Cookie Consent

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.

Path59

Customer since:
2018
Region:
London
Industry:
Employee Training
Share this:

“Cash flow to any new company is an absolute killer.”

Merje Shaw
founder and MD
  |  
Path59
Merje Shaw, founder and MD, Path59
Challenge

Long payment terms put pressure on their cash flow as they had to pay their staff and freelancers.

Solution

Invoice finance facility to unlock cash from outstanding client invoices.

How Path59 used invoice finance to close cash flow gaps

Path59 is a consultancy that helps companies in traditional industries get to grips with digital transformation. They look at human interactions in both the customer and employee experience to identify which parts could be helped by technology – and how. We caught up with Merje Shaw, founder and MD, to chat about Path59’s journey so far and her plans for where the business is going.

Beginnings of Path59

Originally from Estonia, Merje started her career in Customer Support at Skype before going on to look after Usability at their London office. A few years later, ready for her next challenge, Merje took on a Senior User Research Consultant role at LBi (now part of Digitas). At this global marketing and technology agency, she worked with major brands including M&S, Etihad Airways and Disney.

“And then I had a baby. And of course, every sensible person starts a business when they have a baby,” Merje laughs. “It’s the best time: you’re not getting any sleep and you don’t have any money!”

Path59 began as a joint venture for Merje and her husband, Mykal, to freelance in their respective fields of UX Research and Creative Direction. In time, as that freelance vehicle grew into an agency, they decided to separate out the creative services side of the business.

“It made it easier for me to crystalise what I do,” Merje explains. “It made sense for us to focus on our separate offerings because our customer bases are actually quite different. Where Mykal works mostly with start-ups and smaller companies, I work mostly with the FTSE100 and big housing associations.”

Part of what Path59 does is to help established companies to think like start-ups. Although Merje jokes that she joined Skype long before start-ups were cool, she has never forgotten the customer focus and lean ways of working that she experienced in that environment. She uses this to help clients question procedures, think differently and be innovative in what they’re doing.

Long payment terms

Working with the FTSE100 means that Path59 often get paid on very long payment terms. Merje tells us: “I complained bitterly about it so they’ve come down now but at first they were working on 60-day terms. That’s a really long time, especially if you have to pay staff. I can pay myself on peanuts but it’s not their company so I don’t expect them to live off thin air.”

Path59 employs a small number of full-time staff and uses a pool of expert freelancers for research and consulting. For Merje, it doesn’t make sense to keep a smart cities expert, for example, on the payroll when she might only need them a few times a year. She also prefers to work with experts that have the exact niche skills that she needs and explained to us that you can’t keep amazing people like that to yourself.

Using Kriya's invoice finance

With staff and freelancers to pay and long payment terms putting pressure on cash flow, Path59 came to Kriya for funding in July this year. They now use invoice finance to unlock cash from outstanding client invoices to cover wages or one-off costs like large VAT bills.

“Cash flow to any new company is an absolute killer,” says Merje. “But with Kriya, we can fund an invoice at any point throughout the month and pull cash from the future. It’s money now instead of money in 30, 60, 90 days which has helped a lot since we came on board. It keeps us going.”

Knowing that the facility is there when she needs it means Merje can spend less time worrying about cash flow. That frees her up to focus on the things she’s really passionate about. On top of running Path59 and being a mum of two, Merje also has a successful side hustle called Scandiscapes. It’s an online store for in and outdoor garden decor that combines her business acumen with her love of nature and Scandinavian design. Where Path59 is concerned, she has big plans for the next 12 months:

“We’ll increase our visibility through speaking platforms and articles on specific key subjects like AI, for example, and the impact that it’s going to have on just about everything. We’ll also increase our focus on Housing Associations because we strongly believe we can help them with the challenges they are currently facing, particularly when it comes to adopting digital solutions.”

Your Kriya story starts here

Please fill out the form and a member of our team will be in touch
Email is invalid.
Please use your company email address.
Annual Revenue*
We’ll use this information to get in touch with you about our products and services in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe at any point. By submitting, you acknowledge we reserve the right to work with businesses that have been trading for a minimum of 12 months and have submitted at least one set of financial accounts.
Thank you. A member of the team will be in touch.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Explore related posts

Grass & Co leverage Kriya's working capital to fund demand for newly launched product

Grass & Co.

Grass & Co. scale up to meet unprecedented demand with working capital deployed through Kriya's flexible invoice finance solution.

This is some text inside of a div block.
 min read
Read the story
Crate Brewery benefits from Kriya Lending

Crate Brewery

London-based craft beer brewery - the Crate story: Meeting in a bar over a few beers and a couple of pizzas, the founders realised they shared a love for both of these things and wanted to make their own. Less than two weeks later they had signed a lease on Hackney Wick’s iconic White Building, the space Crate Brewery still calls home today. Fast forward to 2019 and Crate has a second (much bigger) brewery and distribution warehouse onsite. They produce 1 million pints of beer each year and make an impressive array of pizzas every day. Just 7 years on from opening the business, they’ve self-funded their growth to nearly £5 million.

This is some text inside of a div block.
 min read
Read the story

CSols

Discover how CSols, a scientific software company, overcame cash flow challenges caused by Brexit and Covid by using invoice finance. Learn how they partnered with Kriya to successfully unblock cash flow pinch points and achieve their business goals.

This is some text inside of a div block.
 min read
Read the story