Some things need to be experienced in person so you can fully appreciate them. For instance, footage of elephants roaming free in the Serengeti and photos of gorillas in the rainforest won’t do them justice, nor will a virtual tour of the diverse landscape of Kenya.
Managing your business finances, as you might imagine, is not something you need to do in person. With today’s technology, business banking can and should be done on the go, from your phone or laptop—so you can spend more time doing what you love.
“Banking should not take as much time as it does. When you’re a small business, it’s difficult to do everything at once,” says Jay Parmar, owner and founder of Wander Africa. “We are a small business, and my wife Brandi and I wear many hats.”
The main hat Jay and Brandi wear is curating safari adventures for families, honeymooners, and solo travelers, planning everything from when they arrive in Africa until the moment they leave.
“In the business of pure experiences”
Since the late 1960s, Jay’s father has been running a safari company in Kenya, where Jay was born and raised. When Jay moved to the U.S. for college in 2005, he became the unofficial American liaison for his dad’s company and fell in love with the business and the relationships that came with it.
After a while—and a little convincing from his cousin—Jay decided to venture on his own and start Wander Africa, quickly expanding out of Kenya to offer experiences all across Africa. Now, the team is working to expand into India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Latin America.
“The driving factor has always been relationships,” Jay says. “You can’t put a dollar amount on the relationships we build with our clients. It’s all about the experience we can help create for them.”
Staying in line with its mission, Wander Africa has designed custom experiences for more than a thousand clients, with a special focus on local culture, photography, and sustainability in the local regions.
“The business is true to who we are as people. We run it with kindness and thoughtfulness.”
The problem
When it comes to Wander Africa’s business banking, Jay realized he was not getting what he needed.
“We’d been using a big, traditional bank that didn’t let us earn interest on checking balances,” Jay says. “The more frustrating part was that the one place where all of our money sat, our lifeline… there was no relationship with them. And whenever there were issues with banking, it was almost impossible to get someone to help us.”
Jay and Brandi already had their hands full with running the business, so it was unrealistic for them to spend an hour or two on the phone with customer service to resolve simple issues.
“So I reached out to our accountant to ask if there was another banking platform out there that would allow us to build a relationship and have access to actual humans—and they recommended Bluevine.”
Did you know?
Bluevine has a dashboard built specifically for accountants and bookkeepers, complete with extra perks and easy client referrals.
Not long after, Wander Africa applied and opened up a Bluevine Business Checking account, selecting the Premier plan to take advantage of higher interest earnings and other benefitsBVSUP-00125 (more on that below).
“I feel like most banking platforms are ancient—nothing is user-friendly and the process of opening an account is frustrating. Being able to do everything online with Bluevine made it so easy to sign up and get going.”
Check out the video below to see how Jay and Brandi simplified their business finances by switching to Bluevine.
The solution
Switching your business checking account can be scary, but it’s much less daunting when you have a partner who’s there every step of the way.
“We love that Bluevine is focused on building personal relationships with their customers. We are in the relationship business—with every client we’ve ever had, with all of our partners across Africa or anywhere else in the world. Everything revolves around relationships.”
In addition to having access to the banking support he needs, Jay has used the Bluevine platform to make his life easier in a variety of ways.
“One of the greatest things about Bluevine is that you can have multiple sub-accounts.” Jay explains, “We use our sub-accounts to separate cash flow for monthly expenses, marketing budget, interest accrued… so when we log in, we have a clear outlook of how all our funds are being allocated and what that budget is used for.”
He continues, “Transferring funds between sub-accounts, or external accounts, is super simple and quick.”
Did you know?
Sub-accounts are similar to your main account and help you budget more effectively for growth, payroll, taxes, and emergencies.
As a business with many global partners, Wander Africa leverages the ability to send and receive international payments through Bluevine.BVSUP-00144 The safari company’s continued growth into new areas of the world has the Bluevine team working hard to make even more currencies available for international transactions.
Jay adds, “Since we’re a heavy cash flow business, it’s also nice to have up to $3 million in FDIC coverageBVSUP-00108—that’s critical for us.”
Supercharging your business banking with Bluevine Premier
“When we do the math, Bluevine Premier makes sense for us because the higher interest rate we earn outweighs the monthly fee if we don’t qualify to waive it.”
With our Premier business checking plan, Wander Africa enjoys benefits like:
- A higher annual percentage yield (APY) on higher balancesBVSUP-00125
- Discounts on Standard plan payment fees
- Priority customer supportBVSUP-00125
- And more
“For any small business owner who wants something streamlined and easy to use, and doesn’t need a physical branch, Bluevine can tick all the boxes.” Jay continues, “I would 100% recommend Bluevine for any business, whether you’re small or large.”
Switch to Bluevine and choose a business checking plan that fits your needs.
Jay Parmar is the owner and founder of Wander Africa, a boutique luxury safari company that plans and curates travel experiences all across Africa.
