One of the few conferences we attend each year is the Small Business Web Summit in San Francisco. It’s run by software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry executives who gather for a couple of days to discuss how to reach and serve small business customers. The conference gives us a chance to meet with companies we admire, like Infusionsoft, WePay, Gusto, and Square, to review how we can work together to build better solutions for small business customers. In addition to discussing how to integrate Kashoo with other cloud services like payments, payroll, and customer relationship management (CRM), it also gives us a chance to learn about how other organizations support their small business clients. As a result of working discussions at the SB Web Summit we’ve gone on to implement free telephone support, online chat, and best practices to improve our newsletters and email communications. We’ve also discovered new avenues to reach small business customers through channels like Google Apps Marketplace, Amazon, and Square Marketplace. These are sites that are visited by millions of small business customers around the world everyday, and through these partnerships we’re able to promote Kashoo. Probably above all though, I value the spirit of openness and candor that is shared amongst the attendees at the SB Web Summit. Building a SaaS company that serves small business clients can be a challenge at times. High customer acquisition costs, steady churn, and a price sensitive customer base make this a cash intensive venture that usually takes years to prove out. Once a year, it’s inspiring (and therapeutic) to openly share the missteps we’ve all taken, but more important; the wins we achieve as we pioneer this new way of doing business. Our VP of Customer Success, Nikki Layton, and I will be in San Francisco from March 20 – 22 at the Small Business Web Summit, and we’ll be live-tweeting some highlights of the event. If you’d like to meet up, please contact us directly at jim.secord@kashoo.com or nikki.layton@kashoo.com. Hope to see you there!
