John Cant

My first foray into starting a business came in 2012 when I created an on-line market-place for the local grocery shops of Beverley, called Marumarket. The idea was to help independent grocery businesses work with each other and offer customers a convenient independent alternative to the supermarket’s home delivery service. Despite a very bright start, the future wasn’t quite as rosy. It didn’t work as I hoped and I closed it down after 18 months having learned many invaluable lessons.

After that I co-founded a marketing agency which helped brands to sell on Amazon Japan. A fully remote company, we had clients on 5 continents. I ran that for 5 years and sold my share to my business partner in January 2023.

I now run a software business which automatically translates infographic images. The idea came from my time running the Amazon agency. We often had to translate the text within infographic images for clients and it was often an admin hassle. I recognized that technology exists to automate & streamline the process. As of July 2023, it’s very early days of this business so time will tell what’s in store. But with the rapid acceleration of AI technology it’s sure to be an exciting ride.

My main business experience includes:

• Starting-up a business

• Digital marketing

• Software

My involvement with FEO goes back to being a delegate on the ignition programme when I’d just set-up my grocery delivery service in 2013.