Solving cross-border obstacles for freelancers and digital nomads
Today, digital nomads are the way we work, and it is growing exponentially as more people seek flexibility.
Unfortunately, current systems are not changing quickly enough.
As a result of the issues she encountered while working abroad, Amelie Chartton moved to Sweden to establish Digmak, a legal fintech company that connects clients to tax experts around the world, saving them valuable time.
In this interview you get learn about Amelie´s journey as founder and CEO of Digmak.
What inspired you to start your company?
At Digmak we worked to create a culture where people understand what it means to have lived, studied or worked abroad. Because only then can they truly understand what Digmak stands for and what we want to achieve for the benefit of the nomad community today. When we started Digmak our aim was to be a company, by digital nomads for digital nomads. With the desire to help them exactly how they helped us individually in the past.What inspired us was our passion to give back to the community, so that at least tax worries will not be a roadblock in planning their next workation.
What problem are you solving and what is your mission?
Digmak believes and helps others to work from the vacation of their lives. Choosing a destination and planning your trip are the fun parts, but unfortunately, things don’t end there and a lot of difficulties/challenges can arise when the honeymoon phase of the move is over. We know very well what nightmare of complications remote work and relocating can cause, especially when dealing with taxes and legal issues. This is why we believe digital nomads can benefit from strong support and advice.
Our mission is to ensure that anyone that chooses to be a freelancer or digital nomad, is someone who always feels supported and safe in their journey to their dream destination and never allows tax worries to become a part of their lives. Digmak aids the transition into a new country by connecting expats, freelancers and digital nomads with trusted tax experts with cross-border experience. Tax consultation, freelancer setup, annual accounting services – no task is impossible. Experts and clients, at Digmak we’re a community and together we work until your dream becomes your reality.
What is one thing the SSE Business Lab has helped you with?
The SSE Business Lab has provided us with two coaches, who we meet once a month to work out the strategy for the next month. Throughout the process they have guided us, answered all our questions and helped us go through all our concern. We consider them our mentors, as they’ve given us truly valuable feedback and guidance. They are people with hands-on experience who have grown their own companies. One discussion with them could save us several months of research and a number of potential mistakes, so without a doubt this has been a vital part of the development of Digmak.
Please share with us one piece of Advice for people starting their ventures today. Something you wish you had known.
As young startups we want everything done right : a functional MVP, a fully complete team, a fully functional product market fit, all the while no mistakes and no glitches. However, the reality is that this is unfortunately impossible. We cannot reach perfection and most importantly, we lose time doing so. Sometimes, putting too much focus on the big picture, makes us feel overwhelmed as it shows us the million things we need to do and how far our goal is.
A more realistic plan, in my opinion, is to focus on the next day, the following three weeks or six months. I am confident that simply getting the task done and getting it out to the public without delays is a much more effective and efficient strategy. This way we use the time to have our product or service tested by real people and get their crucial feedback which can then be used for improvements. We all want high quality, high quantity, in a short time. Yet, we can only ever achieve two, therefore we need to prioritize and select the ones that are most relevant to the business.
Are you familiar with the difficulties women encounter as founders? What is your opinion on the state of women in tech right now?
I believe one of the challenges of female entrepreneurship is the fact that often women have to adapt to a certain stereotype of having a so-called “male” attitude for business. Be extremely competitive, aggressive and lack empathy, patience and understanding. Yet, I still think that standing firm in your beliefs and finding your voice are far more important and leave a stronger and more positive footprint. Another difficulty which I did not expect is the challenge of finding investors for women-owned companies, particularly when dealing with largely male investment teams. A way to counter this in my opinion, is to have more female investors supporting each other, as well as training male investors into switching their mentality and ways of investing. As for women in tech, I have similar observations, however trends are changing and we are seeing more and more women diving into the tech world and challenging the established norms which I find truly inspiring.