Today I listened to a founder pitch a solution to help small retailers sell more products to consumers. It facilitates taking an in-person interaction with a consumer online. The need for such a solution preexisted the pandemic, but the pandemic intensified it.

This pitch reminded me of the early days of my company. I bootstrapped it, so resources were limited. Because I couldn’t afford to hire a big team, I handled almost every aspect of the business. I was stretched thin. Whenever I found reasonably priced software that saved me time or money or enabled me to do something that I couldn’t do manually, I happily signed up. I recognized and was happy to pay for the value the software created for me and my business.

Change is flying at us. We’re facing more change in the next decade than we’ve ever seen. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) won’t be able to keep pace on their own. They’ll need software to keep their businesses relevant as the world changes. I see a big opportunity to help SMBs of all kinds navigate the winds of rapid change.