Startup Myfrofro Makes Dealing with Call Centres Pain Free

Your furry blue friendLaunched by husband and wife team - Savannah and Simon Saunders - myfrofro.com is a consumer platform aimed at eliminating post-it notes and scribbles on the back of opened envelopes.  The site allows you to keep track of the details of -these dreadful- call centre conversations, including the person you spoke to and any outcomes or follow up calls required.  You can even set reminders using the site and add numbers to a frodirectory of over 300 call centres.

Does this really mean that you never have to repeat yourself endlessly, that call centre call will become efficient? Here Savannah answers our start-up questions:

1. How did you come up with the idea of your start-up?

The idea resulted from personal experience because I was being driven insane by dealing with a gas company call centre.  I spent hours and loads of calls over 3 months trying to correct an account.  However, every time I called I had to speak to a different person who promised they would fix the problem but when I called back it hadn’t been done and I had no idea who I spoke to and when, and this happened time and time again...  So I began keeping notes which really helped but then found I had to email the document back and forth to myself so I could keep it updated at work and home.  This became really annoying because I ended up having so many different versions as well as bits of paper everywhere!  So I thought that there must be a more efficient way to manage my calls and started looking around but found all the CRM tools were for the people on the other end of the phone - so decided to create my own!  Then after doing some research I found that 9/10 people are also frustrated by call centres and with millions of people in the UK calling one everyday I thought that maybe others would find myfrofro.com a useful tool.

2. How did you form your team?

My business partner Simon is also my husband, and has vast experience working for the leading digital advertising agencies in London. We have a great advisory team and creatives who have helped build the cute blue frofro brand and future growth strategy. I think its so important to collaborate with people who share the same vision!

3. How did you fund it, with how much money, and what is the business model?

We have funded the design, development and beta launch with personal investment but have kept it very lean. We are currently looking for seed funding and are working with Gateway2Investment and the e-Synergy fund to find an investor.

4. What makes you different from other players in your sector?

At the moment myfrofro is the only web based CRM tool for consumers to manage their calls. We've made myfrofro really simple, fun and easy to use whether at home, work or on the go. This is much better than writing notes on bills or sticky notes which invariably get lost!

5. What was your biggest challenge during the development process and how can other start-ups learn from that?

Preparing to seek funding has been the biggest challenge and we have learnt a lot from the process. My advice is to work with someone like Gateway2Investment and e-Synergy and practice the pitch as often as possible to people you don't know because you learn so much from each experience.

6. What will your turnover be this year and into the future, and when will you be profitable?

Our profitability depends very much on the level of funding we receive because we plan to develop new technology, however, we're aiming to turnover 210k and be profitable in year 1 and to grow into the future.

7. Where is the company in 1 year?

We would like Myfrofro.com to be helping millions of consumers become more organised when dealing with call centres and maybe even a little less frustrated!