Modeling the saas business Winweb style AccMan

I’m grateful to Jason Holden for pointing me to this story in BusinessXL about WinWeb where CEO Stefan Topfer claims revenue of £5 million. In the scale of software sales, this is a fleabite. Barely a blip on the landscape. But then I’m talking about a world where software can run hundreds or thousands of pounds per user. That could change in a heartbeat.

Stefan built up huge numbers by strategically partnering and offering the basic service for free. If you dig back through the posts here you’ll see that WinWeb hockeysticked from 10K to 200K registered users in less than 18 months with that strategy.

It’s a constant discussion theme among saas/on-demand vendors…where are the right price points for the services I offer? Right now, there is so much opportunity that it is almost impossible to tell. However, there are signs that we’re on a race to the bottom where basic accounting services will end up free as the vendors try a massive land grab. I’ve had three such discussions this week alone with vendors scratching their heads on this topic.

This presents challenges for everyone. I’m convinced that unless there is a clear Plan B, then charging zero is suicidal. That’s why despite the groans I can almost hear coming from all around, I believe Twitter will never monetize itself in the conventional sense but will be acquired. I don’t care what the noises are coming out of the US, I just don’t see a viable Plan B when it is so easy to replicate what Twitter has done.

Unless, like Stefan, you have extremely deep pockets and can find a viable way to monetize.

WinWeb has achieved its position in part because Stefan could throw £7 million at the problem. Very few others can do the same without inward investment – if you can find it.

His vision for the future:

In three to five years I’d like to be in a position where all of our strategic partners are giving our products away for free. I’d like to help as many SMEs as possible and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have multimillion user numbers in the UK.

It’s a brave new world out there. WinWeb is carving a furrow that few hear about but which is clearly showing signs of success. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that while the road to where the company’s at has been long, the rewards are phenomenal. For everyone.