Don’t do what everyone else is doing; that simply leads to competing in a commoditised market and you end up competing on price. Find a niche where you can do something different and special and that attracts customers to you because you have the best solution. — Tom McKaskill
We came across the above quote recently and found it highly relevant to what we’re doing at SoftwareShortlist.
Firstly, we love finding the undiscovered “gems” in business software – specialist solutions that truly understand and deliver great value to a particular niche, but don’t always have the marketing budget or expertise to achieve their full potential. We want to help them get the attention (and sales!) they deserve.
The quote above also reflects our approach to our own business. There have been plenty of times when we have consciously said “no, let’s do it differently” or “there’s got to be a better way” rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach or adopting the traditional software directory business model.
We believe (and our market research confirms) that small businesses don’t have the time nor the inclination to examine a huge range of software. Nor do they like divulging personal contact details in order to get initial product information. They also tend to be reluctant to pay for software selection advice.
Based on these and other insights, we’ve designed SoftwareShortlist.com as a free recommendation and comparison service that helps small businesses choose the right software for their needs.
Throughout the process, we have strived for the elegant solution – doing more with less – such as generating superior software recommendations yet asking fewer questions, developing novel ways to compare different product offerings, and evaluating software without using confusing jargon.
Different?
Yes.
Special?
We think so.
Attracting customers with the best solution?
Time will tell, but the response so far is very encouraging.
