George Bevis, the affable 40-year-old founder of digital business bank Tide, has a film recommendation1, which he says provides an unlikely portrayal of what it\u2019s like to work in burgeoning start-up scene. \u201cThe best film about small business is A Most Violent Year,\u201d he says. By its own billing, this movie is \u201ca searing crime drama\u201d, depicting the ordeals of a small heating-oil company owner. Played by Oscar Isaac, in 1980s New York, the entrepreneur is trying to make it amid \u201csimmering rivalries and unprovoked attacks\u201d from mafia bosses and political kingpins. It sounds intense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trailers are all people with guns and whatever,\u201d he concedes. \u201cBut really it is all about the incredibly difficult negotiations of a small-business owner. For two hours, to understand the real moments of suffering in a small-business owner\u2019s life, you couldn\u2019t do it better.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone runs around shooting anyone else. Our experience is not as dramatic,\u201d he laughs. \u201cHowever, I absolutely know entrepreneurs who have had moments of high drama. There are constantly examples of deals that have been agreed on a handshake, where later on one of the parties to the deal denies what was agreed on the handshake and there\u2019s no written record of that.<\/p>\n
In the business I used to run, a number of times we got close to not being able to hit payroll. We always did, I probably had to fund it out of my own bank account a few times. \u201cBut these things are much more common than I think is widely understood, because people who run businesses have to keep it secret.\u201d Bevis is a former banker \u2013 he has stints at Capital One, Barclaycard, RBS, and WorldPay on his CV \u2013 and knows all too well where big lenders have been letting small businesses down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
XII digital banks for makers and doers<\/em><\/p>\n The incumbent banks are trying to be everything for everybody \u2013 but often it means poor products and customer support \u201cfor nobody\u201d. Many startups in fintech are attempting to disrupt the banking world with consumer-focused apps, but the real and most lucrative prize is going to be in the small business space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":48259,"template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[2355,2347],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-75682","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-digital-banking-en","product_cat-study-library","pmpro-has-access","first","instock","shipping-taxable","product-type-external"],"yoast_head":"\n