that and
make that work as a business?Yeah, that's always the question. Week
got everything comes monetization side. Onthe providers, the pockets they're fighting to
get new customers. We really lowertheir customer acquisition costs, so we're able
to provide our service free for thebusiness because of that. Well, that's

(01:08):
excellent and it's interesting that you chosethat path. What is it that motivated
you to start Spendley. I comefrom a family of entrepreneurs. My dad
has been a huge influence on me. He had a small business, so
for us, when I was reallyunderstanding when I met my co founder the
ideal of Spendley, I knew itwas a product that did great for our

(01:30):
communities, helped small businesses everywhere.So that was a huge check. I
really believed in the idea in mybackgrounds of product design, so I knew
I could really bring the product tolife with my set of skills. Now
I would I would think that,you know, it's a great service for
businesses, but probably nonprofits could takeadvantage of this service too, right,
Absolutely, we've worked with nonprofits businesses. I would say any larger than ten

(01:55):
employees, that's typically a sticky spotbecause those economies of scale really add up.
We're saving twenty to forty percent canbe the difference of five to ten
thousand dollars a year. So walkme through the process, say I'm a
business or a nonprofit or a charity, and I want to get a handle
on the administrative side of my businessand save some money. So where do

(02:17):
I start? Absolutely, you cango to getspendley dot com. We made
it really easy to sign up onyour own. Of course, we're here
to help you if you need anyguidance, but you sign up and upload
some requested documents to just validate yourcurrent spend in a category. We analyze
that, we push it out toour network of providers. Anyone in that
category can answer the request. We'reblindly connecting these offers so they don't know

(02:40):
what another provider is bidding. Andat the end, normally seven days or
less, we show you the bestquotes found in market with an easy to
understand saving analysis to see what youwere spending, what you could be spending,
and how you can reach out tothis provider to talk more about that
offer. Now, do they havethe option to kind of pick and chew

(03:00):
among the people that bid for thatbusiness or do you do that for them
and figure out the most efficient wayin the best companies that you advise that
they use for Now, we dothat for them, just as Trueline that
process and make it as easy aswe can for the businesses and explain the
process of what you went through whileyou were creating Spendley, because since you're

(03:22):
a co founder, so that otherentrepreneurs can have a better idea of what
you expect while they're nurturing their conceptsto fruition. My biggest advice would be
to really talk to your customers.Everyone thinks they have a good idea,
but talk to the people who areactually, at the end of the day
going to be using your product andbuild it with them if you can.

(03:42):
That'll help you save astronomical amount oftime, money, resources, and anything
you really can do to understand yourcustomer more will help you. Just build
a product that actually resonates with themthe most. And a business plan.
A lot of people I think failwhen they're, you know, star darting
a new enterprise. They fail atcoming up with a proper business plan,

(04:03):
don't they. I think a lotof people overthink it, an over engineer
what's needed to get started, andhonestly, the hardest part is getting started,
and I think the business plan willpresent itself as you just start to
understand what problem are you really solving? And who are you helping. A
lot of the paralysis of analysis isreal, and it's so easy to overthink

(04:26):
what you're starting and not actually everget started. I love that you said
that because I use that phrase allthe time. You know, it's an
analysis paralysis, and you overthink things, and when you overthink things, you
tend to not take action. Andthe best thing I think you can do
is move forward and start that momentumforward and on the business plan, you

(04:48):
can start just by filling in theblanks that you know already and then fill
it in as you go along.Do you think that's good advice or would
you advise otherwise? I think that'shit the now. On Marplace, what
are some of the biggest obstacles thatyou've faced while starting up this business?
I think being a solo pneur beforeon some small ventures of my own.

(05:11):
One advice I would say that I'velearned through this process that has made it
that much more enjoyable, easier.I want to say is having co founders
and having peers around you that reallyfill your gaps. No one can know
everything. Try to be as bestas you can what you're great at,
but don't weigh yourself thin trying tobe great at everything, because you'll burn

(05:33):
out very quickly, especially starting anew business. You have to wear a
lot of hats, absolutely, andI think a lot of people put too
much pressure on themselves, like yousaid, to fill every role and try
to be good at every role.And let's face it, I mean most
people, if not all, people, don't have that ability. They shine

(05:53):
in certain areas. So one ofthe things that you have to do is,
I think, identify your strengths rightand know what yours are, and
know what your weaknesses are and findsomebody else that complements those weaknesses, right,
yeap, And it's okay to askfor help. One thing I learned
in entrepreneurship there's so many people whohave been where you're at, been where
you are, and are where youwant to go. So that's such an

(06:15):
unbelievable power to just reach out topeople. There's so many people that if
you ask for coffee, ask foradvice, we'll give you that. And
there's so many great entrepreneurs, businessowners, whatever your industry is, that
if you reach out, they'll respond. I think you're right, and I'm
always amazed by how many people thereare that are willing to help and not

(06:38):
have any ego about it and notlook at it as a threat to their
business. They're genuinely eager to helpyou succeed. Don't you find that I
do? And you know you're relativelyyoung at twenty eight years old. Do
you think that your age helped youor hindered you or maybe it was a
little bit of both on your journeycreating spend I think a little bit of

(07:00):
both. I think for me,once I got a little bit of real
world experience prior to Spindley, thatgave me such a level of confidence to
know my skill set, which isreally on the design side, to understand
what I'm good at, and havethe confidence to be in a room with

(07:20):
older people presenting my ideas owning theroom. I don't think I ever would
have had that confidence probably five yearsago. So getting some real life experience
under my belt really built my confidence, because I think right after school I
didn't quite know what I wanted todo, and I don't think I had
the confidence that I do today tostart a business, walk into a room,

(07:44):
walk into a boardroom, and commandthe room. I did not have
that four or five years ago.But that really comes from experience, getting
in the room, showing up inpractice. It doesn't happen overnight. Sure.
And I would imagine too that youryoung age, which could be a
benefit in that you're more comfortable,I would assume with technology, and may

(08:05):
be more open minded to change thansome people that have been practicing for a
while and are set in their ways. And I think that's important because I
think young entrepreneurs may be intimidated bytheir young age and that might hinder them
when actually they can use it asa plus. Absolutely, And I would

(08:26):
say our target market, business owners, it is a little bit older.
It's not necessarily the twenty eight yearold. I would say it's more the
thirty five to sixty range. Soour customer is a little bit older than
me, so you know, Ido have to step in their shoes.
We don't need to make a productthat's so complex they can't use. Let's
make something that's still easy, veryuser friendly. We don't need to over

(08:48):
engineer anything. Well. I lovethat because there's so many products sometimes where
you know, I call it kindof like the fog of engineering, where
engineers understand into the process and howthis works, and they think everybody else,
everybody else's brain should work that way. Oh yeah, and a lot
of times the end result is youhave a product that's not very intuitive.

(09:11):
So I love that you try tomake it simple for your end user.
Thank you. If you had topick just one, what do you think
is the most important first step forentrepreneurs that want to launch their own business?
I think there's three things, sogive you a little bit more sure,
but one, what is the problemyou're solving and is it a real

(09:31):
problem? Two? How are youmaking money? It's amazing how many people
will I would say technology, it'sa little bit more. But would start
a business with not having a realway to monetize it? Have that from
day one for you, for investorsto know what you're going for. It's
not just a play for users.And three, I would say, no,

(09:54):
you don't have to do it alone. Whether you find a co founder,
someone you can do it with thatwill just amplify your success in your
speed to market that much quicker twohorses pulling a cart, The cart doesn't
pull twice as strong, it's fourtimes stronger. Sure, I mean that's
a great way to look at it. And we had talked about you know

(10:16):
how a lot of people are willingto help young entrepreneurs or you know,
entrepreneurs of any age really, youknow in their endeavors. Are you willing
to help anybody that's interested in coulduse some guidance in a startup? Absolutely?
And how would they get a holdof you? If you want to
contact, feel free to reach outto me on our website, drop us

(10:37):
a note say you heard me talkinghere and I'd love to chat and grab
coffee. If your logo's arsting,well, that's great, and remind everybody
of what your website addresses again,it's get spendley dot com. Spenley is
a company that helps other companies maximizetheir efficiency on the administrative side, and
I think it's a great idea.Shannon, thanks for spending the time with

(11:01):
us today on CEOs you should know, and thanks for your willingness to help
young entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs of any hThank you so much. You've been listening
to iHeart Radios CEOs you should know, heard every Tuesday and Saturday morning right
here on this iHeart Radio station.