Washington Business Summer 2017 | Washington Business | Page 37

washington business
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Though, they said, any company of any size that is interested
in streamlining their operations could benefit from their product.
Tightening up the business plan and dialing in their customer
profile gave them the ability to open up a couple of funding
rounds — a crucial move that required a strong, detailed
business plan to use as a blueprint for soliciting investors.
closing the sale: the business isn’t too small
Just because there are only two people in the office doesn’t
mean there aren’t more hands at work, particularly when your
company’s system is housed in the cloud.
Scout Systems has a programmer in South Carolina and a
host of advisors to ensure their product and administration of
their product is smooth for them and their customers.
But, being small also means being nimble as they work to
grow their customer base.
The all American-made product is now used in five locations
and is going through evaluations to prove their product works
— not uncommon for a first-of-a-kind product.
Ben said closing a sale can take as long as a year — the
quickest was three months.
“Even though our product has a great return on the
investment — within a matter of days — the customers are
skeptical and scared of new technology,” Ben said. “I consider
this much like selling the first microwave oven — if you have
a stove, why would you buy that second little box that can
do the same thing faster. You have to see the benefits to lose
your skepticism.”
“Yeah, it’s a small business, but we’ll go
through a lot and lose all sleep to make sure
a customer is happy.”
— Ben Marsh, owner, Scout Systems
Once a customer is set up, flexibility is key.
“The fear of ‘are you going to be around’ because you’re
small is there. But I have seen million-dollar deals done over
a handshake just based on a company’s customer service,” Ben
said. “Yeah, it’s a small business, but we’ll go through a lot and
lose all sleep to make sure a customer is happy.”
small business matters
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy
and Washington state is home to 555,285 of them, employing
1.3 million people, according to the U.S. Small Business
Administration.
And, small businesses make up the majority of AWB’s
membership, accounting for nearly 92 percent of the
association’s 7,000 members — 85 percent of those small
business members employ 50 or fewer people.
The struggles and opportunities highlighted by these
small-business owners illustrate why making it easier to
create jobs, particularly in rural regions, will be the focus
of AWB’s statewide Rural Jobs Summit Oct. 23-24 in
Moses Lake.
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