Revolutionizing B2B Ordering – Meet Henry Dewing, The Visionary Behind DueTrade
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 11, 2023
- 6 min read
Henry Dewing, the visionary behind DueTrade, is dedicated to revolutionising the way businesses operate through innovative business-to-business ordering apps. Drawing inspiration from his entrepreneurial upbringing, he embarked on a path of his own, driven by the realisation of an untapped market opportunity. Recognising the need to cater to traditional industries like wholesalers, breweries, builders merchants & food services companies, Henry spearheaded the development of a comprehensive app that simplifies the ordering process while offering a plethora of additional features. As the CEO of DueTrade, Henry leads a seasoned team, propelling the company's growth and cementing its position in the industry.
Henry Dewing
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
Hello! My name is Henry Dewing, 30 years old. I was born in Norwich, Norfolk, UK and I split my time between London and Norfolk. I’m one of 4 siblings and grew up on an old farm. So even though I spend my time 60/40 in London I’m a country boy at heart.
My first passion growing up was sports and it still remains a big part of my life, it’s the main way I switch off. I grew up playing Rugby, Football, Tennis, Skiing, Surfing.. Pretty much anything that got me outside and active. Rugby was my main focus and my first goal was to become a professional rugby player. I played a few academy games for Leicester Tigers and ended up signing a semi-professional contract at one point, however, it wasn’t meant to be. I still play every Saturday in a competitive league in London which keeps me fit and part of a team environment.
What are your top 3 tips for anyone thinking of starting their own business?
Starting a business is one thing and managing to keep it going is another. My top 3 tips at this stage of my journey are as follows:
Make sure there is a need for your idea. I pitched the initial idea to a potential customer who I thought could benefit from a product like ours, following this I spoke with other business owners to understand if the idea was something they would consider. Lots of people start a business with just an idea only to take it to market and realise that there isn’t a requirement for their product or service. Spend time on Research & Development (R&D).
Build resilience. This is probably the most important yet hardest one to master. I won’t beat around the bush, running a business is very tough. You will constantly get rejected whether it’s selling, raising investment, or entering awards the list goes on. It happens constantly and you need to be able to stay strong to your vision and have complete confidence and belief in your idea. The emotional ups and downs are constant and you need to be happy to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and carry on. Don’t be deluded though, if you have had no customers in 3 years then it’s time to think or pivot the business entirely. Be honest with yourself.
Avoid social media ‘experts’. There is far too much jargon on social media platforms explaining why getting up at 4 am, running 200k, meditating for 3 hours and “checking emails” is the best thing an entrepreneur can do. Total nonsense. For some people these tips are helpful, okay maybe not a 200k run but you catch my drift. We have all seen these videos and they can make us feel like we are doing it wrong. There are of course your core working hours for your timezone which are good to try and stick to but ultimately, you do you. There is no right or wrong. Extra tip: Remember to exercise, sleep and be aware of which food and drinks you are putting into your body. This help towards overall happiness which leads to greater results. (Ed Diener University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and The Gallup Organisation)
Tell us a little bit about your B2B ordering platform DueTrade. When and why did you start DueTrade?
Our comprehensive business-to-business ordering platform simplifies the ordering process between suppliers and buyers. Imagine an independent brewery that serves over 200 individual buyers, mostly landlords. Currently, these landlords place their weekly beer orders through phone calls or emails to the brewery. With the DueTrade platform, breweries can effortlessly showcase their products, send special offers to landlords, and manage orders. They also gain access to an analytics dashboard that highlights top-selling items and user activity on the ordering app. For landlords, placing orders has been streamlined to a few clicks. The platform seamlessly integrates with the supplier's accounting and inventory software, resulting in time savings, increased sales, a competitive advantage, and an enhanced customer buying journey.
It's worth mentioning that I chose the example of a Brewery because it's relatable to most readers due to their experiences at bars. However, it's essential to recognise that this platform isn't limited to this industry alone; it can be effectively employed across various sectors including builders' merchants, wholesalers, agricultural suppliers, food service companies, and more.
When I refer to the platform, I'm referring to a comprehensive system. On the supplier's end, there's a backend web version that functions as an admin panel, facilitating management of all aspects. On the user's side, it takes the form of a mobile app available on both iOS and Android platforms, as well as relevant tablets.
Think of it like an Argos catalogue on steroids.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
We cater to a diverse range of industries that can reap the rewards of our offerings. If your business involves supplying products to other businesses, it's definitely worth getting in touch with us.
Imagine scenarios like:
A wholesaler providing goods to a convenience store owner,
A brewery serving a landlord
A builders merchant catering to builders,
Food service companies delivering to hotels and restaurants,
Agricultural suppliers catering to farmers,
Coffee merchants supplying cafes.
The list continues but you should get the idea of our target audience.
What are your current goals for your business?
They’re really quite simple. Stick to our morals which are clarity and honesty. Focus on our customers. Continue to grow our customer base and employee base year on year.
We have a great business that we hope will only expand and succeed because we have a great product and we want to help our target customers make money and future-proof their business.
Tell us a little bit about the journey you did with your first app, the Dewing Grain App.
This is where it all started. After working in London in the software industry it was very clear that everything was becoming digital and predominantly through mobile apps. You can get a date on an app, hire someone, check in online, order food, and get a taxi so I got to thinking about my families company Dewing Grain which is a grain merchant and how they could benefit from offering their customers a Dewing Grain App to keep them informed with market reports and market prices but also allow them to buy grain through the app. After many meetings and getting the approval from everyone in the business (not all family I will add), my thought was well if they went for it then so would other businesses.
Interestingly, DueTrade emerged not as a planned venture, but as a natural progression when recognising the broader need beyond our immediate environment.
From this foundation grew DueTrade. The name is due to time something like this is available for our target industries, and it’s a goods trading app.
I like to think that we are a modern software business with family at the heart of it.
Is DueTrade only for people in the UK, or are you planning on launching it internationally?
Our second customer was actually Europe's largest wheat miller, GoodMills Group GmbH. They are based across 7 countries within Europe with their head office being in Vienna, Austria. We built them a bespoke grain-purchasing app.
Our new off-the-shelf product is very scalable and relevant for so many businesses that I would hate to limit our options, so, yes I can see this going international.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
Buyer awareness/buyer readiness! A lot of the industries we focus on are very traditional and are fairly reluctant to change but with digital statistics continuously growing with online buying it really is an adapt-or-die mentality they need to be taking here. Their customers now expect an Amazon-like buying experience, so why not offer it to them with a product like ours? For us it’s about educating our buyers and making them aware that tools like this are available and affordable.
4 hours 12 minutes is the average mobile screen time in the UK. Last year it was 3 hours 25 and there is no sign of this slowing down so why wouldn’t you put your business and products in your customer's pockets?!
Where do you see yourself/DueTrade 10 years from now?
Hopefully, we will be able to look back and know that what we built was a great, forward-thinking business that helped multiple businesses improve and modernise.
It would be great to build a really strong and sustainable business that is still running. We are very aware that this is a step-by-step process and are proud to have got to year 3 so let’s see how it goes.
Ideally, though I would have exited through acquisition and will be lying on a beach with a cold one.
