Story by Liesel Schmidt
Over the past decade, mobile businesses such as pop-up boutiques and food trucks have been taking commerce and industry and turning them on their heads, eliminating some of the hassles and costs of permanent brick-and-mortar locations. But with mobility comes an even greater need for visibility and marketing—which is where forward thinkers and innovators like Sofiat Abdulrazaaq come into the equation. Abdulrazaaq uses her understanding of the tech, marketing and business worlds to help these mobile businesses get—and stay—on people’s radar. In these days of constant communication and technologically driven everything, this can mean the world to a small business. I have over 10 years of experience in product leadership and management in addition to privacy and data security law,” says Abdulrazaaq, who created her technology company, Goodfynd, with the specific focus of working with mobile businesses and giving them a digital platform to boost their operations.
“I am user-focused and user-centric. I really care about solving complex problems in the simplest way and ensuring I am positively impacting the lives of the people who utilize the technology and innovation I help to create.” That innovation is, indeed, simple: an app that both finds local food trucks and allows users to order from the trucks. “I’m passionate about the people that I serve,” Abdulrazaaq notes. “I am helping to serve the most diverse population in the restaurant industry, a majority of whom are immigrants and people of color. They look like me and my co-founders. It is the single most important thing that wakes me up, and it is what I love to do. The people make it worth it.”
For Abdulrazaaq, technology is the cornerstone of her work, the very thing that drives it. “My company builds technology from the ground up and technology is at the core of everything that we do. We take a user-first approach to build the innovation and we stay on top of the latest innovations by building them ourselves. I am very tapped into technology, both emerging and existing technologies. Staying informed through public and private forums, the internet, podcasts, white papers—whatever it takes. I am always educating myself on the latest and greatest, constantly thinking about how I can implement new things for my users.”
I am helping to serve the most diverse population in the restaurant industry, a majority of whom are immigrants and people of color. They look like me and my co-founders. It is the single most important thing that wakes me up, and it is what I love to do. The people make it worth it. -Sofiat
In creating Goodfynd, Abdulrazaaq hopes to affect change in the mobile business world, using technology to innovate the way mobile businesses operate and, consequently, give them a greater chance at success. “Creating Goodfynd with my two business partners has been the single most impactful experience I could ever hope to develop,” she says. “I have always wanted to not simply hope to innovate, but to actually innovate and bring ideas to fruition. There are no words to fully describe passion and innovation. Innovation is something that's happening because you are solving a problem that is worth solving. You don't exist to be innovative; innovation is about seeing a need. The passion is in the purpose. And if you're not purposeful, there's really no need for you to be, or do anything.”