Featured Listing: Content Website

About the business

Tell us a little about yourself. What’s your background? How did you start the business?

My background is in B2B sales, particularly in the digital advertising industry. In 2015 I moved overseas, and so took on a remote, freelance role as a sales consultant to InsideSAP under the previous business owners.

In late 2018 the owners were looking to exit so they could focus on their core business. Believing in the strength of the brand, I made a successful offer and took over as a sole operator.

What can you tell us about your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customers typically sign up for either 3-month or 12-month sponsorship packages. In some cases, we may have customers running spot campaigns, which are welcome but irregular. Several clients have continued their annual sponsorships for years on end, and 2 of them have been partnering with InsideSAP for longer than I have been a part of the brand. Therefore, CLV is impossible to gauge – but it is in the 10s of thousands.

The CAC is similarly hard to pinpoint, as I personally handle the sales enquiries. We could consider the cost of content to be a part of the CAC, plus the estimated cost of a part-time sales consultant, to come to perhaps AUD 2,000 per new AUD 18,000 sponsor. This is a very rough estimate!

How have you marketed the product and where are your customers originating from?

These days, enquiries are often organically inbound. We can also gain fresh leads by attending digital events in the SAP ecosystem. Contact data is often shared post-event. Our partnerships with the SAP Australian User Group (SAUG) and Mastering SAP have been positive for brand recognition.

At times when new business drives are required, we start by calling around past customers and leads. We can then leverage the SAP partner portal, as this is the list of SAP-certified partners who most likely want to find new business through advertising.

Is the asset on your listing owner-operated, how much time does it take to run the business, who else is needed on the team, and what is automated?

To maintain trajectory, most days involve 1-2 hours of light input, although at certain times of the year a full week may be needed to handle aspects of the business – for example, after the Christmas break, when pricing, contracts and client-facing resources need to be refreshed.

This requires the full team of 2 journalists, a fulfilments officer and the manager/salesperson (in this case, me).

Faster growth can be achieved with more input, especially on the sales side and through innovating new services.

What does someone need to do to continue operating the business in its current form?

Daily operations are very easy:

• Once per day, read the previous day’s content and flag any errors with the journalists (very few, with the current team).
• Keep in touch with the fulfilments officer, who may need sporadic input or approval to handle certain requests from clients
• follow up any sales activity and client relationship management

Monthly operations:

• Invoice clients
• Re-sign any expiring contracts with clients
• Pay staff invoices twice monthly
• Attend digital events (if required)
• Updates, innovations, sales drives and growth strategies (if desired)

Growing the business

Can you list a few opportunities for a potential new owner to continue growing the business?

• InsideSAP Asia has been underrepresented, and earns a fraction of the primary website. Bringing traffic up to par with InsideSAP could double revenue.
• Re-launching the magazine could drive revenue and email subscribers.
• The recently launched InsideSAP Hosted Webinar service can add an extra AUD 96,000 per year.
• Switching from the .com to the .com.au could increase SEO score and traffic, resulting in additional ad revenue opportunities.
• Adding Google ads or similar, if properly managed, could add passive revenue.
• Continuing partnership with Availery on the InsideSAP Careers platfomr can return up to 4% of the rates of all SAP contractors hired through the platform.

What has been the evolution of this asset since its launch?

InsideSAP was launched in 2009, hand-in-hand with a periodical print magazine. The existing journalist bought the brand from its founder when he took on a labour-intensive role in a large SAP consultancy, and the magazine was discontinued prior to my joining the team in 2015.

In 2018, I purchased the digital assets from the existing owners. While essentially keeping the business model and brand intact, I spent the next three years making subtle but effective changes to operations, growing the team and automating processes.

I started by establishing a core mission statement:
ADD VALUE

• To the greater SAP ecosystem
• To our clients and partners
• To the InsideSAP brand
• To ourselves

Under this philosophy I was able to prioritize company growth, focusing first on increasing quality and regularity of content. The next priority was to implement a strong fulfilments protocol, and then to increase overall automation and efficiency of operations.

Today, InsideSAP has never been more successful. Our team of 4 are all happy in our respective roles, our audiences enjoy some of the highest quality independent news in the industry and our loyal client base are better serviced than ever.

How does this business make money? What are the current revenue streams?

99% of revenue comes from direct advertising. Clients seeking business from within the SAP ecosystem sponsor content and advertise to our audiences on contract.

Additional income streams include:

• The (discontinued) magazine
• InsideSAP Careers earns 4% off the rates of SAP contractors engaged through the availery platform.

What marketing channels are most profitable for the business?

We are the marketing channel. People in the industry already know us and seek us out for advertising.

How does the business currently acquire customers and what is your breakdown for marketing costs?

Often times they find us through our website via organic SEO, our mailing list or attending one of our partners’ conferences.

On occasion, we conduct outbound sales, mainly via email. I have also had good success using a Skype number and calling marketing departments in SAP-related companies.

I have never known anyone at InsideSAP to pay for external marketing.

How big is your current team? How many people does it take to run this business?

There are 4 people:

• Sales and management (myself)
• 2 SEO-trained journalists
• 1 fulfilments officer (handles advertising for clients)

What’s the reason for selling your business on Flippa?

After several years as a contractor to the business and then as the owner of the business, I am proud of how far I have taken the business. Now that the business is humming smoothly, I am faced with the decision to let it run on semi-autopilot, which doesn’t have the same level of excitement that I’m used to, or to hand over to someone who is able to take it to the next level.

I have decided to go back to what I am good at, and get involved in bringing a new venture from something small and promising, to something as successful as InsideSAP.