Season two of the In Systems We Trust podcast is back! Episode one kicked off with our friend Sunir Shah, who is the founder of AppBind. In this episode, we talk about his revolutionary app that has created a solution that many service-based businesses struggle with.
It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows for this entrepreneur. Sunir ran into some tough times when he was starting out, including a conversation with a customer that nearly had him quitting.
The problem with businesses today.
For Sunir, becoming an entrepreneur was easy. But, it wasn’t until he was actually dealing with customers when he realized that there was something missing. In 2008, while working as a software developer, Sunir realized that many of these businesses were operating more like contractors. Many businesses would come and expect to pay one fee to the contractor, and the contractor would handle the payments. But unlike a business such as construction, where there are one-time fees of lumber and parts, SAS businesses naturally operate differently. There are often subscriptions, like web hosting, that operate on a monthly or quarterly basis. When Sunir set out to become an entrepreneur, he knew exactly what problem he wanted to solve. And the reason is because of one experience with a customer.
The one phrase.
Sunir was working with a customer who was a fashion retailer. He was making clothes in a bricks-and-mortar store, and they were building him an e-commerce website. Sunir was assigned to do the analytics. He needed to set this fashion retailer up with analytics, software, and more. But the problem is it’s expensive.
Sunir knew that he couldn’t put his credit card on file to pay for it, because he didn’t want that risk. He didn’t want to be billed for this client’s further subscriptions. So, Sunir hopped on a phone call with the fashion retailer and walked them through the process of paying for everything they needed. But, this required a lot of work on the client’s end. He had to direct the client to each and every website, instruct him what to buy, wait as the software was purchased, and then he had to wait to be given all the login information.
It was a mess. Sunir knew it, the client knew it, but it was the only way for things to be handled. Either Sunir had to take on the risk of paying for everything, or he had to walk the client through it all, which took a very long time. In fact, once it was all over, this client gave Sunir the phrase that almost had him quitting. He said, “Working with you is ten times harder than not working with you.”
Sunir knew something had to change.
How AppBind solves this issue.
For businesses that don’t want to take on the risk of subscription payments for their clients, they don’t have many options. The client will have to sign up for all of this on their own, which takes time and can be frustrating. So, Sunir began to think, and that’s where AppBind came from.
AppBind is a way for contractors to pay for their clients’ needs upfront with a virtual credit card that doesn’t carry the risk because the client then pays the credit card bill. It allows you to purchase what you need, but at their expense. When a business is hiring you, they expect you to do what you’ve been hired to do. If you can’t pay for the items you need upfront, and you don’t want to take on that risk, AppBind is the perfect solution.
The perfect system for payments.
At Ditto, we love systems and processes. That’s why we were so excited to hear about AppBind. It solves a billing issue that so many companies struggle with. Payments are often in a system, but the current systems that companies use don’t have the de-risk factor that AppBind does. Sunir Shah put a lot of thought into this system.
In our podcast episode, we’re able to get so much more in-depth about AppBind and the processes behind it. If you’re a business owner, you can’t miss out on this episode!
Listen more, here:
