Recently I was approached by some people who were interested in developing a software for the administration of their daily office work. They wanted it really cheap. Now these are the poeple who started using computers at their workplace recently. Now they have realized that a software can give them some advantage in the competition. In the coming years, many such small businesses would be willing to have such small and cheap software for their businesses. Most of these businesses would essentially be needing a software which can manage their bills/vouchers and provide a facility to all the accounting/end-of-day-settlement for their cash collection. Given the evolving nature of SaaS model and that avaialability of cheap softwares that SaaS model leads to, online voucher management system should be an attractive venture of near future.
After doing some research I could find that their are very few players in this line of bisiness. I’m not very sure of the size of the marketwe can see in future for such a busines but it would definitely be huge.
Has anyone here done any market research in this particular segment? Anyone on this forum has even a wild guess on what would be the size of such a market?
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Hi Suhas,
The ‘Need’ outline which you have done is absolutely accurate. A lot of small businesses are getting started with computers and more importantly Internet. They want to access – affordable and easy to use solutions which they can understand / use on a daily basis. The market size can be estimated based on the # of SMB’s in India itself and also the success of small accounting packages which currently accomodates 3 million plus users. The Registar of Companies has close to 8 lakh companies incorporated in India. Hope this helps to put a market size estimation in place…
Targeting this same segment is my own SaaS offering which helps to manage complete day to day accounting, coming soon to the market.
When it comes to other such small packages which can fit the needs of the SMB’s – check out the India based Wolf Platform & it’s ready SaaS applications @ http://www.wolfframeworks.com/solutiongallery.asp – These applications are mostly developed within weeks – targeting specific needs for different SMB’s. You can get started with WOLF Platform using the 2 user FREE account.
Hi,
Definitely SaaS should see a boom in coming times as it will provide cheaper alternatives to small businesses.
In fact we at Deskaway recently wrote a post on how our SaaS service can help small businesses get through the recession…
http://www.deskaway.com/blog/2009/01/23/5-ways-deskaway-can-help-you-weather-the-storm/
I like it as a utility tool so long as its pricing is affordable to the micro business segment that it targets.
Also check out Zuora, Aria systems, Vindicia, eVapt platforms. May be you may not have to reinvent the wheel entirely.
I’ve looked into this a little bit, and here are my approximations:
– In terms of users, the market is huge. There are a lot of companies in the SMB space willing to take a moderate risk with software, assuming that (1) it doesn’t make things more complicated, (2) it doesn’t make their workers uncomfortable, and (3) it demonstrates clear ROI.
– In terms of revenue, the market *could be* limited. To your point, these businesses are looking for a cheap or free solution. Software is a means to an end. It is not reinventing the way they do business– it’s only providing incremental efficiency improvements. As a result, there might not be a lot of perceived value, because incremental efficiency improvements in a small business usually aren’t quantified in dollars and cents.
– You’d need to come up with an innovative revenue model. It could be a cocktail of tried-and-true strategies (per seat license, monthly subscription, ad support, transaction-based, other volume-based models, etc.). But it will need to be cheap to the end user.
– You’d need to figure out how to extend reach into other areas of their operation. If you’re reconciling end-of-day cash totals, it might be wise to integrate (or build and compete) with whatever other management systems are in place.
It is not surprising to see very few people/businesses/SOHO using technology as a means to get work done. In other words, the right way to use technology.
There is plenty of demand for low cost effective solutions software increasing productivity.
AFAIK there has been no Market Research.
This has potential and future.