Beyond management, Omie intends to become education and finance startup

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Omie, a cloud management platform for small and microbusinesses (SMEs), had one of the most challenging years in its history in 2020. With the opening and closing of trade and the financial impact of the pandemic on small businesses, the startup, which had until then this public as its main target, lost 2.3% of revenue between March and May last year.

That was when founders Rafael Olmos and Marcelo Lombardo decided it was time to change direction and also dialogue with larger companies. Now, Omie also takes advantage of the new moment to announce a brand restructuring.

The main problem faced by companies in the country is stagnation, according to Lombardo, cofounder and CEO of Omie. After a few years in the market, Omie realized that management software alone would not be able to help with this problem. “We have companies that are overnight sensations. But after they grow, they stop and can no longer move forward. This is the front we have to attack. Our mission is to unlock this growth,” he says.

From this emerged two new pillars of action, now publicly announced with the brand change. The first is the access to financial services, such as issuing bills and credit lines. At the other end is education, from the creation of the Omie Academy educational arm, which offers courses on sales, management, and marketing, for example.

“Our new mission is to show, with a new brand, that we look not only at management and technology, but that the growth of companies has become our priority. And this is a change that comes from the last three or four years,” he says.

Besides the change in the brand itself, the moment came along with a new market positioning. Today, mid-sized companies account for about 35% of the company’s total revenue – a 25% jump compared to the 2019 scenario. Currently, the startup has 62,000 customers, with 2,000 to 3,000 new users coming in every month.

“We realize that this is the new formula for success. Our grassroots companies have increasing revenues over time,” he says.

According to Lombardo, there is no direct connection between the change of brand and the pandemic. The period, however, helped Omie realize that there is a range of opportunities with larger companies. “This period came to teach us how to serve a different audience than the one we were used to,” he said.

For 2021, the startup’s goal is to maintain its growth rate of 6% to 7% per month, and to double its revenues by the end of the year. To this end, it will invest in even greater convergence between management software, banking services, and educational solutions for entrepreneurs, and also increase the number of hirings.

Source: Exame

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