Kelly Whitfield - Founder and CEO, KLIK UK
Did you always envisage a career in the world of Technology?
My early aspiration was to be a police officer.
I was born curious, often dismantling things and putting them back together as a child. Watches, bikes, anything with moving parts.
I’m soothed by process and efficiency, and irked when I see people or businesses struggling unnecessarily.
Technology is the foundation upon which my previous businesses were built, so moving into that arena feels natural to me.
What tips would you give to someone looking to work in the industry?
I would encourage you to get what I call “Fit to Compete”.
Get your CV in order. Use recruitment agencies but don’t rely upon them. Seek advice and direction around interviews. Ask for feedback and be brave enough to follow it up.
Stick to my three-P’s: be Professional, Polite and Persistent.
If you lack experience, do all that you can to gain it. Campaigns exist to encourage people like you to pursue careers in STEM – so make good use of them.
Tell us about the most exciting project your currently working on?
KLIK is the project I am working on and it’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.
It’s taken a long time, and a significant sum invested to get KLIK to where it is today.
Tell us about your team.
I have a phenomenal team around me. Our developers are all North-East based and some of the best at what they do.
Now is a crucial time for KLIK, as I look to define the first few years of our people strategy. I’m thinking and digging deep.
Is it possible to work remotely whilst building a positive culture? Could we offer unlimited annual leave yet attain, maintain and retain competitive advantages?
All fascinating questions that I’m playing with right now.
What are your long term plans for the business?
To be the go-to provider of SaaS solutions capable of powering an unlimited number of PaaS enterprises in the UK and beyond.
Technically, KLIK is still a pre-start. We soft launched our vision to a VIP audience in July. The first version of our website www. kliksaas.com went live last month.
Version 1.0 of our software will be ‘Dev Complete’ at the end of this month – from there it’s all systems go.
Despite it being early days, we completed an equity deal during 2023 which valued the concept of KLIK at £6m. We’re now looking to build upon that with a significant Series A raise.
What’s your favourite piece of technology?
My iPhone – I use it for most things, despite my love/hate relationship with it. Phones distract us from the beauty of life at times – whereas I prefer to be present. I like people and enjoy human interaction. I am from Teesside after all.
Do you have any heroes or mentors?
I admire Simon Sinek, Oliver Yonchev and Daniel Priestley. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the latter two, both of whom are super smart and good to get to know.
I read a lot of John Pilger in my early twenties – the concept of Slow News was quite profound back then and has stuck with me since.
I mostly admire people who disrupt things, challenge the status quo and help us to think differently.
When not working how do you like to relax?
I enjoy cooking. I have a library of books and love picking a recipe, going out to source ingredients and pulling a feast together. I rarely have the time but when I do, that’s my thing.
I also like to paint, draw and make things – if the children have homework that involves art, crafts or glue guns, I’m totally IN.
What’s your fondest career memory?
Launching my first lifestyle business back in 2006 – Adept.
I adored it, and the second business it created that ran alongside. It was hard work, juggling the business and a twoyear old, but Adept made all our dreams come true.
What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve received?
Itemise and invoice the things that you do for free.
Back in my early days, I did a lot for free because I cared. That can develop into a standard and can be expected of you if not managed carefully.
For that reason, we started listing the work we had done and the true cost within each invoice. We then showed a discount of 100% to the line items that were complimentary.
Not only did that demonstrate our level of commitment to our client, it had a really positive impact upon relations too.
www.kliksaas.com