Wim GE De Vos

Small businesses with a BIG impact

Rethinking SaaS …to SatS.

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Imagine rethinking software around the user and not the money.

Imagine Software at the Service (SatS).

Looking back we see that the transition from Software as a Product (SaaP) to Software as a Service (SaaS) was primarily about the business model. As a result it became all about the money. This new model to monetise then drove product design. Sometimes drove it off a cliff…

The result of this software optimised for a business model resulted in:

  • super aggressive sales practices (ever had someone from Salesforce on the phone?)
  • “Salesforce Fridays” (your best sales talent actually hating every single Friday afternoon after a super successful week because they have to “populate the system”)
  • hidden lock-in strategies of all sorts making you doubt deeply before adopting any product

But the times they are a-changin´… (and pretty fast recently)

The future transformation of software is all about the User.
This will re-focus software product design fundamentally.

Think Software at the Service (SatS).

Imagine software optimised for:

  • Autonomy of every user in your company
  • Employee engagement by allowing for a high degree of personalisation
  • full transparency and pay-as-you-use

Imagine software you trust deeply. Software you can mold and shape to be what you want it to be. Personalised for you.

Imagine taking deep dives into user types and habits instead of optimising for the high-touch or low-touch sales strategies. We will come to appreciate the power of personalisation by users instead.

Imagine software that is built to create value for the user not just the investor. Software designed with a focus on how it will serve the user best.

Imagine…and now build it. Your focus determines where you end up.

Small decisions that make a BIG impact 💥.

Optimists vs Pessimists

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The current climate looks challenging. Especially because we get bombarded with negative inputs and confronted with a dark context. But contexts are not reality.

Every day each of us gets to choose what we focus on. What to work on. And our focus and work will guide our direction and ultimately outcomes.

We are not born an optimist or pessimist. We train to be one.

Optimists train their mental muscles daily for a growth mindset. It does not come easy. Nor does working out every morning at 6 AM. But over time the effects are massive. And the option is there for every one of us.

Optimists believe in the power to change things. Not some naive “things will work out”, but a belief that if we focus on the right things almost anything is possible.

Optimists see failure as a learning moment on route to the goal. It fuels us to do and think better.

Optimists transmit confidence that we and the people around us can steer towards a better outcome. Together.

Optimists deeply understand the power of community. Togetherness. We will bundle positive energy whenever we can.

Optimists are the ones people follow and look to for inspiration. Nobody wants to follow a pessimist.

Optimists are the ones who change the world. Because we envision a future that can be. And are willing to work hard for it.

Let´s make optimism the standard. Together.

And think like a Proton. Always positive.

Note for eternal pessimists: if you refuse to put in the work (yes I just called out your mental laziness) and always see the glass half empty… do us a favour and get a smaller glass.

The importance of Demos

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wow-moment

Most of what we sell is too hard to understand without a demo.

If a picture is worth a thousand words,

a demonstration is probably worth a million.*

Steve Blank in The 4 steps to the epiphany.

So let´s ask ourselves the following 6 questions:

  • Do you have a demo script?
  • Do you have a demo space?
  • Do you have a demo strategy?
  • Does your demo create a WOW moment?
  • Who does the demo?
  • How often do you demo?

There is a direct correlation between:

the amount of WOW moments you create

&

the growth of your business… *

*YOU, once you got your demo-act together.

2nd Wave 🌊 – being a start-up again…🚀

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In the last couple of months many of us have been struggling for business survival. Now we are coming out of it we are at a crossroads.

Option 1: Back to the future.

Put all the bits and pieces into place just the way they were back in 2019. And hop back in the treadmill hoping that “this time my business will scale”. For the obvious reason that well,…that you picked things up where you left them middle of march.

“Along the journey we commonly forget its goal” F. Nietsche

But this is the low-probability-option to a scaleable business. Our businesses oftentimes had become an amalgam of different services and products trying to serve many different customers. And therein lies the reason for a very low Result/Work ratio…

Or Option 2: Hack value before you hack growth

This means going back to your customers and find out what they truly love 💙 about you, your company and what you have to offer. Find what it is they cherish and crave. And drop the rest. Listen, ask, interview. That is where the secret treasure is to be found 🏆.

Find your core, your focus, your true north through customer discovery.

This the focus 🎯 for your start-up. Cut the rest.

note: you have a number of asymmetrical advantages in your pocket already: existing customers that trust you, services and products you sold and got paid for, a team of knowledge people, sorted out the messy stuff of operating a company,… all things that allow you to spend all time and attention during the next few weeks on finding what it is people love about your company.

Hack Value before you hack growth…It is the starting point for success and scale as a start-up.

Now is the time to decide if you want to re-create the business you had or become the business you always wanted to be.

Choose wisely and embrace the consequences.

 

Contracts: handshakes 🤝 vs fine-print 🖋

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As a small business (and certainly in B2B) it makes sense to have a well defined contract strategy.

But did you verify if your contract strategy is in line with your business strategy?

So the basis of your business is trust and relationships. It means you want your customers to be delighted and to come back for more delight.

Translating this into a contract strategy looks like this:

  • a 🤝 handshake agreement beats fine print.
  • agree on not being an asshole – it is not a legal term but covers many contract clauses and saves legal fees.
  • be transparent what each wants our of the agreement – expectation management
  • seal the deal with 3 key things:
    • a positive, energetic conversation over a meal to celebrate the start and get to know each personally.
    • a brief bullet point email (with both teams in cc to avoid misunderstandings)
    • announcement of the reasons for entering the agreement with your team and to the world (commitment).

 

Handshakes are about the future, about the stuff you can do together.

Fine print is about the past. The stuff that did not work out and nobody fixed.