Squeezing the Most Out of SaaS

In this interview, Matt Bird discusses how Lemon, the Manchester based fintech, is preparing for economic shifts, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the fintech space, and the future of talent management in an increasingly cost-conscious environment.

What trends do you expect to drive UK entrepreneurship in 2025?
Everyone says it, but AI really will be at the forefront of most businesses in 2025. This isn’t limited to more businesses emerging to build more AI infrastructure, but more businesses will be looking to AI to enhance the products, services, and experiences they can offer to their customer bases. We’ll see more businesses starting up to offer AI-centric data analytics and capture value too.

How are you preparing for economic changes in the new year?
At Lemon, we’re doubling down on our ‘cash-efficiency’ strategy and future-proofing ourselves against any economic changes we may see in the coming months. We pride ourselves on helping SMBs to reduce their costs whilst improving cashflow for SaaS vendors, meaning our product should help other businesses to future proof against economic changes, too. Some announcements in the UK budget will definitely make it more expensive for businesses to operate, but on the whole, I believe there will be improvements in interest rates over spending.

What sustainability initiatives will you focus on in 2025?
Sustainability comes in many forms, but in 2025 we’re turning our attention to being financially sustainable as a scaling startup. As a company which helps other businesses access financing for their vital software tools, we’re working to ensure that our lending structures are fair, responsible, and accurate.

What challenges do you foresee with talent management in 2025?
Hiring and retaining talent in 2025 will undoubtedly be difficult for businesses facing rising costs following the changes to the UK budget. We’ll start to see businesses shifting from large teams, to smaller, higher impact teams with many people wearing several ‘hats’ to ensure maximum functionality whilst the business remains cost efficient. In this era of capital efficiency, businesses need to create a real purpose for talent to whole-heartedly align with, increasing productivity and efficiency too. On the point of AI, some tasks may also be completed more cost efficiently with AI, meaning that hiring for data analytics and content creation positions may become less of a priority for businesses.

How will AI and automation impact your business strategy next year?
AI is already playing a part in our business, and we’re planning to continue investing in AI tools. We see AI as a huge opportunity within the fintech landscape, offering credit analysis, gathering data, improving workflows, and even underwriting. We’re also looking at other ways in which we can use AI to improve the benefits we offer our customers and banking partners, improving the solutions we currently offer. As a business, we’re really excited to see how AI can play a part in our journey.

What’s your approach to securing funding as we enter 2025?
Since the start of our journey, we’ve worked hard to align ourselves solely with true value investors. We’re hoping to double down on product and distribution next year rather than raising, however we have always had the mantra to find and work with investors who can add more value to the business, so the hunt for those will continue somewhat. In the wider VC landscape, I also think this will become more important. Businesses need to look for VCs which bring the most value aside from simply capital.