Ty Roach & TYGR LLC - The Checklist Pro

Entering any aspect of business can lead to a lot of questions. How to get started or even what the goal of your business will be, are just some of the questions that may arise. Defining a business is so important to the end goal of said business. For Ty Roach, the found of TYGR LLC, his vision and goal was clear from the get go; create a Product Led Growth (PLG) company that could specialize in the ServiceNow industry. Since 2016, Roach has built his company from a small one-man operation, to a booming contender in ServiceNow. 

Who are you and what is your business about? 

“We are a “Product Led Growth” (PLG) company. Our product, Checklist Pro, is a certified ServiceNow store application providing no-code / low-code platform enhancing features to developers (pro-coders to citizen developers alike) and offers license saving alternatives for solving a variety of business problems on the ServiceNow platform, said Roach.

Checklist Pro was launched in 2019, just three years after Roach started TYGR. While working in the industry, Roach started to hone his skills, and even saw himself making real strides for his employer, at the time. 

“With encouragement from various people in the ServiceNow space who said ‘you should do this on your own’, finally made me serious enough to explore doing it,” said Roach. 

Alongside business partners that needed subcontract work, Roach ventured into the ServiceNow industry with a strong background and list of accomplishments. With the support of this wife, Roach felt comfortable enough to offer his professional services. 

What’s it like to run your own business? 

“There’s never a dull moment. There’s always something to do.  It’s challenging but fulfilling. It requires you to grow in ways you probably never imagined,” said Roach. 

Within 6 months of launching TYGR, Roach was able to transition to a consulting role while hiring his first employees. Thanks to this, Roach was able to focus on what he says was a ServiceNow product based on his experiences. Thus the aforementioned Checklist Pro was born.

What is your mission & vision for TyGR? 

“TYGR is a Product Led Growth (PLG) company.  It’s all about Checklist Pro.  Yes, we have a team of ServiceNow experts and our niche in the US Federal market providing professional services to these ServiceNow customers is a crucial part of our business. As Checklist Pro continues to penetrate the market, we will be increasingly focused on building pre-built Checklist Pro solutions and assisting customers, helping the get more proficient with Checklist Pro to maximize their ROI,” said Roach. “Ultimately, our mission is to help ServiceNow customers get the most out of the platform. We’ll do this by leveraging our team’s expertise on the platform as well as by continuously building more value-added features to our Checklist Pro product.”

Separating themselves from other ServiceNow businesses, TYGR specializes in building customer applications for ServiceNow. In conjunction with Checklist Pro, Roach says that his business is able to create an extremely coherent operation. In essence, Checklist Pro is one of the most effective ways to provide ServiceNow partners with cost-effective options. 

“Our Checklist Pro app leverages the universally understood qualities of a “checklist” for more rapid adoption and more cost-effective ways to digitize workflows.  This product gives developers options for being better stewards of ServiceNow capital investments by allowing users without roles to complete checklist assignments vs converting groups of people that would otherwise be non-Fulfillers into costly Fulfiller users,” said Roach. 

While working in ServiceNow before launching his own business helped, Roach admits that it isn’t just simply about making a product. Roach knew that in order for TYGR and Checklist Pro to survive, he had to invest in the ability to market them. It’s simple enough to tell someone that your product works, but its another thing to show them that it works and build a relationship with them. 

If you had one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you started, what would that be? 

“Having a great technical solution that solves a serious business need isn’t always enough.  Marketing and selling skills and relationships to provide a “Go-To Market” strategy are critical,” said Roach. 

With a growing business, established clientel and a strong resolve to market his products, Roach is in the ServiceNow industry for the longhaul. Reminiscing about a trip to the Knowledge 23 conference in Las Vegas, Roach says he was approached by other people in the ServiceNow industry and was deemed “Mr. Checklist Pro”. This is what Roach says helped reaffirm his commitment to the industry.

Why start this business in the ServiceNow industry? What does it mean for you to be here and contributing to the community.  

“ServiceNow is here to stay.  It’s a revolutionary product with a vast network of customers and partners and is built on a broadly accepted stack of technology.  There’s a full-blown ecosystem and I’m grateful to be part of it.  It’s also fun to be recognized for your contributions.” said Roach. 

Unlike other evolving technology industries, the ServiceNow community is smaller, though by no means minute, which can lead to an open world of learning. Roach says that just bouncing ideas off of others or asking for help can lead to so much success in the industry. 

“It’s a very helpful community. There’s so many people willing to share their expertise and help you solve problems.  It’s also equally fun to give back, to help others solve problems and to know your efforts are appreciated,” said Roach. 

While his business continues their rapid growth, Roach has his eyes on the prize. His goal is to have Checklist Pro become a market standard. 

What type of impact do you want to make in ServiceNow?  

“I want to make Checklist Pro a MUST-HAVE application on the ServiceNow platform.  I want to be a NO-BRAINER decision and to have an ecosystem of our own with community expertise in using our application that can be leveraged in the same manner that the community shares its knowledge of various other applications and features of the ServiceNow platform,” said Roach.