goFinja or when a startup’s mission proves extremely useful in the midst of Coronavirus
Personal finance is the one thing no one wants to think about until the global economic crisis hits. It’s against this backdrop that technology startup goFinja has seen its business take off. Here’s how.
“More than half of Quebecers are $200 or less from the threshold of financial insolvency at the end of each month,” reads an April 2019 article in Le Devoir. That was before the COVID-19 crisis. Since then, thousands of people have been laid off, the word “recession” is hanging over our heads and many people are worried about their finances.
Louise Brosseau has spent her entire career in IT. Passionate about personal finance, she created her first budget at the age of 12 (!). One day in 2017, she decided to make her dream come true: to create a company that would help Quebecers regain control of their finances. These were the beginnings of the startup goFinja. Louise applies for a grant from the Ministère de l’économie et de l’innovation. She builds a platform that uses artificial intelligence to recommend to users the best practices for turning their finances around. Users also have access to coaches who help them implement these recommendations. Louise launches the beta version of the platform in 2020.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Louise was one of those people who are always telling you to pay attention to your finances, and to whom you often reply: “Yes, yes, I’ll do it tomorrow! The coronavirus has arrived and people are actively looking for solutions to get through the crisis without losing their shirt. This growing interest is reflected in record figures for the goFinja! platform.
“Since March 13, traffic on the web platform, goFinja, has doubled and there are six times as many users as before!” – Louise Brosseau
The founder has a gentle voice. She speaks slowly and takes the time to explain her thoughts clearly. In fact, she tells me that she never wanted to have a start-up that was going to run at 2,000 km/h with mist in its toupee. Louise likes to take her time. When it comes to finances, and especially financial recovery, it’s important to take your time. But in times of crisis, you have to make a lot of decisions very quickly.
To meet the growing demand, the founder had to rethink her game plan. In a matter of days, ready or not, the team decided to open the platform to everyone, free of charge. It’s not finished in terms of UX, but never mind! To explain features to users, the team produces short introductory videos. They are also revising the coaching offer to break it down into micro-services that are more affordable and better able to meet user needs. Every day, the team meets and decides on the day’s priorities, even if it means heading into uncharted territory. The startup is so young and the team so agile, it’s easy to make such decisions.
