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There are lots of online services available for businesses. But they aren’t always accessible to the smallest companies. Luckily, BaseKit provides options made specifically for microbusinesses. Read about the company below in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Offers online services for microbusinesses.
CEO Simon Best told Small Business Trends, “We have three core products: BaseKit Store is a white label e-commerce builder for microbusinesses; BaseKite is our specialist website builder; BaseKit Bookings is our appointment software with a built-in payments system.”
Business Niche
Focusing only on the smallest businesses.
Best says, “We have designed our services specifically for the global micro business and startups community. We believe we’re unique among our competitors in our mission to democratize the benefits of web-based sales and marketing.”
How the Business Got Started
As an internal tool for a web design agency.
Best and his co-founders Richard Best and Richard Fernandez originally worked at a web design agency. So they built the initial tool for their own use there.
He adds, “After European seed funding and investment from Silicon Valley, we have since grown to provide web and e-commerce services for millions of websites through our network of reselling partners.”
Biggest Win
Attracting big-name partners.
Best says, “We are fortunate enough to have partnered with global brands like Telefonica, The Hut Group, and Amazon. This provides fantastic validation for our products and their reliability and security, as well as the team behind them. When big brand names put their trust in us this can help us to attract more partners.”
Biggest Risk
Pivoting to mobile.
Best explains, “We rebuilt our product completely as a mobile-first app, enabling users to create and edit websites from their mobile devices. This took around 18 months and we couldn’t add any new features until it shipped. This frustrated some of our partners and we risked losing their business. Ultimately, however, it was a good move and we see huge potential for the mobile capability, especially in emerging markets where desktops and laptops are not so prevalent.”
Lesson Learned
Create more mobile options for microbusinesses.
Best says, “We have recently started to broaden our product range by adding eCommerce and bookings apps. If we could do it all over again then I would have launched these sooner. Micro businesses need to transact online and these apps generate revenue so they are incredibly valuable and sticky.”
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Expanding in key areas.
Best adds, “The two big areas of focus for us right now are scaling up our sales and marketing efforts to drive growth, and broadening our product footprint to help more micro-businesses be successful. The $100k would let us hire more people and move faster in these areas.”
Favorite Project
Working on a hosting campaign featuring Hulk Hogan.
Best says, “We once helped launch a hosting company called Hostamania featuring the wrestling legend Hulk Hogan. There was a hilarious promo video with Hulk Hogan swinging on a wrecking ball! Sadly, the hosting company didn’t take off and is no longer in business, but you can still find the promo video on YouTube.”
Favorite Quote
“If everyone is moving forward together then success takes care of itself” – Henry Ford.
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Image: BaseKit, Simon Best
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