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As part of our coverage of the start-up scene in Bahrain, we are going to be covering several new ventures and the stories of their founders regularly, to bring a human touch to the technology that is shaping our lives and the kingdom’s future economy.
Bahrain’s burgeoning start-up scene has attracted a variety of players from across the globe. Most of them seek the Middle East as a lucrative technology-enabled market but this week, GulfWeekly sat down with a start-up that has made the island its base and targets the US, UK and Canada for its customers.
SINC is an employee management and time tracking solution application targeted at small businesses employing blue collar skilled tradespeople like electricians, plumbers and construction workers, who in the overseas market can earn upwards of $40 per hour.
While that may seem like an exorbitant sum here, skilled tradespeople in these markets have always been much more technologically-enabled. Yet, when it comes to scheduling and tracking their time as well as their employees’ hours, the market is still young.
For New Zealand founders, Samuel Dolbel and Samuel Matthews, there was an obvious gap in the current offerings that they used their own experience working in blue collar jobs to solve it.
Dolbel, who has worked in construction generally managing crews since he was 17, has always found handling employees and their hours to be a constant hassle.
“I have been a serial entrepreneur for more than half of my life, generally in construction where we work with our hands,” said Dolbel. “Tracking hours and ensuring every employee is properly paid has always been a pain point, all over the skilled trades industry. So we decided to create a product for others who work with their hands.”
Matthews, who was a film maker until he taught himself to code, had previously worked with Dolbel on some projects before coming on board as the young company’s programmer.
While their customer base is often technology-enhanced, most of them would rather be out attracting business than spending hours every day tracking each employee’s hours. Instead with the free app, employees can remotely enter their hours which are automatically tracked for the employer and in coming months, will be synced with the company’s payroll and invoicing software.
While mammoth companies like Sage and QuickBooks are venturing into this field, their offerings are stunted, often lacking a proper understanding of user needs.
The Sams’ product, which has near-perfect ratings on both the Apple and Android app stores, tests every feature with its customer base before rolling it out. This, plus their own intuitive understanding of the needs of blue collar workers has made their company a huge success, now onboarding about 60 – 100 new companies a day, 20 per cent of whom go on to become happy paying clients.
Most of these customers are in the US, which makes the decision to make Bahrain its base intriguing.
When asked about it, Dolbel said: “There are a number of reasons. Bahrain has a good climate, business-wise and weather-wise, as far as I am concerned. We have been able to keep our overhead costs low with the subsidies Tamkeen has offered, while building out our team. All except us and one other on the team are Bahraini.
“Being in a smaller labour market allows us to be the medium sized fish instead of a tiny one in the US. And I really like Bahrain as a country. It’s much safer than some of the other countries we lived in when we were developing the product.”
The team, which was part of Flat6Labs’ second cohort, quickly outgrew the accelerator, and then the Brinc offices. They are soon moving into their new offices in Jeblat Hebshi.
The company, which counts Dubai Angels and the Tamkeen-partnered Flat6Labs Bahrain among its investors, has attracted a lot of attention but has been smart about its strategic partners.
“Investors, especially in the Dubai market, are quite on top of the pulse,” said Dolbel. “In other parts, like Saudi Arabia, they tend to be a bit more traditional but things are changing there as well.”
Their move here hasn’t been without its challenges, both personal and professional. Start-ups often demand long working hours, taking its toll on personal lives.
Matthews said: “Now that we are a bit more structured, we are slowly getting into a routine. We still have long days at times, but it’s getting a bit easier to manage the work-life balance.”
It has been a bit more of a challenge for Dolbel, who hasn’t seen his wife in three months and is often travelling between the Middle-East and the US. He said: “She is going to be moving here next week. We have always had this travel bug and she has always been our biggest cheerleader, but it’ll be good to be in Bahrain together.”
Professionally, there were some growing pains when finding new team members. “Start-up work culture is quite different,” Mathews said. “We have long nights and it’s all about getting the product out as effectively and efficiently as possible. But we were able to find a handful of amazing candidates who are part of our team now. It’s just about finding the right fit.”
The duo has also had to adapt to the business environment, with challenges getting paperwork processed.
Otherwise, they have enjoyed their time in Bahrain thus far. With Sinc’s code base built, they are now adding and rolling out features with plans to integrate with accounting software on the horizon.
They also plan on adapting their offering for the Middle-East market, where their target customers have different needs and capabilities. But for now and the foreseeable future, Bahrain is their home sweet home.
For more information about SINC, visit www.sinc.business
