We talked to Paul about the reasoning behind Yobah.
Why did you start Yobah?
Good question! For a couple of reasons; I was already working for another service provider and in that role I’d been constantly challenged to push the boundaries of what I was capable of, and then one day I decided I could run a company like this myself.
Public cloud was in its infancy, and everyone was trying to build their own platform to compete. I saw an opportunity to front the public clouds with personal, jargon-free consultancy that helped businesses simplify this newly emerging technology.
Tell us more about the tech behind the product.
Through all of our technical careers, we have seen the best technologies and developed a deep understanding of how best to use them. We have used this enterprise experience to productise the best solutions from Microsoft 365, Windows 10 and Azure to make an easy to consume enterprise offering, ready for the growing business.
There are hundreds of different services that need integrating and configuring to get the most out of them… and that’s what we have done, creating simple solutions for our clients.
Where are you at right now?
We have just finished our craziest and biggest year. We’ve won two big managed service deals, received recognised industry accreditation from Microsoft, hired our first permanent staff members, and hit over 500% growth. Busy is an understatement!
What are your aims for the next year?
The next year is all about maturing and scaling. We are growing our team with three new roles being actively recruited for right now, and really focusing on developing Yobah as a brand people want to work with and for. We have an amazing client base, and we know that we do really great work – what we don’t do is shout about it, but that’s set to change in 2020, and you’ll be hearing a lot more from us!
What’s been the hardest thing about getting Yobah off the ground?
There are two key sides to it for me. First, we are in a very competitive industry, and there are some amazing companies similar to us in Manchester. So building that trust with customers and having them have faith in us is a challenge.
Personally, it’s work/life balance. Family life is key for making this a success, as they are our biggest supporters, but when you’re growing a business – I think most founders would agree with me – it can be hard to switch off.
Why should more people be using Yobah?
We are different. We aren’t your typical service provider who complicates things with scary contracts or statement of works. We truly want to partner with our customers to help them grow through tech, and want them to challenge us. We are in it together.
How much will it cost users – and why is it worth the investment?
This is largely dependent on what the business needs. Our managed workplace starts at a sensible price per user per month, which includes all the setup, management and support you can ask for.
If we were on a review site, we would probably be a ‘££’ rating! Every client is different with slightly different needs, which is why working in partnership is really important, so we understand those needs. One thing we would always say though is working with us will always be cheaper than trying to do or build this yourself!
