Floris De Kort

GOODBYE FINTECH

growtHtecH is modernizing main street usa

American entrepreneurs are energetically passionate. Small and medium-sized business owners that make up the heart of America’s local communities are driven by a love for their work – not the day-to-day business operations.

Theirs are the businesses Americans use daily for the things that keep their lives running, from fitness workouts to childcare, home repairs or dining at a favorite restaurant. By engaging with local communities on a recurring, arguably more personalized basis, SMBs can create a much closer connection with their customers when compared to larger enterprise companies. The growth and success of local SMBs is a mutually beneficial opportunity, positively impacting both the businesses and the communities they serve.

COVID-19 presented more challenges for businesses than we could have ever imagined. As we all adapt for the future it’s important for businesses of all sizes, whether single unit or franchise, to be thinking about how to automate more workflow, attract new customers, and access the insights needed to spot new business opportunities quickly. So what can franchise-aspiring businesses do to meet the growing demands of a digital-first world? With the right support, any successful small to medium sized business can become a successful franchise that meets the convenience-driven, instant gratification customer of today. The right support is more than just software, it is the innovative technologies which will help to grow your business. I call this GrowthTech.

Building modern solutions

For any business trying to scale, investing in the right technology to deliver an exceptional customer experience is one of the most important business decisions you’ll ever make. Over the last decade, the rise of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions has created an array of tech options for small businesses, with solutions for enabling business automation, seamless payments, and consumer engagement. The

market has adapted to meet this demand, via software companies who also act as payment facilitators (Payfacs); payments providers using Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to sell their services; and technical integrations which allow businesses to add new functionality to management systems.

With this, the lines between SaaS and FinTech providers is blurring. This shift has been most clearly seen across the U.S., yet in markets outside of the U.S., this trend is only just starting to emerge. Choosing and implementing the right technology for your business might seem costly and complex – but GrowthTech solutions are worth investing in.

Floris de Kort is an international fintech leader with over 20 years of experience in SaaS and payments. As CEO of Xplor Technologies, Floris is passionate about investing in people and culture, and has a strong track record of making companies amazing places to work by building great teams. Xplor offers enterprise-grade SaaS solutions and a global, cloud-based payment processing platform for SMBs in fast-growing ‘everyday life’ verticals: Childcare & Education, Field Services, Fitness & Wellbeing, and Personal Services.

stimulating demand in a changing landscape

More and more industries are moving to subscription business models, to meet changing customer preferences. How can SMBs keep up? GrowthTech can help, with tools to stimulate demand:

• SaaS that’s tailored for your industry that creates a smooth, easy, rewarding customer experience

• Embedded payments which cater to emerging consumer preferences like Buy

Now Pay Later and mobile wallets

• Client Relationship Management features to easily stay in touch with customers

• Marketing automation tools to quickly generate new enquiries

• Apps to deliver real-time consumer engagement and create meaningful interactions with customers

• Marketplaces and aggregator website listings can also be invaluable for reaching new customers.

automating workflow, saving time

Built-in workflow automation features now allow businesses to auto-send emails or text messages to customers; control the schedule and dispatch of service teams; and even auto-chase late invoice payments. For example, mechanical contractors (such as HVAC engineers or plumbers) using cloud-based GrowthTech spend up to 50 percent less time on accounting and reconciliation and can save over 20 hours of admin per week, while childcare center owners are using GrowthTech to fill empty places, auto-manage waitlists, and provide virtual learning options for children.

Innovative GrowthTech frees up time to engage with customers on a personal level, provide employees with more rewarding roles day-to-day and creates that highquality service experience which keeps customers coming back.

tracking performance, increasing revenue

And GrowthTech goes further than automated workflows, better customer engagement and retention. Intuitive data analytics and reporting dashboard solutions can also help SMBs track revenue performance, assess risk, and visualize growth in real-time – across single and multi-site locations. We’re seeing fitness studios using actionable data insights tools report a seven percent uplift on conversion rates and have reduced disengaged customers by over 22 percent year-overyear.

growthtech: the future

This new era of all-in-one business management software – with embedded payments; CRM, demand

generation and marketing tools; consumer apps and marketplaces; as well as data, analytics, and reporting – means that SMBs are finally gaining the competitive edge they need.

GrowthTech is making enterprise-grade software available and affordable, so if you’re not revaluating your business technology needs in 2022 to future-proof your business, then perhaps you should. Companies using the right GrowthTech tools, tailored for their specific industry, will be the ones that thrive. These entrepreneurs will have more time to spend focusing on the inspiration for their company – the reason they started a business in the first place – while customized software takes care of the rest. With the right GrowthTech in place, a successful small business now has a path to become a successful franchise.