In 1999, Vince Thomas was just a college student with a dream. He started his business, which would become Billhighway, out of an attic when he developed a technology to manage his college roommates’ expenses.
He quickly saw a broader business need to integrate technology and financial performance into a cash management, accounting and payment processing system that could scale to thousands of organizations and unlimited users. He realized that membership-based organizations were losing significant revenue and saw an opportunity to help them become stronger financially. At the same time, he saw how difficult it was for them to get current, accurate information about financial status, particularly with receivables and payables.
He was convinced that he had developed a solution to these challenges but initially found little support so decided to self-fund his business. For the first few years, he traveled across the country and slept in his SUV while trying to drum up interest in his product. His other challenge was to find a banking partner, because his product required the electronic movement of funds, but initially found none.
So he did everything himself and focused on fraternities and sororities. In 2001, he finally got a banking partner to electronically move funds, and in 2003, he brought in his first major client, a 13,000-member organization. This milestone enabled him to hire staff and gain the resources to build the business and provide the credibility he needed to acquire other large clients.
As a result of his perseverance, Billhighway has significantly altered the way organizations manage their finances and has become the dominant player among college-based organizations, with an 80 percent market share. He’s also achieving growth with membership-based organizations across the country.
How to reach: Billhighway, (248) 273-0074 or www.billhighway.com
