Fazal Khaishgi and David Shafrir: Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneurs

You may have seen Cleverfox co-founders Fazal Khaishgi and David Shafrir before; earlier this year, they snubbed offers from CBC’s Dragons’ Den investors to keep control over their own interests, a move completely in line with the backbone of their business foundation. Here’s why it’s working for them…

Elevator Pitch: Describe your business in a nutshell.
Cleverfox is a cloud-based business management solution that offers online booking with scheduling management, performance tracking and ensures high quality customer service and client retention – all in a single software system. 

Why did you start your business, what was the inspiration?
After working in the daily deal industry, we both got a close perspective on the internal management problems that small businesses face. We noticed that business owners are not always armed with the right tools to grow in the service-based business arena. What started off as a simple promotional management tool to help small businesses efficiently book appointments organically grew into a robust and complete solution for consumer-facing service-based businesses to manage not only their scheduling, but the capability to collect customer information, run effective email campaigns and promotions and maintain client relationships in a strong manner.

What is the best part of what you do on a day-to-day basis? The most challenging part?
Every day at Cleverfox is an exciting and rewarding experience. The opportunity to work with everyone, from single service operators to nation-wide enterprise scale businesses, has proven to be both rewarding and challenging. We get a gratifying feeling that comes from building a software solution that helps clients free up several hours a day and assists them in growing their businesses. The set-up phase can be challenging, but once a business gets into the groove of using the software, it is wonderful to see them flourish on it. 

Where do you see your business going in five years?
It is hard to predict where Cleverfox will be in five years due to our organic growth and the natural pivots that we’ve experienced since our inception. More and more, we see interest and demand coming from large-scale industry leaders who require a Cleverfox solution tailored to their needs, which incorporates the Cleverfox methodology with a customized take on their management model.

What does success look like to you?
Success to us encompasses both the growth of Cleverfox to a leader in the business management solution space while at the same time allowing for entry into other highly specialized niche markets – all of which we can manage while spending three months a year sailing.

What is the most memorable milestone in your career?
Building the software from scratch and seeing our clients using it to manage their entire businesses.

Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Learn to divide and conquer. Biting off more than you can chew at any one moment always leads to the less than desired outcome. Dividing projects, tasks and even your personal life are crucial to achieving your desired outcome. Also, now is the time to make it rain! Work hard and be persistent. 

Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is that important to you?
The two of us support several charitable organizations and projects that raise funding and awareness for breast cancer, colon cancer and underprivileged children around the world.

What is Notable to you?
Word of mouth. When you grow professionally and personally through the words of clients, family, friends and colleagues, the lasting impression is a huge value. It is important to connect with others and foster those relationships in a kind and personal manner.

Blackberry, iPhone, Android, or Other?
Apple all the way!

How do you keep active, energetic, and vibrant?
A good mix of dinners and cocktails combined with sailing and swimming, topped off with hard work and late nights.

Photo courtesy Brian Mosoff