Business surgery: Signable

Year established: 2010

Based: Remotely. There is no requirement for people to be based in our offices in Bristol

Sector: Business software

Number of team: 5

Owners: Olly Culverhouse

Key clients: Regatta Clothing, Zipcar, Vanquis Bank, Stanton Fisher (in total 1500)

Website: www.signable.co.uk

Company overview

Signable is online subscription software that allows its customers to get documents and contracts signed legally and securely, on any device, anywhere in the world. Whether sending a couple of documents a month, or many thousands, Signable can help save time and money, with documents signed on average within 40 minutes.

The company started as a web design and development agency with Signable as a value-added extra designed to solve the company’s own problems with slow signature processes.

After unexpected success, the company changed direction in August 2012, closing the web design arm and focusing exclusively on Signable. It is one of the enterprises hosted by Entrepreneurial Spark – powered by NatWest – a free business accelerator for early stage and growing ventures. The programme, which lasts for six months and can continue for up to 18 months, provides start-up businesses with free IT and wifi; access to business enablement and support from a pool of over 50 business mentors.

Signable has since grown its turnover from £10k to £250k and will have 8 members of staff by the end of 2016. Turnover next year is projected to hit £1m.

The Challenge

We are competing against companies many times larger (our competitors are worth at least £2 billion). Signable wins customers from them every week but making customers aware and how we market to them, without breaking the bank, is a real challenge. What strategies do you recommend?

FEEDBACK

Jon Gill, Corporate partner at TLT 

Investment in social media and online marketing will enable Signable to raise its profile and awareness of its services to a global market, although the challenge will then be to convert awareness into sales. They should focus on particular verticals which are currently “paper heavy” and which are being disrupted by technology (e.g. estate agency), and seek to become the “category killer” in their chosen markets.  Additional finance, for example,  through equity investment, could enable them to invest heavily in their sales function in order to realise the market opportunity that exists at present.

Liz Sands, Director at Brave

Effective marketing is all about good communication and it doesn’t have to break the bank. So here are a few simple ideas for getting your business better known.

Have a strong brand: A brand is more than just a logo or an image. It provides a first impression of your business and shapes the way in which your customers respond. 

Produce great literature: Take care to ensure that your publicity contains only the key information that you need to convey. Include strong, clean images. People are put off by too much text and simply won’t read it. Include a call to action asking people to do something specific to help, and a reply address or phone number so that people can find out more. Request email addresses so you can keep in touch. 

Build good relations with journalists: Telephone them from time to time to suggest feature ideas or news stories. Issue press releases whenever something newsworthy is about to happen or has just happened. This could be a major new contract you have won or a charity that you are supporting. Be an expert ready to respond to related news items. 

Get out and about: Marketing can’t be done exclusively by someone sitting in an office in front of a computer. Giving talks is an excellent way of spreading the message. Prepare a simple presentation, perhaps in two formats – a shorter version and a longer one. Then use it – whether at a formal networking event or down at the pub! 

Get your message across at every opportunity: Be excited about what you are doing and try to convey that sense of excitement to others. And give people the opportunity to help you. You could attend conferences and workshops, making sure that you ask questions or make points and mention your business and its benefits in the process. 

Use social media: Identify which social media your target customers use and start offering expert advice and comment. For example, there are regional business groups on LinkedIn as well as sector-specific groups that you could target. But don’t sell to group members. It’s all about providing help to show off your expertise. 

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