Eryn Anitavi has been a serial entrepreneur since she started selling eggs in her neighborhood at age 12.
Over the years, she owned several small businesses with her ex-husband, where she handled all administrative functions. In 2017, Eryn moved to Seattle and decided she was done being an entrepreneur–it was time to get a full-time job.
“I was like, this is exhausting, I don’t want to do this anymore, I’m going to be an employee,” says Eryn. So, she took a job as an executive assistant. “I lasted a year.”
During that year, Eryn attended a networking event and struck up a discussion about freelance executive support positions that can be done virtually.
“I asked if that was a real job and started exploring it,” she says. “I figured, that’s cool, I can do that.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
“I started getting referral after referral, and two years later I was running payroll for eight people,” she says. “That’s how Sapphire Partners was born.”
Figuring out how to pay employees faster with less headaches
When Sapphire Partners first launched, Eryn paid her team every week. Ultimately, she switched to twice-a-month pay cycles because she had to collect money from clients to cover payroll.
“We were always chasing cash flow,” Eryn continues. “Growth was so intimidating because I had to prepay my team.” Since clients don’t always pay like clockwork, so Eryn found herself covering payroll out of her own pocket. “We’re growing, we’re becoming more profitable, but I’m funding payroll on a credit line.”
Around this time, Eryn came across an ad for Everee on Facebook. Sapphire Partners had been using a different payroll service but Eryn was curious about a new option, since Sapphire’s HR director “had a lot of problems with their customer service,” says Eryn. “I wasn’t necessarily looking for another payroll provider, but I was open to it.”
After studying the platform and seeing that Everee gave employees the ability to pick their own pay frequency and get paid as often as instantly, Eryn’s interest was piqued. After meeting with the Everee team to learn more, Sapphire decided to give the platform a try.
Once the relationship was a couple months old and Eryn was comfortable with Everee’s products, service and support, she began looking to expand the relationship with Everee Credit — a working capital solution that helps small businesses finance payroll — applied, and was approved.
“That’s when the game changed,” she says. “All of a sudden, I wasn’t chasing cash flow any more. I thought, ‘This is going to solve the problem I’ve been dealing with for four years.’”
Getting ready to dominate the world with Everee
With Everee, Eryn was able to reinstate weekly paydays, which her team loves.
Now that Everee provides the working capital Sapphire needs to pay its team on time every week, Eryn is confident her company is well-positioned to scale, with sights set on expanding its overseas footprint in Europe.
“I’m not scared of growth anymore because I know we can grow as fast as we want, and I don’t have to play this game chasing cash flow thanks to Everee,” she says.
Payroll made easy
Sapphire’s old payroll provider would pull funds five days before they sent money to employees. “It was just a nightmare,” says Eryn.
Now, as long as Sapphire runs payroll by Thursday afternoon, everybody gets paid on Friday morning, no exception. Thanks to Everee, payroll is now a breeze.
“I’m not stressing about this every two weeks, and I’m not stressing about this every week, either,” Eryn says. “It literally takes me 30 seconds. It’s just the easiest thing ever.”
Since Everee Credit has enabled Eryn to avoid covering checks out of her own pocket, she’s actually added herself to payroll, solving the classic dilemma founders face as to whether to take a draw or keep money in the company.
As an added bonus, “the rate for the credit program is wonderful, too,” she says. She also likes that unlike other payroll services that offer on-demand pay, Everee doesn’t charge employees.
Great customer service
One of Sapphire’s biggest gripes about its last provider was its customer service — or lack thereof. The company’s HR director still has to use them with one of their clients and has run into issues as a result.
“She spent an hour on the phone this morning…she’s just pulling her hair out and can’t get anything done,” says Eryn.
Through a customer support lens, the experience has been night and day with Everee.
“I know the Everee team, I know who we can talk to, I know who we can reach out to,” she explains. “I don’t feel like I’m calling an 800 number.”
Happier employees
In today’s challenging economic and labor environments, smart companies are focused on doing everything they can to delight employees and keep them engaged. By simplifying payroll and empowering employees to choose when they get paid, Everee helped increase employee morale — particularly since Eryn announced the new payroll program, a reversion to weekly pay thanks to Everee Credit, ahead of the holidays.
“It was a cloud-nine moment,” she says. “I was like, ‘This could be the best Christmas present ever for my awesome team.’ If we’d all been in the same room together, I can’t even imagine how incredible everyone’s reaction would have been.”
After the initial excitement wore off, Eryn hasn’t heard much from her team about Everee since.
“That’s because it just works,” she concludes.
To learn more about how your organization can use Everee to simplify payroll and pay your team faster, request a demo today.
