Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Goodwin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Diana, appreciate you joining us today. Too often the media represents innovation as something magical that only high-flying tech billionaires and upstarts engage in – but the truth is almost every business owner has to regularly innovate in small and big ways in order for their businesses to survive and thrive. Can you share a story that highlights something innovative you’ve done over the course of your career?

The most innovative thing I’ve done is develop a flexible solution for scheduling mobile appointments that’s revolutionized how businesses schedule employees and enabled them to control where and when they offer appointments. No other software had attempted this, so my team and I had to start from scratch. We’re continually refining the process, of course. Still, the infrastructure now exists for businesses to simplify the process of organizing mobile appointments, which has been a huge win for our customers.

Diana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started MarketBox because I found a gap in the software market for a scheduling solution built for businesses offering in-home and mobile appointments. I always joke that I got into SaaS accidentally because my first business, AquaMobile (now North America’s largest private at-home swim lesson provider), needed a better way to schedule clients as we expanded across the US and into Australia. Nothing existed then, so I built my own solution, and when other businesses started coming to me for help with their scheduling, I saw my software’s potential in the broader market.

MarketBox is now the first (and only) appointment-scheduling software specifically designed for businesses offering in-home and mobile services. I’m proud that we’ve built a solution catering to this underserved market and seeing its impact on our users every day. I know it’s the key to AquaMobile’s continued success; since implementing the software, we’ve doubled our revenue in 6 months and seen a 3X increase in customer self-booking.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Yes, twice! My first business started with me teaching private swimming lessons part-time while completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto. As demand grew, I started to hire additional instructors to help me teach, and eventually, I stopped teaching altogether to focus on managing the growing business.

Key milestones include when I was awarded several small business grants that helped me expand AquaMobile across Canada and into the US. I was also featured on Dragon’s Den (Canada’s version of Shark Tank) and received several offers, but ultimately decided to bootstrap the business myself to retain ownership. AquaMobile is now the largest provider of private at-home swim lessons in North America, and in 2019, we expanded into Australia, which was another momentous milestone.

During AquaMobile’s expansion, I had to create my own scheduling software after failing to find a solution that worked for my business model. Quite quickly, other in-home and mobile businesses came to me for help solving their scheduling issues. It was then that I saw the potential for software like mine and moved into SaaS, launching MarketBox to the public in 2021.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The biggest thing that helped me build and cement my reputation was that I had first-hand experience with all the same issues MarketBox’s customers have. I understand the challenges in-home and mobile businesses face because I went through all of them scaling AquaMobile. This connection to the market and understanding what businesses are looking for has enabled me to create a product tailored to their specific needs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gomarketbox.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gomarketbox/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gomarketbox
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gomarketbox
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarketBoxSoftware/featured

Image Credits
Tara Noelle photography