A Movement Known as 'The Small Business Web'
A couple of years ago the folks at CRM software provider Batchblue had an idea -- bring together "like-minded, customer-obsessed software companies to integrate our respective products and make life easier for small businesses."
From that idea grew a movement known as The Small Business Web (TSBW), a clearing house of resources perfectly suited to the needs of small business, especially small-small business.
I know the folks at Batchblue and can attest to their passion for helping small businesses by providing affordably-priced software products. To them this is more than just a way to grow their own business. (They are a small business themselves.) Otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed the inclusion of competing CRM providers such as Infusionsoft and CapsuleCRM.
No, this is truly a movement and, as an evangelist for any company that provides useful products and services to make the lives of small business owners easier, it's one I'm happy to rally around.
Like all good movements, they even have a "manifesto," which reads:
We think small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy and that it’s from small business that true innovation will arise.
We believe small businesses should have access to the same tools and technology that big companies have without paying a huge amount.
We know simplifying access and increasing integration to our products and services will benefit all of our customers.
We want small businesses to succeed and we want to help.
Requirements to join are minimal, but set at a high standard. Businesses must have "a passion for customer service, an excellent product or service, a solid business model and most importantly, an open API." Impostors, or "sleestaks" as TSBW humorously refers to them, are not welcome.
TSBW uses member company APIs to integrate applications and create a more seamless experience for customers. In other words, invoices created using Freshbooks are integrated with bookkeeping solution Outright. Batchblue's CRM data can be integrated with MailChimp for email marketing management.
Categories of members run the gamut from Accounting to Version Control. Ecommerce is represented as well with companies such as BigEcommerce, 3dcart, Shopify, and ShipWire filling out the roster.
Lest you think this post is little more than a shill for TSBW, nothing could be further from the truth. I'm the son of two small business owners and run a solo marketing consultancy now myself. I've grown up knowing what it's like to have to manage a business and anything that can make that job easier and less stressful, I'm all for it.
But, don't take my word for it. Check them out yourself and let me know what you think.
1 Comment
atashalewis says:
Looking forward to have more updates regarding this topic. I have great experience!
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