This week, officials in Washington have decided to offer individuals and SMBs a tax holiday for three months to dampen the economic impact of COVID-19 and to maintain liquidity in markets while promoting spending among businesses and consumers. The reprieve will also provide an additional $50 billion in low-interest loans to companies in affected areas, more than double the amount seen by the SBA’s flagship lending program in fiscal year 2019. Donald Trump made a statement urging the Small Business Administration “to exercise available authority to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the coronavirus.” In addition, Trump announced some people and companies could defer paying federal income taxes, with no penalties, for three months.
With an increasing number of quarantines, school closures and companies offering employees the option to work from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, video conferencing services and chat software providers are seeing an exponential increase in demand. According to reports, since early February, there has been a 500% increase in usage of Microsoft teams in China and Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg stated “publicly that its usage is up significantly from its 100 billion minutes run rate at the end of January.” In some cases, growing demand for these services is causing tech companies to make their conferencing and chat software simpler and, in some instances, free to use. Last week, Google announced it is offering its G Suite, G Suite for Education and Hangouts Meet video conferencing platforms for free. For Zoom users in China, the platform has removed the 40-minute meeting limit and in addition to its free tier, Slack is offering live webinars and Q&As to help onboard new users.
Baremetrics is now offering a Google Play integration for app owners receiving subscription payments from in-app purchases. Through the Baremetrics platform, users of the integration can consolidate all their subscription data to generate accurate reporting on key metrics like churn, LTV, MRR and more. Baremetrics offers a series of one-click integrations app owners can use including Stripe, Chargebee, App Store Connect and Braintree among others. The new Google Play feature is available now.
Beginning April 1st, major multinational tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, will be charged a 2% digital services tax by the UK government. Initially introduced in 2018, the newly enacted tax will impact US search engines, digital marketplaces, and social media services earning more than £500 million in revenue with more than £25 million of those earnings coming from users in the UK. The measure is predicted to generate over £400 million each year and is being enforced to bring back funds Silicon Valley has avoided paying over the years by “diverting profits to low-tax territories such as Ireland,” according to the Financial times. Experts on the subject are voicing concerns that the new tax will negatively impact not only US tech giants, but UK-based e-commerce businesses as well.
New in FE exclusive listings, this week we have an Affiliate and Display Advertising business in the Cable Streaming niche. Listed at $1.1M, this business has nearly a decade of operational history and has amassed a vast content library consisting of hundreds of ‘how-to’ guides, service reviews, televised events, TV channels, comparison articles, and more. The business currently boasts strong metrics with a 22% compounded monthly growth rate and 620 detailed articles ranking for c.72,000 keywords. With millions of people cutting the cord every year and pivoting to digital streaming services, this business presents a lucrative acquisition opportunity for a new owner. If you are interested in this business, please follow the link above to request a prospectus.
In events news, Founder Thomas Smale recently sat down with Andrew Warner on the Mixergy podcast to discuss his process for valuating businesses as well as the story of how he grew FE International from zero to become the leading global SaaS, e-Commerce and Content M&A firm. You can listen in to the full conversation by following the link: What should you know before buying or selling a software business? In another recent interview, Thomas opined on what buyers are looking for in a SaaS business on Escape Velocity. Watch the episode to learn how FE International approaches sales, the truth behind valuation, two baseline stats for explosive sales and more.
FE International attends dozens of conferences every year, so we’ve compiled our list of the Top 100 Digital Conferences You Should Attend in 2020. If you would like to schedule a meeting with a team member, please reach out. Events FE will be attending are indicated.
SaaS Mag is gearing up to release its next edition and we would hate for you to miss out on behind-the-scenes interviews with SaaS leaders, industry updates & outlooks and the next #SaaS1000 list. Subscribe for free and we’ll send a copy right to your door!
**Update on LTV Conf 2020**
Out of an abundance of caution and growing concerns, we have been closely monitoring the situation around COVID-19. As a result, we have made the decision to postpone LTV Conf in 2020 and host an event later in the year.
We know that LTV Conf is an important event for our community. While this was not an easy choice to make, we need to prioritize the health and safety of attendees, employees, partners, international colleagues, and everyone that helps bring LTV Conf to life.
If you bought a ticket, we will issue a full refund for the pass or group package you purchased at the time of registration. Refunds may take up to 30 business days to post to your credit card. If you have not received a refund by March 31, 2020, please contact info@ltvconf.com. If you booked a hotel reservation outside of the LTV Conf system, you should contact your hotel directly to determine the refund status on any deposits paid.
We would like to thank the LTV Conf community for its patience and understanding — and we look forward to being able to see you all soon!
Continue reading below for more on Google, Microsoft, Baremetrics and more!
Listings
New
Affiliate/Display Advertising – Cable Streaming Review Resource – $36K Gross/Mo
- Firm foothold in the lucrative video streaming niche
- Solid organic search presence with 620 detailed articles helping to secure rankings for over c.72,000 keywords
- Strong revenue growth at a 22% compounded monthly growth rate over the L12M
- Lean operating model with high net margins
Yearly net profit: $424,000
Asking price: $1,100,000
E-Commerce – Organic & Plant-Based Natural Health Foods & Products – $75.3K Gross/Mo
- Firm foothold in the in the organic and plant-based natural health niche
- Impressive traffic statistics of over 800,000 page views in the LTM
- Diverse income streams generating c.$900,000 in revenues over the LTM
- Good customer following with AOV of c.$130 and a repeat order rate of c.43% over the L3Y
- Proven e-commerce business with nearly two decades of operational history
Yearly net profit: $221,000
Asking price: $590,000
Lead Generation – Top Home Rentals Resource – 2.8M Sessions/Yr – $26K Gross/Mo
- Dominant presence in the home rentals niche set to grow with a YoY CAGR of 15% to $22 billion from 2018 to 2022
- Vast database with over 133,000 available apartments helping secure keyword rankings for c.20,000 keywords
- Robust business fundamentals with over $308,000 in gross revenues generated in the LTM
- Simple operations with well-developed and profitable lead generation partnerships
Yearly net profit: $109,000
Asking price: $456,000
Affiliate/Display Advertising – Pet Food Resource – $13K Gross/Mo
- Firm foothold in the lucrative pet food niche
- Solid organic search presence with keyword rankings for c.48,000 keywords
- Over 345 detailed articles on the niche
- Lean operating model with high net margins
Yearly net profit: $52,000
Asking price: $444,000
Affiliate – Home & Cleaning Resource – $12k Gross/Mo
- Firm foothold in the lucrative home and cleaning niche
- Solid organic search presence with keyword rankings for c.10,000 keywords
- Over 60 detailed articles covering vacuum cleaner types, accessories and carpet maintenance
- Lean operating model with high net margins
Yearly net profit: $145,000
Asking price: $418,000
SaaS/Recurring Subscriptions – Education Technology w/150K Active Users/Mo – $4.9K MRR
- 10 years of operational history leading to a firm positioning in the education technology niche
- Wide market acceptance with glowing reviews across third party sites
- Impressive volume of traffic with c.3M visitors and more than 4M page views over the L12M
- Strong MRR of c.$4,900 and LTV of c.$114 driven by the high-quality service provided
- Lean and scalable cost structure driving high net margins of c.81%
Yearly net profit: $71,000
Asking price: $265,000
SaaS – 12 Y/O B2B Project Management Platform – Fully Managed – $1.8K MRR
- Firm foothold in the project management niche
- Strong brand with 12 years of operating history
- High LTV of c.$1,800 with a uniquely low churn rate of 3%
- Lean operating model
Yearly net profit: $13,000
Asking price: $62,000
Sold
Affiliate – Cell, Cable & Internet Reviews – $4.7K Gross/Mo
In the News…
US to Loan $50B to SMBs
U.S President Donald Trump announced during his televised address to the nation that the Treasury Department will be giving small and midsized businesses a 3-month tax holiday in an effort to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. Additionally, the U.S. will be giving affected companies $50 billion more in low interest loans effective immediately. This measure will double the amount of loans the Small Business Administration made in 2019.
Demand for Video Conferencing Software Surges
As the number of people quarantined or working from home grows due to the Corona Virus pandemic, so does the need for video conferencing. Microsoft, Zoom and Google are reportedly seeing a significant increase in usage since January. In some cases, tech companies are now making it easier or even free to utilize their conferencing platforms. Because companies are encouraging employees to work from home and the number of school closures and quarantines are still rising, demand for collaboration software and messaging tools will continue to rise.
Baremetrics Releases Google Play Integration
The metric and engagement tool for SaaS and subscription companies, Baremetrics, launched their new integration with Google Play this week. This one-click integration will allow companies to get hundreds of valuable metrics and business insights all in one place. Other one-click integrations available with Baremetrics include Apple’s App Store Connect, Stripe, Braintree, Recurly and Chargebee.
Big Tech Hit with UK Digital Services Tax
First announced in 2018, the UK’s new legislation will go into effect on April 1st. This 2 percent tax on large multinational tech companies has been strongly opposed by the U.S. government. The tax will only apply when companies make more than £500 Million from digital services, with more than 5% of revenue coming from UK users. The EU has previously proposed similar tax laws on tech giants that are still being debated over and the UK agrees that the best long-term option would be international corporate tax rules. If these proposed laws are put in place, the UK is willing dissolve their new tax.