Here is some additional feedback from the CEO of another middle market software company. This executive reported that while they had been affected by the tough economic times, it was not as bad as some other sectors. He had originally felt that the tough times and projected cutbacks on business travel might trigger a growth in business for his B-to-B communications business. Regrettably, the CEOs expectations were somewhat misplaced, and in fact his company did not see any growth, but fortunately they did not see any material decline in revenues either. While he did lose some customers that went out of business by way of bankruptcy, they were replaced by new customers and some increase in subscription usage from the existing customer base. The net effect was that they remained cash flow positive and, more importantly, poised for growth once the economic indicators were a little more positive and customers returned to a buying mode. Bottom line: in the short run, its survival of the fittest; longer term you need to be ready to capitalize on the anticipated recovery.
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