Toolkitcafe is dedicated to helping IT managers and small business owners do their job better and faster. It provides a comprehensive library of free tools, templates, and training related to IT policies and processes. You will find ready to customize and use toolkits about IT projects, security, and skills.
Below, you will find a recent Q&A they conducted with The Startup Project.
Company/Product Q&A
What is the primary benefit that your product provides to its customers?
Small businesses struggle to manage critical IT systems and infrastructure. It has become even more challenging with the pandemic driving hybrid work adoption and related IT changes.
Do you know the right policies that will enable smooth adoption of hybrid work model in your business? Do you know to protect critical IT systems with employees working from anywhere? Do you need a process to ensure new employees have access to all tools needed to perform their job?
Toolkitcafe has created templates that help you solve these and many more IT related issues in your small business.
Does your product have a freemium component to it?
We have a mix of free and paid toolkits you can download. For example, this Email Security Policy template is free to download.
Whether a toolkit is free or paid depends on its complexity and effort that went into creating it.
Irrespective of whether a toolkit is free or paid, you can rest assured that it’s one of the best you can anywhere.
Company Structure and Systems Q&A
What system do you use for tracking expenses, revenues and other financial information?
We’re currently using Stripe and Amazon for processing payments. We use Easy Digital Downloads to manage the downloads and sales. We use Quickbooks for accounting and book keeping.
Do you use a customer relationship system or similar software to track your potential customers? (Salesforce.com, Highrise, etc.)
No, we are not using a CRM. But we plan to use an email marketing automation tool to manage our leads and customer information.
What language is your software primarily written in?
The ToolKitCafe website is developed in WordPress with Elementor Pro.
The toolkits are developed in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Do you primarily work on a Mac, PC, or Linux computer?
We use a mix of Windows and Mac computers depending on the role.
Strategy/Marketing Q&A
How did you choose your branding and URL for your company?
Since we sell tools for small businesses, ToolKitCafe is a very apt name for the business. It conveys to prospects that we sell a variety of toolkits.
Do you use any Ad platforms to advertise your product?
We have not used ads to promote Toolkitcafe. Our primary growth engines are content and SEO.
There is a high volume of searches related to our products, showing active demand for them. We plan to harness that demand through SEO since it’s more sustainable compared to ads.
We are creating focused content to drive Google search traffic to our website.
Do you use Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter to get your message to potential customers?
We do use social media to share our content and promote toolkits in an organic manner. But we need to do a lot more in this area by sharing consistently and also engaging with our target audiences.
Do you primarily sell to end consumers or businesses? (B2B or B2C)
Our target customers are small and medium business owners and IT managers. Our kits are meant for business, so we use B2B sales channels.
Some industries where we see the most traction are
:
- Remote/distributed teams
- Software development companies
- Ecommerce companies
- Business Process Outsourcing companies
- Small manufacturing companies
- Multi-store retail companies
- Multi-location businesses that have offices in more than one location or city
How did you get your first customer?
We got our initial customers through social media.
Our toolkit contributors/authors are influencers in the industry. When they create a new toolkit, they also share it on their social media profiles. That drives a lot of our traffic and sales.
Wider social media sharing has also helped us get more backlinks and improved our search performance.
What is the number one quality you look for when hiring someone?
We are a small team, and we are not actively hiring right now. We work with freelancers/independent consultants to create our toolkits.
When looking for a contributor for the toolkits, we look at the quality – breadth and depth- of experience in technology. We also look at their social media following and reputation in the industry.
For us, the quality of our toolkits is the most important thing. So, we are very careful in selecting authors for our toolkits.
Did you seek outside funding from anyone for your business?
No. Toolkitcafe is not an investible business as we are not developing any new technology or product. We are able to fund the development of new toolkits from our existing cash flow. Our other expenses, on the website technology and marketing, are also funded from the cash flow so we don’t need any outside capital.
Miscellaneous Q&A
If you could recommend one book for any entrepreneur to read, what would it be?
I love “Clockwork: Design Your Business to Run Itself,” by Mike Michalowicz.
It’s a book that teaches you how to create systems to support your business’ growth without you having to manage everything. It’s a must read if you want to build a sustainable and profitable digital business.
Which website or reading material do you turn to when you need to take a break and relax?
I recommend Reddit for its lively discussion on everything related to business, entrepreneurship, technology and everything else under the sun. No matter what your interests are, you can always find a sub-Reddit for it.
In addition to being a great place to hang out, Reddit is also very useful for starting and running a business. You can ask others for advice about problems you are facing in your business.
You can also read others’ posts and comments to learn from them.
Reddit is also a good place to find customers, build awareness about your product and drive traffic top your website.
What one piece of advice would you give to readers who are thinking about starting their own business?
Smart small but think big. Research your product niche well, but don’t get stuck on it. The best research sometimes is to post your idea on a site like Reddit. You will get valuable feedback and also some early adopters, if your idea is good.
Always keep thinking about how to automate tasks, create processes and systems so you can scale up the business without overwhelming yourself.
A big thanks to ToolKitCafe for taking the time to speak with us! Check out their website for more details about their company and their product: www.toolkitcafe.com
