Kidola: Secrets Of Scaling A Successful SaaS

Quentin de Madre is a co-founder of the crèche reporting software Kidola. As the startup embarks on the scaling process, he shares his thoughts on what did and didn’t work.

Parents love receiving updates on how their children are getting on at crèche. But for the dads who co-founded Kidola, those slips of paper had a habit of getting lost. The three devised a reporting platform that would help crèches cut back on paper while improving communication with parents and other partners. They were more than ever convinced of the market need when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and limited contact between parents and crèche workers. 

“We realised there was some potential, worked with another crèche and then we were selected for the Fit 4 Start accelerator programme.”

The three quit their jobs to focus full-time on the venture and embarked on a journey of learning to sell a digital solution to a sector that is traditionally non-digital. “For us it’s about reaching the end consumer because the crèche manager is not actively looking for a better software solution. We had to reinvent how to reach the consumer,” says de Madre.

Building a team

Having seen other competitors emerge abroad, Kidola was driven to scale faster than initially planned. They hired their first sales person in August 2021 and continued to grow. Currently, the team is seven, a number expected to reach 12 by the end of 2023. 

“We had help from investors, experienced entrepreneurs who told us to hire three salespeople and if you’re lucky, you’ll keep three of them. If not, you’ll maybe keep one or two,” says de Madre. 

Kidola will add more developers, sales and support roles during 2023 to help retain its 20% market share in Luxembourg and boost expansion into Belgium and France.  

“In Belgium many of the companies are public while in Luxembourg we have a lot of private entities, so the decision process is quicker,” he says, adding that in Belgium, decisions can take up to a year. “But in terms of product, we’re quite proud of what we achieved for Belgium. Now we have a really competitive product.”

“We talk to a lot of successful entrepreneurs and they say they spend a lot of time recruiting because it’s the hardest part. You make it or break it with the right people”

Quentin de Madre, Kidola co-founder

In France, Kidola is able to take a national approach, expanding its reach through targeted cold calling and conventions and events. 

Hiring has been a constant challenge for the scale-up, particularly in sales where candidates need knowledge of the sector and an interest in the technology.

“We talk to a lot of successful entrepreneurs and they say they spend a lot of time recruiting because it’s the hardest part. You make it or break it with the right people,” says de Madre. So far, taking referrals from within his network has helped land the right candidates. 

A key learning lesson from the last three years is to take a step back from daily operations and “realise what you’ve achieved. Because if you’re always looking ahead, it can be quite stressful. And sometimes, it’s satisfying to look back and think just by making it this far, it’s already a success. Even if you didn’t achieve all of your goals.”


This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Get your copy.

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