WATCH: Finally a tool to track freelancers, Magnetic

CAPE TOWN - An entrepreneur who started his own company at the age of 18, Dan Marcus has delved into several ventures since then. His latest venture is a tool, Magnetic which he created in 2012 with the aim of making businesses more efficient and enables companies to assign tasks to employees and to track their efficiency.

Marcus says that part of his secret for his entrepreneurial drive is the fact that he always had a strong competitive streak. This is evident in the fact that he proudly said that he only ever worked for one employer.

Picture: Magnetic. (Screengrab).

The serial entrepreneur from Cape Town who has been involved in 7 businesses to date is the founder of Curious Questions, SinSation Promotions, Boiling Point Marketing, WMT and was the founding partner of Living your Brand and getTOD.

His latest venture, Magnetic is a cloud-based tool packed with useful features to help businesses with running their business and keeping in touch with clients.

Picture: Magnetic. (Screengrab).

Magnetic makes businesses more efficient by streamlining certain tasks such as assigning task to employers, knowing what deals are closing and creating tax invoices.

The software tool initially came about when Marcus was running The IMC Conference which he founded. He said that this was when he realised that he had no oversight of what his teams were working on, other than their system of excel documents.

“I was looking for a way to make our business more efficient and I made it my mission to try all available tools out there. During a conversation with a buddy, he mentioned an old school friend Korak, who had built Magnetic, which was in Beta format at the time, and said I should check it out. So I did, and very soon after implementing it, and realizing how easy it was to use and the insight it gave me as a business owner, I jumped at the opportunity to get involved in a SaaS model business”, said Marcus.

Since its inception in 2012, Magnetic has grown tremendously and is now a household name, said Marcus. The company also grew exponentially in the South African market. Magnetic has more recently been on a client acquisition drive in the UK with traction starting to build, said Marcus.

Magnetic currently has 15 employees with a Head Office in Cape Town and an office in Johannesburg and a satellite team in the UK.

Over 200 agency clients and more than 5000 active users are registered on the system.

Picture: Magnetic. (Provided)

On what makes Magnetic a useful tool, Marcus said that hiring talent in the workforce is moving from a fixed cost to a variable cost, with companies staffing up and down as needed. The freelance model allows companies to harness the abilities of multiple consultants, often for the price of a single full-time hire with a more limited skill set. However, there is a great challenge with managing freelancers streamlining workflow from a distance.

“Only an all-in-one project management software system, specifically designed with the modern marketing world in mind, can equip marketing and advertising agencies to streamline work flow and manage entire teams - no matter how many people, no matter where they might be based - through one, single application. This is true of the Magnetic system which incorporates an external collaboration feature that allows agencies and clients to collaborate on a project through Magnetic, whether or not the client has signed up as an account user/holder. This allows for total visibility by both parties”, said Marcus.

When asked what advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, Marcus said that individuals should read The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries before they get going.

“And once you’re up and running read Scaling Up by Verne Harnish. Two exceptional books which I live by and which have guided me on many occasions”, concluded Marcus.