Startups Stack Exchange Archive

What are the baseline vendors needed for a successful startup to grow?

• posted by: hayzusfanp2 on 2015-03-31
• tagged: payment, customer-service, accounting, partners
• score: 2

We are looking to start a SaaS business selling to the medical field. Our idea is to build out a subscription-based service. We have a small team of co-founders (3) and are trying to run lean (i.e. no additional employees initially) and bootstrap. What are the baseline vendors that others have integrated into their business to start? Some vendors that come to mind:

• CRM (like salesforce)
• Payments solution (like Paypal)
• Accounting software (like Quickbooks)

Are we missing anything? (apart from legal guidance). Also based on our size and target market, any suggestions for software solutions for the different functions? (I just listed out the popular ones).

Answer 3908

• posted by: Ali on 2015-04-01
• score: 1

Some general services that you may need and can outsource are

1. Payroll and pay stubs
2. Accounts and Bookkeeping
3. Legal
4. CRM / ERP
5. Payment processing
6. Tax preparation
7. Annual report
8. Janitorial
9. Maintenance contracts for equipment
10. Website and online social presence
11. Productivity applications like office
12. IT tech support
13. Delivery and pick up

For your specific needs. Most companies would add a practice management system or a clinical information system along as well.

If you are bootstrapping, it is always better to go on an as-on-need basis for non critical services (even if you have to pay a little higher) as you may not have a stable revenue initially to offset the recurring cost of the contracts and show a profit. Many of the above can also be obtained for cheap to no cost using free software, elbow grease and friends and without recurring contracts.

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