What are we doing?
There are 20 million businesses with 10 or fewer employees in the United States alone. Our mission is to build a suite of web hosted business applications uniquely designed for these very small businesses.
Our first product, called Mailroom, will help small businesses, small groups, and even bloggers handle the large amount of email they receive from their websites. Companies we surveyed spent on average 3-4 hours per day answering email from their public email addresses alone (support@, sales@, etc). Our service can cut the time these businesses spend on email significantly and improve the quality of their replies.
Here is how it works: A company signs up and points their current email address at Mailroom. Then Mailroom starts working to:
- Sort correspondence into appropriate mailboxes (sales, customer support, etc.)
- Prioritize mail according to urgency
- Suggest responses according to previous replies
- Track and thread previous dialogue in a conversation
- Display customer information
- Hotlist critical emails
With these features, clients save time and are able to send informed responses. Mailroom’s easy to use format makes it possible for others to fill in anytime.
What makes us different?
Most business software is made for large companies. But, unlike large companies, small businesses do not have an IT department or huge budget and long roll out times for projects. Most business software is simply unavailable to small businesses, even when it’s hosted.
We are creating business software with the polish and automation of consumer software; we charge using simple, monthly plans with no long term commitments and no one will ever talk to a salesman. There is nothing to install and you can try out our software with less than 15 minutes of setup. In short, everything about our company, from our products to our business model is designed to deliver the same powerful business applications that drive big companies, built for the unique needs of small business.
Who are we?
Sproutit.com was founded in March by Charles Jolley, Chris Bauman, and Peter Gohman. They were later joined by Topher Dufour who handles our brand and graphic design. Scott Barron, one of the core developers on the Ruby on Rails team, and Shanti Braford serve as our developers. Andrew vonderLuft of AVLUX Solutions designs our web hosting solutions. Sally Stewart, former USA Today reporter, owner of SA Stewart Communications and author of the book Media Training 101, is helping us with publicity. Charles, Chris, Peter, and Topher all met at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
Charles, Chris and Peter moved to Prague for a year in September to launch Sproutit.com to save 40% on startup costs while living the entrepreneurial dream.
You can learn more about us on the About Us page.
What do we want?
Small business is great because they are able to stay connected with their customers on a personal level. We want that to remain the unique touch that only small businesses can offer. Being small, however, should not limit your ability to remain connected with your customers. You should have every ability to offer top notch support and products to your current and every-increasing customer base.
Check out our blog The Big Act.
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