Janani is the Co-Founder of Supabite, a Birmingham-based tech start-up.
Janani Prasad, co-founder of Supabite
With a vision to support businesses that are building customer-focussed brands, Supabite’s Janani has her sights set on developing a simple, automated solution to collect video testimonials from clients; saving time, money, and resources across the board.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Supabite helps online businesses to collect short video testimonials quickly from their customers on any device using one simple link. Supabite is an easy-to-use tool to collect and showcase customer stories and user-feedback in one place, helping to build brand credibility and social proof.
- How did you get into the industry?
I have been in the technology industry for more than 10 years and was building software products. I have always valued customer feedback and felt that a company’s growth is inclined towards what their customers think of them. As part of my involvement with the ecosystem and working with many business owners – especially in consultancy and service businesses – I realised that there is a huge need to elevate this customer engagement space. This made me step into this industry to create Supabite!
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
The biggest opportunity is absolutely the widespread use of digital platforms by society at the moment. With the current generation moving towards the trends of TikTok and byte-sized videos, there was a huge opportunity for businesses to use them for capturing their customer stories. That said, although it is becoming a trend, many businesses are struggling to efficiently collect customer testimonials. That’s because – at the moment, without Supabite! – it involves many steps, and can be hugely costly: particularly if they are considering professional videography.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
I believe my leadership is all about being highly supportive: I want to inspire others to do their best work.
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
It’s all about providing them the right opportunities and flexibility at work. By understanding their motivation and driving factors at work, and providing consistent feedback and recognition, it has helped in getting the best out of my team.
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
Of course, I couldn’t run Supabite, and not say customer feedback! Learning from our clients – what they need, what they want, and what they find frustrating – has helped us to deliver a product that we know is reflective of what our customers actually benefit from.
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
I won’t sugar-coat it: it has been a rollercoaster ride with many ups and downs! I struggled to handle my personal and professional life initially, but I would say I’ve started to master it now. I have been quite successful wearing the multiple hats of being a Digital Transformation Specialist, a Co-Founder of Supabite, a mentor for Digital Innovators Students, and also a growing leader in the digital tech industry.
- Is there anything you’ve learnt during the pandemic that you’ll take forward in your business?
I moved to UK for my higher studies during the pandemic, and that taught me a lot more than a syllabus ever could. I would say the main lessons I learned were to believe in myself and not wait for opportunities to come… create them instead!
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
We’re on a huge growth trajectory. Supabite is currently in its beta-phase, so once we’re looking for as much feedback as possible to improve our product to be the very best it can be. Next up, we’ll be looking at how we onboard new customers, launch our AI features, and collaborate with partners to grow Supabite into a successful Software-as-a-Service product.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
For a business to be successful, the MVP is the key!
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
The best piece of advice I have received from one of my mentors is, “While building small, you get opportunities to act on your customer feedback faster than your large-scale competitors.” Make the most of your criticism and use it to make those all-important changes.
