ecosystem | who’s got VC | Q&A | STARTUP FINANCE
Nick Miller, co-founder and COO, Shedul.com
2017,” and they believe they are on track to achieve this. “Word-of-mouth factor is strong, our users are the best ambassadors spreading the word within their own community,” says Miller. “We have a solid 5/5 user rating on Capterra.com [a platform that helps businesses find the right software for their operational needs], and believe that if users require training on how to use our system, we have not done a good job building it.” “Our monetization strategy is to charge a small commission fee per booking on our soonto-be-launched consumer marketplace, and keeping the main SaaS [Software as a Service] tool free.”
In line with this belief, the team finds that merchants adopting Shedul often “rave about its easy setup and intuitive interface, as well as its personable customer support.” The founders are also grateful for the vocal backing they get from their partners, which, they believe, has a key role to play in their software becom-
80
Entrepreneur august 2017
ing a familiar name in the global beauty and wellness industry. Moreover, from not even being in the reckoning just over a year ago, Shedul has also managed to bag top slots in Capterra’s independent review reports for 2017’s
Top 20 Salon Management software under the categories of “Most Popular”, “Most User-Friendly” and “Most Affordable” software. With netizens the world over more confident than ever to book and pay for
local services online, SaaS products are in fact already a norm when it comes to food delivery, transportation, and other basic services, and the entrepreneur duo behind Shedul are confident that the beauty and wellness space is also making the transition at a positive pace. Interestingly, in a bid to prevent users from leaving its apps, tech titan Google too launched “Reserve with Google” in July 2017- a feature (in the US) that lets users book health and wellness appointments directly from its Search or Maps apps via a “book” button. Such enormous competition notwithstanding, Shedul has its eyes set to help businesses in the salon and spa industry thrive- and armed as it is with a business model tailored to take advantage of the SaaS boom, as well as a passionate and ambitious team, the company seems to be well on its way to realizing its goals.
Investor viewpoint Amir Farha, co-founder and Managing Partner, BECO Capital
Why did BECO Capital decide to get on board as investors- what impressed you about Shedul? “The management team at Shedul is extraordinary. They are second-time entrepreneurs who have a long working relationship, and have clearly demonstrated superior execution capabilities. Given the relatively short life of the company, the product they have built is outstanding, relative to others in the market with rave reviews from a sticky customer base. Furthermore, we love their vision and ambition. Will and Nick are looking to build something truly transformational that will disrupt the spa industry
globally. We are honored to be part of their journey and will do our best to help them succeed.” Do you see Shedul evolving as a profitable business with their free-software model? Financially, what excites BECO Capital in the deal? “Every business needs to find a revenue stream that scales, and Shedul has plans to do that. At the moment, their focus is purely on product, experience and ensuring their customers are happy. Once they have achieved scale and high retention, they will be able to monetize through various business models. They already
process tens of millions of dollars in bookings per month, and they are looking to launch a marketplace, which should capture some of those dollars. If they can execute on that plan, the potential revenue scale is enormous, not-tomention, the ancillary revenues that can exist in the future.” Amir Farha, co-founder and Managing Partner, BECO Capital images courtesy shedul | beco capital
start it up