First off, let me wish you a Happy New Year – and add that if I knew exactly what’s in store for 2012, I would hurry down to the stock market right now!

Keeping costs down

One thing that is pretty certain, however, is that the strained global economy will continue to keep everyone focused on keeping costs down. Businesses need to be constantly aware that their customers will want value for every dollar spent.

Providing easily accessible Internet-based business applications at a low price – like we and others do – should be a recipe for maintaining growth under these circumstances, allowing clients to keep costs low and making it easy for startup companies to get started.

I think we will see many software providers – ourselves included – focusing on ease-of-use in the way they design their products, support new customers and market themselves.

Fun marketing

Speaking of marketing, another focus area for many businesses in the year ahead will be generating publicity and knowledge of their products and brand without spending tons of money on full-blown marketing campaigns.

At e-conomic, we are doing this by insisting that bookkeeping and accounting systems can be fun and entertaining.

We have launched a number of initiatives featuring ‘the e-conomic man’ (pictured at his desk, to the right), and we are using social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach out to our customers in new and fun ways.

As our latest social media initiative, we have started to create YouTube videos specifically to help developers make apps that connect e-conomic with other systems.

So, sit back and enjoy as we prepare to make 2012 as easy and fun for you as possible!

As 2011 is drawing to a close, let me wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – and let me share with you some of the great things that happened at e-conomic this year.

Many more customers

In 2011, more than 10,000 new companies chose to do their accounting using e-conomic, taking our total beyond 40,000 customers!

We also continued our expansion into Europe, with Finland as the latest addition to the list of countries we’re present in, and further growth and expansion in all e-conomic countries.

New initiatives

We’ve launched a lot of new features this year, such as the e-conomic app for Android which allows our Android users to do keep track of products and customer, scan documents and create, book and send invoices while they are on the move – all using the e-conomic app on their smartphone.

And speaking of apps, we’ve launched a brand new Apps section on our website featuring lots of applications connecting e-conomic with other systems – web shops, reporting tools, CRM systems, you name it – with the purpose of making things easier and faster for our customers.

Improved product and support

This year also saw the release of Tab Finance, an additional tab in our accounting system that represents a much faster and more flexible way of entering data into journals.

And that is of course in addition to the continuous stream of large and small e-conomic system enhancements and updates – more than 150 so far this year!

You can now also chat with us at e-conomic – and we’ve added even more YouTube help videos and e-copedia articles to supplement our regular phone support.

We’ve also instigated a lot of social media initiatives to reach out to our customers proactively, including our Facebook Fan of the Month competition and Friday videos from the office.

Notice something in the background? That’s ‘the e-conomic man’ – a frequent visitor on our social media.

A big thank you to our customers

I’d like to welcome all of our new customers, and also thank all of our loyal customers who have been with us for a long time. I look forward to collaborating with all of you next year and making your e-conomic experience as great and fun as possible.

Tip: Check out my next blog post, which will be about my expectations and focus areas for 2012.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Recently, I’ve been interviewed by some of the major Danish newspapers on the problems that growth companies face when trying to get credit from their banks. You can find the articles from Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten and Berlingske Tidende here (links in Danish).

I’d also like to share with you my views expressed in my own terms – below you can read a translated version of my comments published in Berlingske Tidende (link in Danish):

No go, banks are telling us apologetically, when we meet with them full of expectations and plans for how we wish to develop our business over the coming years. A business which in 10 years has become extremely profitable through massive growth, with more than 40,000 customers and expansion into 10 countries.

We present them with all circumstantial information so no questions can remain about our solidity. As our latest achievement, we have received a Gazelle award and been named Most Profitable Gazelle in the Copenhagen region.

Additionally, we are among the 5% of Danish companies that have obtained an AAA credit rating. Vækstfonden (the Danish state investment fund) has provided a guarantee of DKK 10 million based on their evaluation of our company. This means that Vækstfonden will cover 75% of any losses suffered by banks who lend us money.

It’s an uphill struggle trying to impress banks. The message coming from them is that we are a sound company – yet our credit is down by 50% from 2008. Take it or leave it. To obtain credit, you need to be able to provide production or physical stock as collateral. Our company provides a web-based accounting solution, meaning that we are as far from physical production as you can get.

Astoundingly, despite our thousands of customers domestically and in foreign markets, we are not in the same category as companies that possess a physical stock or real estate. And, one might ask, how much security does real estate offer anyway, with real estate prices spiralling downwards and now at the same level as in 2003/2004?

Also, why don’t banks educate their staff on the differences between knowledge-based and production-based companies so they can align their banking products with business realities?

Everyone agrees that knowledge-based companies, not production-based companies, are necessary for Denmark to thrive in the future.

Perhaps the government should play a more active role in this, driving the process forward when wariness is holding us back? If we really want sustainable companies that create growth and jobs, one solution is for the government to act as a bank and lend money to companies through Finansiel Stabilitet A/S (state-owned financial institution).

The government could also empower Vækstfonden to force banks to lend the money vouched for by Vækstfonden. If Vækstfonden has no real authority or use, it should be removed from the national budget.

Let’s get a debate going on this. Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but things would be a lot easier if the business world and the banking world had the same view on the basic facts and the same vision for the future.

Unleash the growth potential

As a final note to this blog post, let me just add that fortunately our company is seeing massive growth, has a strong cash flow and can go a long way without the full support of a bank. From this privileged position, I feel obligated to speak out on what I consider a critical issue, in the hope that this will eventually help improving conditions for the many hard-working companies with great growth potential that hold the key to future growth in Denmark.

Cloud computing has been a hot topic in 2011 – and all indicators suggest it will remain so for at least the entire next decade, with the global cloud computing market expected to grow from approx. 30.4 billion euro this year to 180 billion euro in 2020.

Keeping the timeframe to just the next year, I’d like to offer my top 5 predictions for what will be some of the major trends for cloud computing in 2012.

1. Security stops being an obstruction for switching to cloud computing.

With cloud computing businesses having spent much time and effort explaining and convincing customers about the high security of their data storage setup, the time has finally come for a general agreement among users that cloud computing is safe and doesn’t compromise their data.

2. The PC is still the most important client device for cloud computing.

Tablets, notebooks, smartphones and other devices that are handy when on the move are prerequisites for one of the major benefits of cloud computing, namely the ability to access information wherever you are.

However, they still account for a relatively small percentage of client usage for business-related activities, meaning that the PC remains the primary and most important cloud client for the foreseeable future.

3. Consumers convince businesses that cloud computing is the way forward.

Cloud storage solutions such as Apple’s iCloud make average consumers comfortable with the cloud. This acceptance and familiarity on part of consumers is instrumental in convincing businesses that the cloud computing model is worth investigating and employing.

4. File-based models of collaboration give way to cloud-based models.

For purposes of collaboration, especially business-related, cloud-based services like Dropbox make it much easier to collaborate when multiple people are working on and need access to the same content.

5. People with high IT cloud computing skills are difficult to find.

Even though unemployment is rising in Denmark, it is increasingly difficult to find people with the required skills for developing and coding within the cloud computing framework. Here at e-conomic, we are constantly on the lookout for people with these kinds of skills – go to our Jobs section to find out more.

So, that’s my thoughts on what 2012 might hold for cloud computing. One thing is for sure – great and exciting things are in store for all of us in the cloud computing business!

With Steve Jobs’ passing, the world has lost a great innovator and visionary. On a global level, Jobs changed the world we live in and how we interact with each other.

Learning from mistakes

Aside from the inspiration of seeing a creative genius like Steve Jobs at work, his story also shows us another thing: Learning comes from mistakes. Jobs dropped out of college, was fired as tech executive and was, for many years, an unsuccessful businessman.

One of my basic philosophies is that if we make no mistakes, we are not doing enough. But do not repeat mistakes.

No-one konws exactly what the future holds – even we at e-conomic don’t know precisely how online accounting will look in say, 10 years. But we know that we want to keep creating, adapting and innovating to provide our customers with the best that we can possibly give them.

Steve Jobs talks about dropping out of college and being fired from Apple

Online, interesting, fun

At e-conomic, it has of course been very fascinating and inspiring to follow Steve Jobs and Apple as they have moved along the same path as us promoting concepts like online, flexibility and innovation.

Personally, I’ve been truly inspired by Steve Jobs in a number of ways – both in terms of forging the way for connecting the world online, but also in terms of making products “fun”.

I was really struck by this quote from an Apple customer who was asked how Apple products had affected her life, and replied:

“They made it more interesting. And fun.”

This is exactly what we strive for at e-conomic – and by achieving this you have, at the very least, done something right!

Two subjects that I regularly cover here on the blog are the importance of cloud computing in the growing market and expanding an innovative business model.

I have worked with start-up companies in the online industry for many years (you can take a look at my experiences on LinkedIn), and in the coming month I will be sharing my experience with business start-ups, growing online companies, and how to gain a competitive advantage – not just here on the blog, but also in person!

Join me at the Above the Cloud and Innovation Champion conferences

Above the Cloud

On October 6, 2011, join me in Stockholm at the Above the Cloud conference from 15:25 -15:50, where I’ll be discussing how collaborative online accounting and the “e-cosystem” can approve administrative efficiency and flexibility in business processes.

Kjell A. Nordstrom, one of the highest rated speakers in the world, will also be speaking at the event.  He will share how the business climate is influenced by trends in cloud computing.  Take the opportunity to participate in the Above the Cloud conference, where you can find out how the most successful companies use cloud services to gain a competitive advantage.

Find out more about the event here.

Innovation Champion

In June, I blogged about e-conomic’s sponsorship of the 2011 Innovation Champion event – a Danish business competition to find the most innovative company leader or team.  Now the winners of Innovation Champion 2011 will present their innovative business at a conference organized by IBC Innovation Factory, in Kolding, Denmark on October 11, 2011.

I will also be in attendance at the conference, where I will share how e-conomic reinvented bookkeeping as an online service and became one of Denmark’s fastest growing entrepreneurial companies.  (Hint: We believe the key is a culture of innovation and strong team-work!)

Find out more about the event here.

Please join me

I hope to see you at one of the upcoming conferences.  Please stop by and say hello if you’re in attendance!

Historically, companies within the same industry have fought against one another in order to gain more customers and a larger market share.

With the rise of cloud computing however, many companies within the software industry are learning that the opposite strategy is more effective:  by working together with companies within the same sector, you can collectively offer customers a much deeper and better solution, therefore giving your company an even better competitive advantage.

Software companies that once competed, now should join forces

Better for all parties

This new collaboration between business systems allows customers to pick and choose the right software systems for their needs and “mix” them together to create a system that’s best for them – as opposed to buying packaged software with many features that they may not use or want.

This in turn allows software companies to focus on further developing a specific software product at a very high quality and enabling it to be openly integrated with other systems.

Choosing collaborative systems

As I mentioned in my recent blog about cloud computing and its numerous advantages: when choosing a business system in the cloud, you should choose companies who offer open APIs – application programming interfaces.

This will allow the various business systems that you work with to collaborate through integration solutions that you can either develop in house or, more easily, purchase as a service.

Choosing collaborative systems in the cloud is truly the best way to get everything that you need, nothing more and nothing less – until of course you choose to open additional systems and modules as your company expands.

The way forward

It seems that as more and more customers discover the benefits of open software systems, the market will continue to open up to collaborative strategies.

Currently more than 200 app solutions have been built with e-conomic – which we know of – with payroll systems, online banks, scanners, mobile phones and more.  New solutions are being built all the time, and this convinces me that collaboration truly is the way forward.

What’s your opinion on the matter?  Is collaboration truly the new competition?

As you may have heard, the e-conomic iPhone app has been a great success – more than 10,000 customers are already benefiting from it!

And, as you can imagine, ever since the release of our iPhone app, there has been a huge demand from our customers with Android phone to create an Android app as well.

Therefore, I am happy to announce that now companies using Android phones can also create customers, create and send invoices, book entries and get a complete overview of their key figures while they’re on the move with our new e-conomic Android app.

e-conomic for Android

With our new full service accounting app for Android, it is now possible to access your full e-conomic accounts on nearly any smartphone.  You can create and send invoices, book entries and access key figures – all while on your mobile.

The e-conomic app for Android is here with new capabilities

Scan documents with your mobile phone

Additionally, we have a special new feature for our Android customers.  You can access an intelligent scanning module that allows you to take pictures of documents with your mobile phone and send them directly to the e-conomic accounting system.

In principle, this allows you to use your mobile phones to scan all of your documents and save them in the system, which can ease your administrative load considerably.

Furthermore, we have also added more graphics for the Android app, including pie charts showing turnover per customer, which can be used strategically when negotiating new pricing agreements.

Find out more

The e-conomic Android app is free and available for download in the Android Market.  You can read more about the e-conomic Android app on our website, or view our Android app support articles in our e-copedia.

I’m happy to share that e-conomic’s turnover for 2010 reached 7.1 million Euro, an increase of more than 25% from the year before!

At the same time, we increased our number of customers in 2010 from just over 21,000 to more than 30,000 by the end of the year. By now, we’ve passed the 34,000 customers mark and are well on our way to our goal of having 100,000 customers by 2013.

To see more on our 2010 figures, and also read about some of the trends described below, go to these articles in ComputerWorld and JP (both in Danish).

Positive trends

In addition to the uplifting numbers for 2010, I’m also happy to note a number of positive trends:

One is that much fewer small and midsize companies, which constitute our core customer segment, are going out of business. We can see this in terms of how many customers we lose because they are forced to close down.

And fortunately for everyone – including us – this number is rapidly decreasing.

Cloud-computing on the rise

Another positive trend is the rise of cloud-computing and the realization among our customers, particularly in Scandinavia, that their data are quite secure in the cloud.

All of us are now so used to going online to handle our homebanking, fill in our tax returns and order plane tickets and other products that the idea of doing accounting via the web no longer worries us.

So, rather than worrying about security, our customers are now focusing on the value and flexibility that e-conomic provides.

Everyone wants to be in the cloud!

Further growth

When looking ahead, I see plenty of potential for further growth – not least through our continued expansion into some of the major European markets, including Spain, Germany and France.

Looking forward to continue our growth in 2011 and beyond!