Vendasta’s CEO Brendan King on The Way SMBs Buy Technology is Broken

If time is such a precious resource for small business owners, why isn’t more of it spent on high-value, high-impact work? A survey of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) shows that SMBs spend an average of 120 working days per year on administrative tasks (CPA). For perspective, that’s roughly 48% of the working year dedicated to non-core activities. See how you stack up against hundreds of peers and competitors. Download Vendasta’s 2023 Agency Insights Report now. Brendan King, CEO of Vendasta, not only thinks this is a major problem for local businesses—he thinks the situation is becoming even more challenging. Taking other factors into account, it’s likely that SMBs today are only spending about “33% of the time practicing their craft,” King says. “The rest of the time they’re trying to make the business work.” So how can SMBs flip the script and redirect their efforts towards meaningful, high-value work? And how can digital marketing providers become the local experts and guides responsible for getting them there?  The challenge lies in making technology easy, accessible, and affordable.  Keep reading to explore King’s insights on democratizing technology for SMBs and what’s next for Vendasta’s vision. Firsthand experiences as a local business owner Speak to King for only a few minutes and his passion for small businesses shines through. In fact, one of the first statements in the ‘About’ section on his LinkedIn page decries how local businesses “are getting Starbucked, Amazoned, and Walmarted.” It may come as no surprise that King used to be a small business owner himself, as well as an entrepreneur selling to small businesses. Early wins, early lessons “My first business [in the late 80s] was a clothing store I started in school, selling colorful shorts from the factory my dad worked at,” King reminisces. “We sold to all the university clubs—it was a hit!”  And with a name like ‘Son of a Beach,’ how could it not be? Though the store’s success was short-lived, King credits the experience for teaching him essential business lessons at a young age: You’re never too young (or too old) to be an entrepreneur Embrace and learn from the inevitability of failure Always keep going From local business owner to SMB champion And keep going he did. In the 90s, King founded (and later sold) two computer retail operations, Delron Computers and CompuSmart. But he didn’t just sell tech. He immersed himself in the unique challenges faced by his primary clientele—small and medium-sized local businesses. The stories and struggles he encountered impacted King’s holistic understanding of SMB’s pain points. Fast-forward to the 2000s and King entered the software space with Point2 Realty Solutions, which he helped grow to a global network of over 165,000 agents and brokers in 85 countries. Whether it’s vibrant shorts, cutting-edge computers, or dynamic real estate solutions, the through line connecting King’s ventures up to the present as the CEO of Vendasta remains a deep commitment to local businesses.  The core purpose of Vendasta, according to King, is to democratize technology for these businesses by making it: Easy Accessible Affordable How is the way SMBs buy technology broken? The question, to King, is related to Vendasta’s aforementioned core purpose. In order to level the playing field, technology implementation needs to check these three boxes—easy, accessible, and affordable. And it often doesn’t, putting SMBs at a disadvantage. Lacking time, money, and expertise, local businesses are often struggling to find and implement technology on their own in an increasingly fragmented tech landscape.  “The big guys can hire entire teams whose sole purpose is implementing technology to make big companies more efficient. What you can do for SMBs is democratize that same technology by making it easy, accessible, and affordable by partnering with a technology provider that streamlines it through one system of record.” Brendan King, CEO of Vendasta Other tell-tale signs that the way SMBs buy technology is broken? Spending inordinate amounts of time trying to get operations running smoothly instead of growing business Finding it impossible to keep up with (nevermind, stay ahead of) Most things are still accomplished manually and are impossible to scale Business owners seek help for their tech needs but get stuck dealing with several different service providers This last part is crucial. Vendor clutter leads to inefficiencies, miscommunications, and misalignment, often setting SMBs back further.In King’s mind, when something goes wrong, an SMB should know exactly who to talk to. When something goes right, they should know how to replicate it. Sounds simple, but it’s easier said than done. “That’s why we’re trying to build an ecosystem where a small business can deal with one trusted expert, and that expert works in tandem with vendors,” King continues. “Our system is the system of record for all communications and data, making it easy for small businesses to keep everything streamlined.” With this vision, Vendasta’s goal of democratizing technology for SMBs goes hand in hand with empowering trusted experts (also referred to as Vendasta’s channel partners) to offer a comprehensive range of technology solutions. Obstacles that hinder meaningful tech adoption So if the DIY approach is impossible to scale, and bringing in outside help often leads to confusion and communication overload, why don’t SMBs simply work with one digital expert that works in tandem with vendors to deliver a high-quality solution? The main obstacle is the widespread fragmentation of software, services, and trusted experts.  “There are so many options now,” King says. He breaks down the challenge in three ways. Business owners don’t know where to turn. Trust is paramount, but sometimes word-of-mouth can lead to dead ends and wasted time. A small business’s trusted accountant is not necessarily going to know how to point them in the direction of a best-in-class digital marketing expert, for example. The market is oversaturated. With so many options, it’s tough for SMBs to know who to trust or what they truly need. There’s more fragmentation than ever. Even if SMBs do manage to find the help they need, that individual might be focused in a particular niche or vertical. Whether it’s eCommerce, advertising, or content marketing, once the SMB inevitably has more problems to solve, it might mean adding a new provider into the mix. And starting the whole time-consuming process over again. Tactics for local experts bridging the technology gap There is much to be gained by becoming the trusted expert who fixes the broken process for SMBs and unifies it into a cohesive whole. “Vendors come through you [as the channel partner], white-labeled under your brand, for an easy, accessible, affordable experience for SMB clients,” King says. Yet shifting a local business’s perspective can be tricky. How do you deepen relationships and get clients to rely on their tech providers as trusted experts rather than salespeople or vendors? 1.“Fall in love with your clients’ problems King suggests that building a strong relationship with clients involves empathy, genuine care, and above all, curiosity about their problems. In other words, a people-first approach—even as a technology provider. “You need to fall in love with your clients’ problems first and foremost,” King says. “Then be curious, agile, and driven about solving them.” Channel partners that focus on solving customer problems rather than just pushing their own solutions will avoid the common pitfall of over-emphasizing the technology and losing sight of the bigger picture. “It’s like trying to tighten a screw by using a hammer,” King continues. “A technology-first approach can actually hinder progress rather than accelerate it.” Develop a deep understanding and empathy for your clients’ challenges Embrace a people-first approach when providing tech solutions Focus on problem-solving over product-selling Be agile in addressing client issues 2.“The customer’s not always right” Here’s another analogy. If you’re changing a light bulb, you don’t necessarily need a tool—just a clear understanding of what needs to be done. From King’s experience, clients aren’t always right about what they need (and that’s okay!). “Your role as their guide is to listen, assess, and diagnose situations to uncover the real root of their problems,” King says.  If you don’t, you risk making the situation worse. “When I had my retail computer store and was selling to small businesses, customers would come in and say, ‘I need an accounting package,’” King recounts. But by asking follow-up questions to better understand the customer’s problem, he’d discover that the real…



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