What’s worse than being broke? “Being broke and in debt,” is the candid response from Andrew Franklin, CEO and co-founder of Infinity Systems International Limited. After a work history punctuated by multiple short stints in various roles, he decided to take the path less travelled, and started his entrepreneurial journey in 2017 – a decision which has been both fulfilling and rewarding.
The Early Years: Money Matters
From modest origins in Mammee Bay, St Ann, Andrew’s pathway to Infinity Systems was textured with significant moments of insight that would serve him in business and life. As a student of St Ann’s Bay Primary, his earliest goal was to be a pilot. He had a strong love for the sciences, and passed his Common Entrance for the prestigious Calabar High School in Kingston, only to return to St Ann after completing Grade 7 because of his mother’s illness. His completion of grades eight to 11 at Fern Court High School, and a growing appreciation of the economics behind his career choices, precipitated a shift in his approach to education. He started to make decisions based on finances – weighing the cost of each subject or programme, and the ease with which he could find a job in that field. He still loved the sciences, but when he considered the time and expense required to achieve his aviation dream, he decided to pursue a more cost-effective alternative.
He discovered the alternative during sixth form at Dinthill High School. After skipping school for an entire day to watch a 24-hour CSI Las Vegas marathon, Andrew found his next career dream. “I caught 20 of the 24 hours,” he recalled. “While watching, I realised that, one, I was understanding everything they were saying because we had started studying molecular biology; and two, this was the kind of science I wanted to do!” He decided he wanted to become a forensic scientist.
From Dinthill, Andrew entered the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, where he completed his first degree in microbiology. The goal was to study an area that would allow him to get a job and prepare him to pursue studies in forensic molecular biology. “A lot of my decisions were made based on the availability of cash,” he recalled. “For example, I did pest management as one of my electives because one of my lecturers said there was good money in pest control once you had your licence.” Andrew proved the truth of this when, armed with his first degree from UWI Mona and his Pest Control Applicator certification from Jamaica’s Pest Control Authority, he landed his first job with Orkin
Short Stints and A Personal Problem
Andrew worked with Orkin for six months, before moving on to work in quality control and wastewater pest management with GraceKennedy for eight months. He subsequently worked as a sanitation supervisor with Rainforest Seafoods but the post was made redundant after only 10 months. This was quickly followed by two similarly short stints with Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ) and Wray & Nephew. Then came many months of unemployment. “Up to that point, I’d never worked anywhere for a year,” Andrew mused. “When the Wray & Nephew job fell apart, I decided, ‘That’s it, I’m done. I’m going to start something.’” And start something he did.
Infinity Systems International, co-founded along with friend and physicist Nathan Henderson, was officially registered in 2017 with the goal of solving real-life problems. The first readily marketable idea for Infinity Systems came to Andrew in 2018 when he returned to his childhood home in St Ann after months of fruitless job hunting. “I had bought a filter to put on my house because the taste of the water was terrible,” he remembered. “I bought a tiny filter on Amazon, but that was clogged up in two weeks. So, I bought a set of replacement cartridges online. When I got them, they didn’t fit. They were too big and required a larger casing. I drove all over St Ann and Kingston, and couldn’t find the casing. I said to myself, ‘why is this so hard?’”
Eventually, Andrew related his problem to Nathan, who was studying abroad at the time. Nathan was able to locate, purchase and send the correct casing to him. “I sat with it for about two months,” stated Andrew. “Eventually, I got my plumber to fit it on the house. One evening afterward, I was sitting on my verandah thinking, ‘Man, this job hunting situation is terrible. I can’t seem to get anywhere.’”
Infinity Systems came to mind. He looked at the filter, and thought to himself, ‘Nobody has this, and my water is noticeably better. … Why does nobody have this?’ He ran to get his laptop and opened it with the intention of looking up water filter manufacturers. His last search – the Caribbean Jobs home page – came up. He laughed and closed that page, recognising he was no longer looking for a job as a more exciting possibility began to take shape. That same day, he reached out to filter manufacturers from all over the globe via phone, text and email, gathering information which he relayed to Nathan on a phone call that very night. “I said to him, ‘Water … that’s what we’re going to do!’”
Infinity Systems and Infinite Possibilities
The following weeks saw Andrew working feverishly to give shape and purpose to his idea. Brushing off his microbiology degree – especially the modules on wastewater and potable water treatment – he started to research and explore the nuances of filtration systems. He continued reaching out to filter manufacturers, his confidence growing as they confirmed what he already knew – this was a niche that Infinity Systems were well-placed to fill.
“This is a thing I’m good at and know about, that everybody else is taking for granted,” Andrew asserted. “With filters, it’s not one-size-fits-all. Everybody else had the tiny filters and those don’t work [for houses]. The hardware stores sell the small filters, which are really meant to be used in washing machines, faucets, etc., and nobody is advising people on anything.”
Andrew also recognised that many persons were choosing to solve the problem of non-potable piped water by buying bottled water, essentially incurring what he called “a second water bill”. Building out Infinity’s sales strategy, he and Nathan decided to focus on point-of-entry filtration systems – larger units that can handle the water volume supplied to the entire household. In Andrew’s words: “It’s better to spend one good money one time and done.” Convinced that he was on to something very unique and potentially profitable, he sold all his stocks (accumulated since 2014) and invested in building the business. They used the money to, among other things, secure the products for their Agua’Guard product line, aimed at providing affordable, robust, efficient and sustainable domestic, commercial, and industrial water quality solutions to clients.
Agua’Guard filters in hand, Infinity Systems officially rolled out in 2019 at an expo at the Drax Hall Country Club & Manor in St Ann. They ended the year with a whopping four clients. Traditional media ad placements proved costly and unfruitful. The Founders decided that their marketing would not take the traditional format of simply trying to sell their product to people. Instead, they would educate people about water purification, and then allow them to decide. The following year, they attended another expo, sharing a tent at the Victoria Mutual Building Society Grand Market Expo. “I didn’t make any sales that day,” Andrew recalled, “but man, did I talk to people!”
Adding social media to their marketing arsenal proved somewhat effective, with Facebook and Instagram sparking interest and enquiries. They got their first interviews with two developers, but neither bore fruit, and as 2020 drew to a close, Andrew and Nathan had a serious discussion about their cash flow. Nathan suggested that they might need to have a clearance sale – an idea Andrew met with strong and instant disagreement. “People will pay for this quality,” he insisted. “I’m not running a haberdashery.” This confidence was short-lived, and by February 2021, faced with mounting costs and no sales, and on the heels of another layoff after only eight months in a job he had taken on to help supplement his income, Andrew started wondering if he should have listened to Nathan. He was learning that being broke and in debt was much worse than just being broke.
Strategic Connections to ‘RevUp’ Business
March 2021 signalled the official turn of the tide for Infinity Systems. Two clients helped set the pace for change. The first was Gary Wallace, owner of Leder Mode, who purchased a filtration system and suggested that Andrew offer installation as part of his business model. This suggestion prompted Andrew to learn plumbing and start doing his own installations. Later on, Gary’s advice would again prove pivotal when Andrew shared a business idea with him, and was told: “Master water first.” This encouragement to focus on mastery helped keep Infinity Systems on track.
The second catalyst came through Yohan Blake, who also purchased a filtration system. “His house was the first installation I ever did with my own hands,” Andrew recalled. “I had never cut pipe before. I figured it out on spot. … What a stress! But we did it. From there, it was like wildfire. We went from making nothing to making $150,000 in three days. As time went on and their filters got dirtier, people could see that there was a problem. Then came the recommendations.”
Impressed with the work done on Yohan’s home, interior decorator Laura Pearson started sharing about Infinity Systems with her clients. That was how Andrew met Mayer Matalon in May 2021. Mayer was present when Andrew installed a filtration system in his home. “He was really cool,” Andrew noted. “And we kept in touch. He’s the one that brought up FirstAngels to me.” Mayer encouraged Andrew to apply to RevUp’s incubation programme, stressing the opportunity to get accelerated training, mentorship, exposure and be part of a strong regional network. “Try to get in on this Cohort,” he prompted, “because for the next one, they’re going across the Caribbean.”
Just a month earlier, another client had mentioned FirstAngels to Andrew. Though the decision came at a difficult time because his mother had suffered an aneurysm the day before, he decided to take the leap. “The network is what really drew me to RevUp because Jamaica is small, and everybody knows each other,” Andrew reflected. “I almost didn’t do it because I felt like I couldn’t take any more stress. But I said, maybe I’ll learn something. Maybe this is what will help me better help my mother.” He juggled being with his mom at the hospital during the days and completing the RevUp classes at night. But the sacrifice was worth it.
“It was a wealth of information,” he explained. “There is so much information being given to you, and so many good ideas, you have to pace yourself on which ones you choose not to do. Because you can’t do them all at once. You keep them in mind for when you get to that stage. They give you so many options for how you can go about your own goal. They give you everything.” He added: “I met really cool people. And I Iearnt that I was doing the right stuff: how I market, find clients, treat people.” Invaluable to him were the lessons on taxes and accounting: “How often they need to be paid, the penalties that come with not being compliant … that’s really not my forte. It’s very pedantic. But the courses drove home the importance of knowing that, yes, they cost money, but they save you trouble in the long run.”
Through RevUP, he earned the opportunity to pitch to the members of FirstAngels and secured investments from eight angel investors – Mayer Matalon, Joseph Matalon, Sandra Glasgow, Douglas Orane, Jacqueline Lechler, Rezworth Burchenson, Wayne Sutherland and Gia Abraham. He formalised a Board of Directors with Gary Wallace as Independent Chairman, Mayer and Allison Mais as “Investor Directors” and he and Nathan as Founder Directors. The Company engaged a professional Company Secretary to ensure that the Company remains compliant. Andrew has already seen growth in his business, which enables him to now reach larger clients.
Through RevUP, Andrew also made connections with other businesses that offered products and services that could enhance the Infinity Systems workflow, and has been introduced to several new clients through the RevUp and FirstAngels networks. He currently uses EazyPayments, owned and operated by a RevUp alum, to do online purchases for Infinity Systems; and successfully pitched to Wihcon for a housing development contract, with assistance from a RevUp mentor.
Infinite Possibilities
Andrew’s advice to entrepreneurs who may be considering angel investing is to pick their investors wisely, and be clear on how they plan to use the money they are asking for. “Ask yourself: do you need an investor, or do you just need a loan?” he cautioned, stressing the importance of selecting people they get along with. He also noted that it was critical to always be learning, improving, giving one’s best and staying humble.
Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey so far, Andrew is grateful for the ‘RevUp’ effect, and how being part of that community has helped move Infinity Systems forward. Pulling on the advice he received from Gary to ‘master water first’, he noted that he and Nathan are continuously asking themselves: “What else can we do with water?” They anticipate that they will continue to scale up, with their sights set on attracting larger clients, hiring staff, and, as their mission says: improve the lives of their clients by consistently delivering cost-effective premium products and services through innovative technologies to all on time and in full.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
How you can find this business:
Website: infinitysystemsja.com
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 876-330-2383
