We are down to 11 people now. $2,278 is the cost for here in Michigan, which is about $200 more per employee than in all other states. That is the entire benefits package, including dental and life insurance... but the bulk of the $2,278 (about $2,125) is for health coverage.

(putting on my speculation goggles)
If things keep going the way they are, we are probably going to drop one or two more in the next couple of months. Perhaps 3 total in the next year.
(taking off my speculation goggles)

This economy is killing our customers and through them, us. Many of our large customers have been downsizing a lot as well. Some of our small customers have just withered away. Not a lot of new small customers coming and staying due to the complexity of actually DOING daily batching, caseload, "wealth" forecasting, bulk e-mail management and other things, we are PCI compliant and that makes people and passwords very cumbersome, since its required to be at least a certain length and have certain characteristics but not others. We do complete backups and don't lose data even when the customer deletes large section of the data and files. We have a routine for maintenance and how its handled. We do scanning, internally and externally (required by PCI). We have a really DEEP API feature set that includes things NONE of our competitors even comes close to offering. Small customers want it all to just be, without the work... but all the features. Hey Data, support and direction has to come from somewhere... its not going to come from Magical Unicorn Farts and just be there!

We don't drink or offer Kool-aid, we stand on our merits and core values... its hurting us to be morally and ethically upright. Many of our customers wanted us to be a "non-profit" so we became one, being owned by a foundation, its not helping, in fact some (of the very same ones) now see it as a hindrance. Also, many competitors are in their 5th re-write from the ground up using different technologies... our stuff is fast, it works awesomely, has depth. We just don't tell people what they want to hear, so they'll buy and then fail to deliver. We tell them straight out of the gate, our stuff rocks, when the upfront work is done.

There are other things that really hit us hard, people being in different Cities around the US and Canada. Labor Compliance is difficult. Taxes and staying abreast of changes pertinent to us are difficult in 6 States plus a Province in Canada.

Its just getting to the point where its tough being SaaS and SaaS only. Many organizations, we are finding want a PACKAGE Deal, with full marketing, fulfillment, direct mail, printing and publishing, electronic marketing (FB, Twitter, analytics, SEO, Web hosting, Easy button, etc...) , data management and reporting, product development, events direction and many other pieces, all in one place.

Ahh... heck, I don't know.


NOTICE to certain persons here, you know whom you are:
Please just keep a lid on this... no need to mention this to the 5 or more friends we have in common.