Attitude and effort is what really matters. Think about it: 99% of the business issues you run into relate to those two items. Pretty simple, isn’t it?
What matters to you?
Another SaaS benefit that isn’t readily apparent before going live is the relationship between quick product enhancements and reference customers. Because you can update and enhance the product so fast, customers that make small requests can see the changes within a matter of days or weeks (assuming you accept the tweak and it fits in your opinionated vision!). This goes a long way towards having them become a reference account that you can use for future prospects. With installed software, it is difficult and time consuming to keep making little patches so customers often have to wait several months for the release cycle to happen before they can actually appreciate that your team has been working hard on their request.
Near instant gratification with product change requests is something many clients have never experienced. Please make sure and temper expectations that it won’t always happen but that you’ll always be there to hear them out and be understanding.
As a software entrepreneur it can be difficult to know when to expand staff, marketing, etc. One simple method I developed over the years is called GPA (Growth Plan Assets). The method is really simple in that you add together cash in the bank and current accounts receivable and then divide by last month’s “normal” costs. This, in a rough fashion, gives you the number of months you can operate without any new sales.
You know you’re ready to expand when your GPA is greater than a standard college GPA (scale 0 – 4). So, like a college GPA, most of the time you’re in the two or three month range. When you go above that, you have a sufficient GPA to expand. When you are below a two, you’ll have some tough decisions to make. What’s your GPA?
Note: The higher the percentage of revenue that is recurring, the lower the desired GPA.
I just finished reading “The Four Obsession of an Extraordinary Executive” by Patrick Lencioni and must say that I really enjoyed it, as I have with all his books. Without further adieu, here are the four obsessions:
At Hannon Hill, we had a leadership meeting for seven hours straight on a single day last month to create our organization clarity document. It isn’t a document of what we want to be, but rather a document that articulates what we already are, so that we can hold ourselves accountable, and provide a clear position of where we stand as a company. I would highly recommend it for any leadership team.
David Cummings on Startups 