This Side Hustle Q&A features Founder Nic Beique Helcima payment processing company used by tens of 1000’s of merchants – dental offices, law firms, auto shops and more.
You began with a side hustle. Can you tell me how this helped you discover Helcim?
I began my first business when I used to be 15. I knew how to code and design, so I asked small business owners if they wanted a website. Many answered yes, from my hairdresser, the local gym, and even the local ironmongery shop where I purchased the parts. I used to be all the time shocked when they agreed – after all, I used to be a random teenager who walked into their location.
I saw how hard these people worked to make a living, and I used to be honored that they might risk me with their hard-earned money. It gave me a sense of camaraderie and loyalty, and I quickly felt like a small business owner working hard to build my very own small business.
Some of the sites I built transitioned to e-commerce, which meant finding a way for my customers to accept payments online.
It was still early days for PayPal, but its fame was already there [that it was] an anonymous service that held funds abruptly and left a constant trail of indignant merchants. The few bank processors available were even worse: long contracts, fraudulent sales, and hidden fees that may make phone corporations blush – something that hasn’t modified in a long time.
The more I attempted to find payment solutions for my clients, the more I discovered how poorly payment processors treat small businesses – and not only online. These sellers were cheated, even when it got here to in-store payments. High fees, poor service and withheld funds were the industry standard.
Even with my first business, I could not accept bank cards unless I agreed to give my local bank 1000’s of dollars as a “security deposit” to open a merchant account. It turned out that the bank card processing industry was terrible for all merchants, large and small.
It was a spark. If you look at my entrepreneurial journey, I went from designing web sites, to coding e-commerce projects, to finally starting a payments company.
Where did you discover the inspiration for Helcim? What did you wish to achieve with this?
Everyone says they love small businesses, yet most service providers still treat them poorly. Helcim is on a mission to change that, and it starts by completely rediscovering what it means to be a small business champion. Small business owners gave me a probability when I used to be just starting out, and they deserve a company that may give them a probability.
Our mission does not end there. While it starts with offering inexpensive and transparent payments, we’re always looking for ways to give small businesses the edge with easy-to-use financial software and products.
What were the first steps you took to start your corporation?
I used to be still at university when I made a decision to start my first payments company. It took a very long time to find a bank that may allow me to sell its trading services, but after almost a 12 months I finally agreed. So my first experience with payments was as a salesperson at a bank.
I went back to the same small business owners who took the risk and registered them as traders. Over time, I used to be able to hire several employees and our company built a unique fame in the industry; we were honest and trustworthy – a rare commodity in payments.
Our reseller business continued to grow, giving us the resources to operate on our own. After years of being resellers, in 2020 we became our own processor and launched our own payment services. This is the Helcim you see today.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in building your corporation and how did you overcome them?
Banks in the payments industry are not very open to recent entrants, especially 15 years ago when I began. I had to work really hard to persuade just one of them to let me turn out to be a salesperson so I could get in the door.
Even then, it was a constant struggle. Our goal was to improve tools and increase transparency for the small businesses we served. However, our efforts have sometimes resulted in undesirable changes in an industry resistant to our presence.
Becoming your individual payments company took one other decade of labor, relationship building, and dogged determination. There are many gatekeepers in this industry, from bank card networks to large banks, so we had to fight tooth and nail to get to the table. But in the end, we remembered that we were doing this to provide a higher solution for the small businesses we support, and that motivated us to keep going.
How long did it take for you to achieve stable monthly income? What does growth and revenue seem like today?
Helcim currently serves tens of 1000’s of corporations in the US and Canada. We processed nearly $4 billion in payments in 2023 and are on track to greater than double that quantity this 12 months. As for revenues, I’ll say that they have reached a scale that attracted investors, and we accomplished the Series B round at the starting of the 12 months.
What gives you the biggest pleasure in running Helcim?
Payments are the heart of commerce. At the core of business is the exchange of value between parties. Every day, billions of people exchange money for goods and services. As a payments company, we could be at the center of all of it – we have a front row seat.
My team and I can talk to every company conceivable. We talk to dentists, hairdressers, drivers and educators. We worked with charities on how to make it easier for people to support their cause, and with bakers on how to sell more cupcakes. Over the years of developing Helcim, I have had the opportunity to establish unbelievable relationships with restaurant owners, automobile mechanics and locksmiths. The scale of activities was also diverse. I visited the world’s giant wheat distribution centers to help them accept payments from microbreweries needing good malt for their beer, and I also met with those self same microbreweries and wondered how to get more customers so they might improve the malt they use well.
As someone who loves business, I am unable to imagine working in an industry that is at the center of every little thing. It’s truly a privilege.
What is your advice for others looking to start a successful side hustle or their very own full-time business?
It takes time, but if you really need it, with labor and perseverance you’ll succeed. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s incredibly necessary to listen to this in this present day and age. I’m all the time a little surprised how much of the “get rich quick” mentality still exists, but that is not the reality.
Reality cuts through the tons of of “no” votes until you hear “yes” and consider in your vision to improve the industry despite closed doors and failures. One day you’ll look up and realize how far you have come.