A serial entrepreneur and designer have co-launched a startup in Vancouver that leverages artificial intelligence to help users create and manage their own business.
Durable is the brainchild of Vancouverites Ross Howard-Jones, James Clift, and Helio Bentes. Howard-Jones is a longtime designer with stints at Bench and Shopify, while Clift has been an entrepreneur since high school, proud of his repeated success despite “never having had a real job.”
Together, the pair launched Durable, which claims to launch a business in less than a minute using AI.
“If you run a solo business, you need a website. But up until now, website builders haven’t been great—even the ones with really good commercials,” the startup says.
They’re often cumbersome to work with and on top of that, you’ve got to find your own images, write your own copy etc.—all time-consuming. At the end, business owners may not even be happy with the result, notes Durable.
“It relates to a point I hear from aspiring and solo business owners all the time: the biggest barrier to starting or growing a business is the amount of time it takes to learn the tools you need to get there,” says cofounder Clift. “It’s tedious and costly work for anyone running a business. And it’s a daunting task for anyone looking to get started.”
Durable offers different products covering different aspects of the business, such as Website Builder, Invoicing, and CRM.
“When you’re starting a business, the first step towards your first customer is going online to market your business,” notes Clift. “That step is now automated.”
The company envisions a future with more small businesses—a world “where everyone can become an owner.”
“Whether it’s a side hustle or a full-time gig, we believe that owning a business can change everyone’s life,” Durable affirms.
And as for the name?
“We believe business owners are resilient, hard-working, and long-lasting,” the Durable founders say. “We’re building this business to last, and want to help you do the same.”
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