The start of a new decade is always a good time to reflect on where you’re at, and where you’re headed. This is doubly true for business software VARs these days. The last decade saw a lot of change in the business; the next will surely see even more.

Fundamentally, what seems clear is that the future will favor those who manage to dominate the markets they serve, whatever or wherever they may be. Bigger will indeed be better, so long as it doesn’t come at the expense of efficiency and profitability. Consolidation seems all but inevitable. Continue Reading…

Ask any business solution reseller what business they’re in, and the answer will probably be, the software business.

Unfortunately, that’s at most ½ right. And highly problematic.

The fact is that the average business software reseller derives anywhere between 50% to 75% of their revenue not from software, but from services. Selling, installing, and supporting business solutions is therefore more a services business than anything else.

Here’s the problem – failing to understand this will almost always mean lower profitability. Or worse, no profitability at all. Continue Reading…

Over the course of the last several months, I have personally visited with and done something of a “deep dive” into the business operations of some of the largest business software resellers in North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe.

Their business models are varied, their customer bases in some cases radically divergent, their markets each possessing distinct characteristics. In short, every reseller business is in large measure unique.

But for all these businesses, the inescapable fact of life is that their financial fortunes rise and fall based on their ability to maximize the utilization of their billable resources. No other single factor more directly determines their profitability.

And the gap between potential and realized profitability can sometimes be startling. Continue Reading…

As the saying goes, if you always do the same things, you’ll always get the same results. Sometimes, this is a good thing.

Other times, it’s not.

The fact is, all businesses run into certain barriers as they grow and mature. The things that make them successful at first, later become obstacles. A change in management focus is required to keep the organization growing, and prospering.

In a Partner business, we have defined 3 distinct stages of evolution. Each has different things that drive its success. Each has different obstacles to overcome. And each stage requires a different management focus.

Here’s how it works. Continue Reading…