SmarTax turned taxpayers into partners. Citizens and businesses would submit receipts and tax invoices through an app, and earn points they could redeem for cash or discounts.

Buyers would start demanding tax invoices, and sellers would face pressure to issue them. The Tax Department would get a documented stream of sales data to spot evasion. It was a low-cost alternative to expensive automated invoicing, and invoicing was built in.

We took SmarTax straight to the government. We were shortlisted, one of only two finalists.

The other company’s point-of-sale approach won the official endorsement of the Ministry of Communications, and went on to lay the groundwork for national invoicing. We lost two years and every penny we had invested.

The problem was real and the solution was sound. Neither was enough. If your solution needs the government to succeed, don’t start with the government.

• Start with a market. Base the solution on a B2C or B2B model, or both.
• Build a user base. Create demand the government can see for itself.
• Bring in investors. The more powerful people who hold a stake in your idea, the more leverage you have.
• Then go to government, from a position of strength.

Don’t rely on how big the problem is, how much good your solution could do, or what it could save. That holds even when you’re not asking the government to pay a thing up front.

• Who, besides you, already has a stake in this solution succeeding?
• Do you have users or customers who would miss it if it disappeared?
• If the government says no, does the business still stand?