A Vision for a Fair Marketplace How innovative strategies are redefining the retail experience

Entrepreneur UK talks to Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, an online marketplace that connects retailers with shoppers. Learn how a genuine commitment to customer satisfaction and fresh, innovative ideas are making a real difference in this competitive industry.

What inspired you to start your business?
I was inspired to start OnBuy from my own passion to drive change in a market that seemed conflicted. Retailers were becoming marketplaces, competing with their own sellers, and marketplaces were launching with mixed margin products, trying to steer customers away from the best deals. I saw an opportunity to do things differently and offer a better way for retailers to sell to customers, and equally, a better way for customers to get the best possible deals from these retailers. Our purpose has always been to disrupt the marketplace world, and as we've evolved, the mission has evolved with us to revolutionise the cashback market as well.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge was facing established competitors - some of OnBuy's competing marketplaces were 25+ years our senior when we launched which gave us a challenge from the beginning. So ultimately, we faced the classic "marketplace conundrum" of how do we get enough sellers/products and how do we get customers to buy these products. But understandably, sellers won't join a platform if there are no customers. It was incredibly difficult to launch a non-retailer marketplace from a still start and find a unique selling proposition (USP) that would resonate and set us apart as a true challenger.

Essentially, we shuffled forward bit by bit until critical mass took over which took a few years and a lot of pain. Our USP for sellers was clear, as we didn't compete against them for sales and provided a fair-trading environment. Establishing a USP for customers was far more challenging. Eventually we launched our unique approach to providing customers with instant Cashback on everything they buy, which involved a huge amount of work to our infrastructure and streamlining payments, but it has really disrupted the industry and given our customers a reason to shop with us again and again.

How did you secure your initial funding?
We bootstrapped OnBuy in the early days, up until our first revenue when we then decided to buy in Angel investors who not only understood our vision, but also shared the passion of making a new marketplace. We continued to do this for three years in which we raised over £2m from Angels which allowed us to build a solid foundation. Eventually, as we scaled and our goals evolved, we made the transition into the Venture capital world.

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How do you handle failure or setbacks?
Failures and setbacks are common when starting a business, but I've found that dwelling on them is counterproductive. Every setback is definitely a lesson to learn from, but I try not to let them weigh me down or carry it into the next stage. The best thing is always to shake it off and focus on what comes next for the future, rather than what went wrong.

• What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?
• Prepare to have the hardest time of your life, if you are doing it right, nothing will come easy. The hard times have made me more resilient than I have ever been in my life. My biggest piece of advice would be to not let today's failure cause you to miss tomorrow's success. Keep going and remember to press the reset button every single day.

• How do you stay motivated during tough times?
• When things get difficult, I take a step back and zoom out to see the bigger picture. I ask myself, "How are we still going to reach our overall goal and what can we do today to move closer to it?" Yesterday doesn't matter, and it is always best to focus on what can be done now than to worry about what has happened beforehand. That's how you move forward in all areas of life, both in business and personally.

Share your tips for achieving success
My top tips for anyone in any industry, would be to:

• Have the relentless determination to achieve your mission - success in any industry requires an unwavering commitment to the end goal no matter what obstacles come up, even when the path seems unclear. There will be setbacks and moments of doubt, but determination is what sets successful people apart.
• Embrace the ability to dismiss the doubters and negativity - in any industry, especially when you're doing something innovative and unconventional, there will always be people who question your decisions. Trusting in your own ability to navigate these challenges and make the right decisions is key to tuning out any negativity.
• Confidence is the cornerstone of every successful business leader so it's important to have that confidence in yourself and believe that you can achieve your business goals.
• And finally, always have the drive to move the business forward. Be focused on the innovation aspect of your business and make sure that you're constantly pushing to execute new initiatives to create the best possible outcome for your business and its customers.

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