Enterprise SaaS mit langen Sales Zyklen auf Exit vorbereiten

0:00Unternehmer/Gast I sell customer experience software to enterprise banks, retailers, and government facilities. So, it's a SaaS platform. And I Right now, my run rate is a 4 million in annual recurring revenue, and I want to exit 2026 at 12. In annual recurring revenue. Okay. Um my biggest issue right now are the very long sales cycle, so the high CAC, Yeah. and the how capital intensive it is to deliver on these large enterprise projects. And to give a tiny bit more context, Sure. um when we started the platform 3 years ago, it was a simple product, shorter sales cycle, lower value, lower buyer. As we did a lot of R&D, the ROI we generate and the mission that we fulfill is much higher calling, higher buyer, but now longer sales cycle, longer time to realize value.

0:55>> Mhm. What is the problem? So, the problem is Cuz the fact that it takes a long time isn't a problem, it's just a fact. The problem the constraint in the business is capital. Okay. That's the constraint. Got it. >> And so, if I keep chasing this this new direction, Uh-huh. which is triple the value, but also longer sales cycle, >> Sure. I don't want to run into a checkmate. So, I got to keep paying the bills. I'm I'm kind of straddling between paying the bills

1:21>> Yeah. and then going to where there's long-term value. Yeah. So, um there's kind of like I mean, there's a probably a lot of them ways to think about it, but there's two there's two that come top of mind. So, one is that you can continue to sell kind of the smaller deals that you got into that have shorter sales cycles to kind of bridge the cash, um because as long as you're appropriately priced, the longer conversion cycle, bigger enterprise accounts should start spitting out cash soon.

1:49Alex >> Mhm. Right? And so, there should be good gross profit that lives in those businesses once they've been onboarded, and then they kind of you get into like kind of the meat, you know, the cash cow cycle of um of the relationship. And so, either it's a short-term bridge that you need, uh or the model is just in general not priced properly. So, do you feel like it like you are properly priced that if all of the ones that you have right now come to fruition, you'll be running good margins? Yes. Okay. So, as long as not a pricing issue, then it's short-term cash cash squeeze. So, one is you can sell kind of the existing smaller customers that you have right now, and be okay with the fact that you're giving up you know, you're going to give up some of the the longer term because you need to stay alive.

2:30The alternative is that with some of the bigger enterprise accounts, you can try to start changing the terms so you can pull cash forward. And so, that's where um adding in kind of initiation, enrollment, onboarding, setup fees up front can make a huge difference to the business, and then you can always credit it off the back. So, it's like, "Hey, we'll give you 2 months free on the back if you pay your first 2 months up front." Or, "Hey, pay your first and last month now, um and then we roll into monthly." And so, that's a very typical way of offsetting um kind of CAC and clogs in the beginning that can help for a longer kind of enterprise relationships. And they have the they have the cash to do it, especially you know, banks got the money.

3:10>> [laughter] >> And so, um do either of those solutions sound more amenable to you? Yes. Um I think the the we we do collect some payment up front. >> Mhm. Um I just think it's a train that I can't really get off. Also, the more we start selling on um this kind of enterprise level value, Yeah. I also have to update my marketing to reflect some of that. Yeah. So, there's there's there's paying some like go-to-market debt, if you will.

3:39>> Sure. So, I think I think you bring up a good point. I think it all leads to the bridge. I think you said it well. Some sort of cash bridge and figuring out how to solve for that. Yeah. I think this brings up a really good like kind of meta concept for everybody, which is that oftentimes uh we describe features not bugs. It's like we think there's something wrong with our business when it's really just like that's just an element of the business that you're in. You're in enterprise. One of the tradeoffs is it will take them longer to buy. One of the things that you get for that is that they tend to keep their contracts, they tend to stick for multiple years, they tend to have higher gross margins, they tend to be worth way more per customer.

4:13It's a trade, it's not like you have a problem. Um the cash flow for sure is a is a an existential threat to the business, but I think changing the terms of payment and even putting like a So, we separate our thing into phases, right? And we get paid in these tranches. Like there's ways that you can basically restructure the offer so that you can front-load cash because there are there are definitely enterprise businesses that you know, sell to similar customers to yours that I have seen that pour out cash. Um and the main thing is that they just make sure that they can pay for it up front. And a lot of those guys are willing to do that.

4:44Alex Just like, "Hey, uh before we do our kind of we do an initial 90-day that kind of gets you up sped up, and then we enter the main kind of the main contract." But that point, they're already they're already in your ecosystem, they're not going to like cancel, but it's easier to get the approval uh on a much smaller scope, and then upsell from the small scope to the big scope. And then you abandon kind of the legacy legacy messaging once you've once you've crossed the chasm. >> So, believe it or not, um I would probably change the messaging sooner rather than later.

5:12And the reason for that is typically when you advertise upmarket, you will still scoop up downmarket, but it doesn't work the other way. So, big guys don't want to hang out with the the minnows, but the minnows want to hang out with the big guys. So, I think you can change the marketing now. Great. Thanks. >> Cool. Yeah, you bet. So, if you've hit a revenue ceiling, or your entire business relies on you to grow, then I'd love to invite you out to our headquarters here in Vegas to learn how we scale. It's a my team spends 2 days with you to identify the thing that's holding your business back. And so, if that sounds interesting, click book a call, and if you're a fit, we'd love to potentially see you out here in Vegas.