The problem with scale

When business owners start out, they invest in solutions and services and products that can meet their needs at the time. Of course they have dreams for running a big organization but until they get there, they only need to solve the problems of a small organization.

For that reason, business owners invest in horizontal solutions – from accounting services to payroll services to delivery services, and so on. The business owner just buys solutions that they think will do the job. However, as the company grows, their real needs become more apparent. Industry specific requirements arise and a more targeted (or “vertical”) solution becomes necessary. Those businesses then tend to shed their horizontal solution for a vertical solution at some point along their growth trajectory.

Years ago, that transition from horizontal solution to vertical solution happened as businesses got into the millions of dollars of revenue. But, thanks to a variety of consumer trends and technologies, vertical solutions are moving down the price ladder and becoming more and more available to smaller businesses, too.

Take us, for example. We don’t try to be all things to all businesses. We’re a great solution for small businesses and especially for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and coaches. Or consider a solution like Freshbooks, which offers really easy and useful invoicing for a similar market. A giant bricks-and-mortar company with zero online presence but thousands of employees and millions in revenue might not find us or Freshbooks very valuable. We’re both vertical solutions for a specific market at a fairly small-business level.

And we’re not alone. Many other vertical solutions – from accounting solutions to payroll to delivery and fulfillment solutions are moving down the price ladder to become accessible to smaller and smaller companies.

So what does that mean for the horizontal solutions market? It’s shrinking. There are still plenty of providers in that market but they are starting to realize that vertical solutions are the answer to keeping business owners who started with them (but have grown to the point where a horizontal solution is no longer meeting their needs). Take a company like SAP which has traditionally provided vertical solutions to REALLY big companies. They’ve introduced services for small businesses, too, leveraging their vertical solutions into mid-markets.

There are a few reasons for this shift and if you want to read more information about horizontal accounting and what the trends are, check out this article from Accounting Software Advice blogger Austin Merritt: “Is Horizontal Accounting Software Dead?”

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

More on Customer Service as an Investment

Just a couple of days ago I wrote about the customer service you provide in your business as being an investment and we mentioned a Freshbooks blog from way back. While thinking further about this issue, I was clicking around and found an article in a newspaper that referenced… Freshbooks and their take on customer service.

So, since it’s so closely related to what I was just talking about a couple of days ago, I just had to share this article, too. Find it at The Globe and Mail. The article is written by Mark Evans, a consultant who uses content and social media to help businesses get more attention.

Evans writes that customer service is not just about correcting bad things from happening but also about building and leveraging a positive experience. For example, he mentions connecting with the customer to touch base with them and to show them that you value the relationship. And here’s how Freshbooks plays into the subject: Evans quotes Mike McDerment, CEO of Freshbooks, who says that a happy customer provides referrals. Although I might have disagreed with this a few years ago, I think that today’s socially connected world makes that true now. Just look at what interactions are like on Twitter: One person might tweet “boo! Invoicing day. My least favorite day of the month.” And someone else might respond with “Try Freshbooks. I like them.” A simple referral from a happy customer can go a long way.

And just when I thought I was wrapping up the topic, there was a link at the bottom of the article to a blog by Ben Yoskovitz. Yoskovitz is an entrepreneur with an impressive background and lots of interesting things to say and in his blog post , he reviewed the book BAM: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World. His review/summary is incredibly helpful as he lists 9 points from the book that every entrepreneur should pay attention to. Number 1: Tie customer service to revenue and profits. Brilliant! Number 5: Tie customer service to surprise. There are others but those were my two favorites. Read this blog , change your customer service, and transform your customer’s experience!

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

We just got cooler

Buckle up, kids, because the ride just got way more exciting.

With every release of IAC-EZ, we want to make your experience so much better. We realize we’re talking about bookkeeping software here, but if we can make it easier for you then well go home happy at the end of the day.

We’re excited about the release of version 1.43, which went live on May 30th. Here’s what you will see in this release:

There are minor tweaks to our interface. This is something we always do to improve the user experience. Nothing major to report; in fact, you might not even notice the changes, but they’re there, subtly making your bookkeeping EZ.

We’ve also made some minor changes that allow you to merge contacts, to see billable expenses that have not been billed when invoicing, and to track referrals and commissions.

And, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Minnesota now have tax estimates… so if Norm Coleman and Al Franken ever figure out which one of them represents Minnesota in the Senate, they can do their books in IAC-EZ and we’ll be able to provide them with accurate estimates.

And now for the big reveal: [Drumroll please]

Abracadabra… Mr. Networth has waved his magic wand and given you the ability to create invoices, right in your account!

Some of you use sites like Freshbooks or Cashboard – the invoicing gurus. They are good sites with lots of functionality. But some of you don’t need all those bells and whistles, and some of you want the convenience of keeping all of your bookkeeping functions together in one place. IAC-EZ lets you do just that right from our EZ-to-use interface. Click here to check out a sample of an invoice.

Over time, we plan to build out additional functionality that you’ll find helpful when creating invoices, so be sure to email us at support@iacez.com to request features that you’d like to have available when invoicing.

And if version 1.43 isn’t exciting enough, we’ve already started working on version 1.44, which will include auto entering, improved formatting, and state tax estimates for Oklahoma, Nevada, Missouri, Arizona, New Hampshire and “Almost Heaven” West Virginia!