Digitally’s cloud solution makes stocktaking easier and more accurate

Digitally, a software business, aims to double its revenue to €1.2 million over the next year as it focuses on expanding its services to continental Europe.

Digitally is based in Tuam, Co Galway, and was founded by Patrick McDermott and Artur Leonowicz in 2018. The business currently has nine staff and has raised €550,000 in funding.

“We help food businesses to count, collate and report on their food margins and waste. We use software that has an app to connect with a cloud dashboard. I started with a business called Stocktaking.ie, which was founded in 2004 and sold in June,” McDermott told the Business Post.

The company sent workers into businesses to count their stock, largely by scanning barcodes in a “labour-intensive business”.

“A lot of our customers had stock that wasn’t barcoded. The only option they had was counting manually with pen and paper. That’s where the idea for a digital solution came from.”

The Digitally process involves using the app which can quickly count and record what stock is used on the go, automatically synchronised with the cloud. This provides the business owner with a more accurate understanding of what stock has been used.

“We originally started with delis, like at Spar or Centra. A lot of the store owners were more used to buying a Mars bar and selling a Mars bar. With a deli they had to buy a baguette but sell it as 15 different things. As a result their margins fluctuated and they struggled to control them,” McDermott said.

“The manual route involves using Excel sheets, which is time-consuming and prone to human error as it depends on the skill of the operator. With Digitally, it’s a process that is easier to use and doesn’t require as much skill.”

Enterprise Ireland

Digitally has been supported by Enterprise Ireland from the start, having gone through the New Frontiers and high potential start-up programmes. It is now part of the Founders Forum programme at the agency.

“Enterprise Ireland has helped with funding, support and mentorship all along the way. The more involved you get in business and analyse it, the more you can see where your shortfalls are. Who better to learn from than people who have been through it before? That’s where we tend to reach out for help. They have been useful in assigning us mentors that can add value to what we do,” McDermott said.

“We also work with their offices in the UK to assist us with events and building our network there.

“We’re concentrating very much on food service, particularly multi-site food businesses. At the moment we are in Ireland and the UK. We’re starting to gain some traction in Europe. These are international brands, so we concentrate on the UK wing first before expanding beyond that.

“We want to double in size in terms of revenue over the next year, to €1.2 million.”