A fantastic environment for testing ideas, and a solid business plan by the end of the 100 days – this was TradeGecko’s experience participating in an accelerator programme run by Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI).

Formed in February 2012, TradeGecko provides online inventory management software for wholesalers, retailers and e-commerce businesses, giving them an easy way to manage their inventory, orders and customers while connecting all their sales channels together.

The company aims to bring the power of Amazon’s supply chain to small and medium sized businesses everywhere, explained Chief Executive Officer Mr Cameron Priest (pictured above). “Our cloud-based solution, integrated with other tools, means we give our customers the platform where they can operate their wholesale or retail business from one place. We are also on your mobile and on other hand-held devices so you can manage and grow your business anywhere you go.”

In 2013, TradeGecko joined the JFDI accelerator programme which is aimed at boosting start-up success through intensive mentoring. By collocating the mentors and follow-on investors alongside the start-ups, the 100-day programme also gives fresh entrepreneurs access to connections and capital.

“JFDI was a fantastic environment to test our ideas,” said Mr Priest. “We learnt how to go about having conversations during which we convinced people to invest in our story”.

It was also a challenging and sometimes painful process. “One of the toughest parts was realising that we had to kill our original idea because the business model just didn’t make sense. It was our baby and we were back starting from scratch and cold calling dozens of customers to validate a new idea. That was a stressful experience.”

One of the areas that TradeGecko had to work on was customer development. “We learnt about really validating a hypothesis with customers before doing anything else. This involved going back to the office at 11 pm, making cold calls to hundreds of people to learn about their businesses.”

That helped reinforce one of the core attributes critical to start-up success. “It is now my opinion that starting a business requires more than intellect and expertise, it is about tenacity and willpower,” said Mr Priest.

By the end of the 100 days, TradeGecko had a “solid plan” and managed to gain a lot of investment interest from Singapore-based venture capitalists.

The accelerator programme opened the door to a range of networking opportunities. “The contacts we made were extremely beneficial. We had access to investors and also learnt how to go about having conversations during which we convinced people to invest in our story. In addition, making contacts with the right connections in Singapore and Southeast Asia was another big advantage along with the guidance of the mentors who helped us to really focus on starting and building a business.”

“This JFDI ecosystem created a launch pad for us and we are about to hit the stratosphere,” said Mr Priest. “Logistics is a trillion-dollar industry. However we want to focus on empowering the sub-$100m businesses in Asia Pacific, USA and Europe to render them more control over their supply chain.”

TradeGecko currently has paying customers in 62 countries and users in over 130, and new ones are signing up every day. The company’s goal is to have customers across 100 countries by the end of 2014, and Mr Priest is upbeat about hitting this target. As he pointed out, “Every business in every part of the world needs a backend solution to manage their supply chain.”