This is a great list. I think an alternative to #1 is that ad driven sites tend to promote more page views and page refreshes, which tend to lower productivity compared to a well designed subscription driven site (so they value their employees time, and the work that they deliver, more than they want to get a "free app"). Also, some amount of screen real estate has to be lost to ads that could instead be applied to improving the information content on the page directly relevant to the task the employee is performing.
2 & 3 are very under-appreciated by the advertising driven sites. I think that startups stay in "free beta" too long in particular. Any application that involves helping my business I only want to use if I know the developers will respond, and the default terms of service typically say that they can disappear without warning (along with my data). Even a 15-30 day grace period with a warning for shutdown would be a huge improvement. Also, I think there is a misunderstanding behind the actions of the "TechCrunch 50K" who chase cool new applications and small business who has to bear a lot of cost in workflow and process changeover. They do want you to stick around because their true cost of adoption is much higher than what they are paying you.
I have always wanted a simulation based cash flow application.
The app would tie into real data points and show how my cash flow is breaking down and comparing to estimates.
It would then allow us to role play a few scenarios to predict which numbers are important for us to change. I have even considered putting an agent in there and doing Genetic Algorithms on creating a good agent.
Its a lofty thought, but I was thinking that if I started small and just did the cash flow modeling well, the other parts could be added over time.
What makes you think a web-based system is best for this? Here are some problems that have prevented me from pursuing this market:
1. Perceived security ("My information is out there in cyberspace? Won't it be hacked?")
2. Offline usage ("What happens when the internet/power is out?")
3. Speed and technologies (Is web-based better than local application, i.e. MYOB/Peachtree?)
Most of the problems are probably in customer perception, but because you're dealing with small businesses, perception is really hard to overcome. They presumably don't have IT people to talk sense into them.
"What makes you think a web-based system is best for this?"
Doesn't matter what I think. Only matters what they think. I am building a business in response to a tremendous demand.
There seems to be a low level theme running here that the <enterprise><small business><IE using><anyone over x years of age><you name it> crowd is missing the <Web2.0><social networking><everything cool> boat. Don't you believe it! They're not all PHBs. (Most of the smartest people I know run small businesses.) They see what's happening. And they don't understand why there's so much going on these days and they're still stuck with garbage business software that costs a fortune, is hard to use, and doesn't serve their needs.
So who to they complain to? Me! "Give me something that does business the way we do, make it simple, price it right, and put it on the web so I can stop paying XYZ Systems a small forture to never be available!" Every demo I give ends the same way, "Finish that and I'll buy it in a minute!" (Needless to say, I do know the difference between a promise and a check, so we'll see...)
Hopefully it won't be too long before I post one of those "How Do You Like My App" posts.
An interesting thought is what kinds of standards you can hook into. Perhaps stuff for tax file exporting, calendaring, sales /product channels, etc. The standard formats might be easy to provide and could increase the value of your pitch.
Yes. No need to replicate the horizontals. The verticals are what everyone is clamoring for. Hooks into existing horizontals seems to be the way to go.
3 Reasons They Prefer Pay Over Free:
1. They don't want their employees looking at ads.
2. They need leverage when they have complaints. (Why would they listen to me if I'm not paying anything?)
3. They want you to stick around.
Provide them with something they want and charging them will not be an issue.