November 8, 2011

My last column spotlighted SizeUp, a startup that provides world-class business intelligence for small businesses at an unprecedented low cost. The importance, in my view, is that tools that have long helped big organizations make complex decisions were being placed into the hands of small business for the first time.

It seems that SizeUp is not alone. With very little effort, I found several other new Web software companies that will help companies with fewer than 100 employees serve customers, employees and the bottom line far better than was previously possible, thanks to social software and Web apps.

There were three that impressed me.

1. Apptivo

Apptivo offers small-to-medium sized businesses a single platform that hosts an integrated suite of business management software. It seems to me to be pretty much like the SAP ERP services enjoyed by many of the world’s largest enterprises. While SAP is also marketing to small businesses, Apptivo’s clear competitive advantage is that it is free to end users. It expects to make it’s money from value-added services such as storage and website hosting while continue to expand its free software offerings.

Founder and CEO Bastin Gerald told me the Fremont, California-based company’s biggest challenge is to make such complex software easy enough for small business operators to use. They have apparently succeeded, since going into live beta last February; Apptivo has picked up 6,000 customers, in a wide range of categories. And they have managed to provide the support small businesses would require. According to Gerald, all help e-mail requests are answered within 12 hours of receipt.

I’m not sure that every mom-and-pop store on the corner needs a miniature ERP system, but I think it is extremely useful for small companies planning to grow. Scaling software and support organizations while maintaining loyalty is hard work. The Apptivo suite may make it less daunting and success that much more likely.

2. Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft is similar to Apptivo in that it brings large enterprise processes such as CRM, e-commerce and e-mail marketing to small businesses. Its key component is that it integrates the three functions and automates the process.

The system is targeted to organizations of fewer than 100 employees and is entirely Web-based making it far simpler and more secure. According to Joseph Manna, Infusionsoft’s Community Manager, the company has over 6500 customers so far. He told me that the company’s special strength is serving small businesses who wish to segment. (The company charges a one-time fee of $2000 and then $200 a month, for the service.)

3. BetterWorks

I’ve had a few brief and generally unfortunate forays into working for large organizations. I didn’t belong there, but one aspect I really, really loved were the perks...I recall abundant free lunches and Friday afternoon indulgences in adult beverage, free health club membership, even a dry cleaning outfit that picked up and delivered to my cubicle.

I saw perk differently, when I started my own small PR firm. Perks cost me time to research and money to provide. I could never outdo large competitors and their perk packages cost me a few prized employees over the years.

BetterWorks would have solved my problem. It provides a suite of perks at low cost to smaller companies, at minimal cost—perhaps $10 per employee per month. They are delivering these services to companies with as few as 10 employees in an array of categories that include the tech sector, consumer goods and professional services—wherever the staff is primarily comprised of knowledge workers.

Co-founder and CEO Paige Craig, a former marine and current angel investor argues that perks are valuable even in these tough financial times. “An extra $10 a week in pay isn't going to keep an employee on your payroll. BUT, if you put that same $10 a week into perks you'd be able to give them a years worth of smiles—a weekly meal, maybe a couple massages, some fitness training and maybe a happy hour and movie tickets that would mean a lot more than that measly pay increase, he argues. Besides, he added the value of perks offered to employees is often three times what it costs employers to provide them.

I like to spot early trends and I think there are a few forming. Web apps are coming to healthcare is one that I am seeing and that is important to each of us.

Far less emotion-packed is a trend that empowers small business to analyze, systemize, serve customers and support decisions with the same level of professionalism as the world’s largest companies. That may not make the world exactly flat. But it does lower some of the steepest hills.

Related Topics

• Technology

Related keywords

Shel Israel, Article, software, web apps, SizeUp, Apptivo, Infusionsoft, BetterWorks, Bastin Gerald, Joseph Manna, Paige Craig

Join the conversation ( 2 )

• Vincent Amari 6 months ago

  

  The link for Apptivo is incorrect, missing a dot after the www

  • community manager 6 months ago

    

    Thanks for the catch, Vincent. We'll make sure it gets updated.