by Herman Manson (@marklives) Four years ago, Magnetic Software had one client paying R600 a month; the business-management-software service had been a passion project of Korak Kuhnert but uptake was slow. This didn’t make sense to his high school buddy, Daniel Marcus, who had implemented the solution at his own business, Living Your Brand, and could see clear results.
So Marcus and another friend, Jan Pickard, bought into Kuhnert’s business, which looked to take on services such as Basecamp and Salesforce. They soon moved away from pitching themselves to the SME market and refocused the business upon streamlining processes for advertising agencies.
Magnetic Software is surveying South African agencies on workflow processes. The results will be published in an ebook. Fill in the survey and, if you include your email address — totally optional — you’ll receive a copy of the ebook as soon as it’s published.
Integrated account management system
Essentially, Magnetic Software offers agencies an integrated account management system, covering business development, CRM, time tracking, traffic and workflow, project timelines and management, quoting and invoicing, HR and task and resource scheduling. The online platform aims to streamline agency efficiency, from initial contact to saving client information and studio management. Marcus says Magnetic covers 75–80% of the service function with its platform.
Following an initial investment from Tim Bishop, the founder of (the now-defunct) Prezence Digital, in a small seed round, the business started gaining real traction and hitting targets. Today, it employs 10 people, a number Marcus expects to jump to 15 or 16 in the next few months.
Marcus considers himself a serial entrepreneur. He launched his first business, SinSation Promotions, in 2004, organising student parties. It exposed him to the marketing world as he looked for sponsorships from particularly liquor companies. Then followed The Poker Room. Originally conceptualised as an online poker site, it failed to obtain a gambling license so morphed into a corporate teambuilding business teaching people to apply poker skills in business. He has also launched Live Out Loud, a media and events business, and Living Your Brand, the organisers of events such as the IMC conferences, that has since morphed into a new-business agency that connects digital, communication and creative agencies with clients.
In 2012, he became involved in Magnetic Software and he joined it full time in early 2014.
Rapid growth
Since 2015, Magnetic has been experiencing quick growth. Currently, it services 160 client companies, representing a user base of between 3500 and 4000 unique users. It charges on average R250 per month per user. Clients include South African agencies Artifact, Hero, Isobar, iProspect, Design Partnership, Fleishman Hillard, Stretch and Platinum Seed, among others.
While the focus remains upon expanding in the SA market, Magnetic is also looking for growth in the UK; it hopes to generate as much as 20% of its revenue from there by the end of 2016.
The platform is developed and managed from Cape Town, using SA skills. According to Marcus, it offers the company security and allows it to constantly update the service without unnecessary delays.
He says the next set of functionality will include business intelligence, which will allow clients access to industry-wide benchmarking and allow managers to be warned of jobs falling behind schedule.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the inaugural Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year in 2011 and has, over his 20-year-plus career, contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including AdVantage magazine, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications.
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