Duellix: profitable, 6-person business in 2 years.

Patrick and Dan wanted more control over their future and the freedom to build something meaningful. With DQventures’ support, they refined their idea, landed their first clients, and turned Duellix into a profitable business, achieving key milestones along the way.

What was the challenge?

Patrick and Dan came to DQ with an e-commerce idea. After working on this for two months we agreed it wasn’t workable. Instead of giving up, we identified an opportunity in corporate services — where DQ had struggled to find an affordable, reliable service provider. The competition was mixed. On one side there were thousands of smaller, traditional service providers; on the other, were a handful of venture-backed, tech businesses, which were growing fast, but upsetting customers with poor customer service. Together, Pat, Dan and the DQ team saw potential for an alternative that would prioritise customer service above all other things.

While the initial corporate services idea came from DQ, Patrick and Dan made it their own. They refined the value proposition to emphasise they were a safe pair of hands, which could be relied upon to deal with unwanted but necessary company administration and processes.

What did we do?

We provided hands-on support that helped Patrick and Dan balance their professional commitments while shaping their vision for Duellix. This involved turning the early value proposition into a robust brand promise, communicated via a website and sales deck, and testing the messaging with potential customers, specifically aimed at business leaders in Singapore, who had become disenchanted with their existing service providers.

Once it was clear that we could convince prospects to switch to Duellix, we helped Patrick and Dan to get up to speed with the core requirements of a Singapore-based corporate services business. To put together the initial product offering, we drew on our own experience in company administration and corporate governance, combined with what we’d learned from dealing with Duellix’s competitors.

As the founders became more comfortable with delivery, we began introducing potential customers from within DQ’s own portfolio and wider network. Some of DQ’s other portfolio companies made referrals too, making up a significant portion of Duellix’s early customer base. These referrals continue to this day, alongside the ongoing advice, online promotion and partnership opportunities DQ brings.

What were the results?

Patrick transitioned into Duellix earlier than expected. He was offered a redundancy package by his former employer, and Duellix’s early customer traction gave him the confidence to join the business full time. Dan remained in his job, supporting Patrick by automating key parts of the company’s workflows using Microsoft Power Apps.

What the founders couldn’t provide personally was delivered via third-parties, while Patrick remained the face of the business, ensuring accuracy, timely delivery and a high level of communication.

As the client base grew, Duellix earned its own Registered Filing Agent (RFA) license, which enabled them to incorporate businesses directly. This removed their dependency on partners, whose service levels were rarely up to the desired standard.

Dan joined the business a year after Patrick, by which time the company had 80 assembled clients, had grown to a team of 6, was consistently profitable, and was reliably achieving a compounding 10% month-on-month growth rate.

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