We're business consultants who happen to build software.

After two decades running, scaling and rescuing SMEs across flooring, recruitment, property and professional services, the same pattern kept appearing: capable teams held back by spreadsheets, generic CRMs and disconnected tools.

Owners knew their business needed a better system. Software vendors kept offering the same off-the-shelf product, lightly reskinned. Nobody was starting with the business itself.

Essential Systems exists to close that gap — to design operating systems that reflect how a business actually runs, then build them with modern AI and automation tooling. The technology is the easy part. Understanding the business is the work.

Marcus Mills is responsible for Commercial & Product Development at Essential Systems, helping bridge the gap between business operations, customer experience and product development.

With over a decade of experience building and growing businesses, Marcus specialises in understanding how organisations operate at a grassroots level and translating real-world challenges into practical software solutions. His background spans sales, marketing, retail, franchising and customer experience, giving him a broad commercial perspective on how successful businesses function.

Marcus has a particular passion for product design, usability and user experience. He believes great software starts with understanding people—how customers buy, how staff work, and where friction exists within everyday processes. His focus is on creating intuitive, beautifully designed systems that simplify operations while delivering an exceptional experience for everyone who uses them.

Working closely with clients throughout the discovery process, Marcus helps shape both bespoke software solutions and scalable industry platforms. By combining commercial insight with user-centred design, he ensures every product is practical, commercially valuable and built around the way businesses actually operate.

Marcus is currently leading the product discovery for Essential Retail—the first industry-specific platform built on the Essential Systems engine—with a vision of creating software that businesses genuinely enjoy using.