We Started An Online Signature Tool Last Year. We Just Hit $240K ARR
Hello! Who are you, and what business did you start?π
I am Caroline, Co-founder, and CEO of CocoSign. Our venture, CocoSign, is a platform that offers a tech-based solution for users to digitally sign legally valid documents.
From sales representatives to top-tier business management people, everyone can use this digital signature service to effortlessly create, share and sign documents on the go. CocoSign makes business operations like agreement verification, contract approvals, and much more document handling processes easier than ever - without any need for physical meetings.
Founded in 2020, CocoSign has come a long way, currently generating monthly revenue of 67.3K from 2000 sales, CocoSign has a 5% increase in customers every month.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?π
The 2020 pandemic left businesses paralyzed, unable to physically exchange documents or move around the world. With online transactions on the rise and business booming in the virtual space, digital signature solutions were a no-brainer for entrepreneurs looking to cash in.
Master your craft and don't try to take up too many things at a time. Because you can't be good at everything.
We understood the demand for e-signature providers and we wanted to create an exceptional solution for digital signature needs. We wanted to build a system where users can digitally create, sign and share documents effortlessly all in one place, without any need for technical skills. User-friendly, simple, and efficient design is what we had in mind for developing a perfect digital signature tool. That's when CocoSign came into being.
Take us through the process of building the MVP.π
It took us about 6 months to get from ideation to the product launch.
To break it up, here is a brief of our process from product design.
During the pandemic crisis, we realized the rising demand for digital signing platforms. We are not sure how the pandemic crisis will affect our life so we have to work at home using an online tool to manage work remotely. Some people may feel they are missing out on opportunities because they cannot work outside their homes. At that time, we started brainstorming multiple ideas to create one platform that solves all the digital signing requirements. Here is the photo of us meeting with our remote employees at the beginning of the Cocosignβs team.
After we made an outline of what our product does and how the interface should look like, we went through extensive research through surveys and found out what people wanted in e-Signature products - robustness, speed & security features being at top of their list! Apart from that, a detailed analysis was done on competitor products as well. And this part gave us many insightful points on what other e-signature platforms do and have missed.
With our findings in hand, we came up with a prototype of our digital signature platform. A skeleton of our website structure and UI should look like it was developed. We did multiple test runs on the prototype to get a clear picture of what should be improved. And we have made many changes with that.
Then, we came up with an MVP for our software incorporating all the important features. This helped us understand the costs and efforts involved in the functioning of the platform. Depending on that, we made a few efficiency improvements.
After substantial sample testing, the development phase of our final software started. We followed the Agile method for the process, splitting our tasks into small sub-tasks for efficient handling by our teams.
With the final platform being ready to launch, we had an exclusive team to quality test before the official release.
And then, we confidently launched our digital signature platform which is now serving thousands of businesses effectively.
Describe the process of launching the business.π
The process of launching CocoSign was exhilarating. We were able to connect with so many business people and understand their amazing requirements, as well as get useful feedback. It took us a few months from initial start-up to our soft launch. We started with some discussions ourselves about what we wanted CocoSign to become.
We had our finances ready to face the real demand. We had not taken any loans for the venture as we planned on investing directly. Planning the finances has helped a lot in making our business operations as smooth as they can be.
Our launch preparations started with sending out complimentary access to our platform to our trusted prospective clients. Collecting their feedback helped us make needed changes before opening the platform to the public.
The launch of CocoSign has been a proud moment for us. Our new release process also included an official press release.
Just like any business, the initial days were quite hard, as we were competing with some big established names industry. But the trust we have built with a few other services invited many customers to our venture. And we were really happy when our clients liked it. Then, we started getting a steady flow of customers through word of mouth by existing users as well as our focused marketing strategies. After about 3 months, we started building a customer base for our service and generating profitable revenue.
We also contacted a few key tech influencers and trusted brand advocates, who came forward to try using our platform and share honest reviews after experiencing our e-Signature services. This has been a big part of our marketing strategy that helped us reach many businesses.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?π
We endeavor to serve our customers with the best solutions we can provide. Apart from the robust easy-to-use e-signature services, we offer certain added features that make our customers keep coming back and eventually attract new prospects.
Customer rewards
We reward our valuable customers who give their honest reviews on the G2 platform with a $15 gift from Amazon to show our gratitude for their continued support & use of our services. Reviews on G2 generate around 200 sales per month.
API integrations
We offer the ability to choose API connections that can be integrated with your website or the work system. This exclusive feature has been most appreciated by our clients helping us earn their trust retaining them for years to come.
Helpful customer service
We try to keep a strong communication channel open between us and our clients with excellent customer service catering to every need of our clients. This helps us clear any issues faster, understand their needs better, and design products that will solve further issues in the industry.
Customer-friendly operations
With a user-friendly website interface and customization abilities on all our plans, we have ensured that our digital signature service platform follows a customer-centric approach end-to-end.
Simple & effective marketing strategies
Our strategy of attracting prospective clients has been pretty straightforward. We have positioned ourselves in a way that clients can relate to and we are still improving it day by day. We have always believed in the power of words. We make sure every bit of our marketing campaign is simple and understandable for everyone. And that is what we think has led many people towards us - we keep it simple & real
Being active on social media channels
We also invest heavily in social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc, and are always up-to-date with the latest news about the eSignature industry. So our prospective clients get to know more about us through these channels.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?π
We have managed to keep our head above water even during tough times providing uncompromising quality e-signature services to our clients. We have been featured on various channels and hope that this helps us establish a decent stronghold with our competitors.
We have thousands of satisfied customers who are still with us for long. And every month we see a 5-10% increase in our paid users. We would proudly say that this is the result of our ceaseless efforts to provide an easy and trustworthy digital platform for our users.
Currently, CocoSign has a churn rate of less than 4% and a bounce rate of 30.36% which is a great sign that our business is flourishing and being accepted by our audience.
In the days to come, we would focus on developing more functionalities that will further ease the process of document handling and digital signatures. We are also all set to develop an app for Cocosign and make it possible for everyone to sign in from anywhere.
You should be ready for any kind of trouble and have enough resources in hand to tide over those tough times!
We will continue to listen to our clients and strive to help them grow. Eventually, we visualize us to grow alongside our clients!
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?π
We have learned a lot of things through starting up.
But a very important one, I think, is that customer satisfaction is the sole purpose of any business! And we believe in the saying "the customer is always right." Even if they are not talking sense, you should still listen to them. Because they may be hinting at something that you would have never thought of. So, we believe in listening more to what our customers think. That is the best and focused way to grow in any business. And it's working for us.
Also, the business world is a very competitive environment. You need to learn how to accept criticism and look upon mistakes as your stepping stones towards success. And that's our motto!
What platform/tools do you use for your business?π
Being a web-based SaaS business, we use a handful of top platforms to make our processes easy and understand our business better. Some of those tools include -
- Hubspot's robust marketing tools for our email marketing operations
- WordPress for our website
- Canva & Github for designing elements for our website and other digital platforms
- Google Analytics for understanding our website performance
- SEMrush, Ahrefs & Similar Web for data analysis
We make it a point to do whatever it takes to improve our customer experience as well as our business reach. And these tools & platforms have greatly helped us do that.
Hubspot in particular has been a blessing for our business, especially when it comes to our marketing efforts. Our various email campaigns are designed on Hubspot and are tailored around customer behavior & preferences. This helps us better segment them and make sure we reach out to the right people at the right time with the right message.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?π
Books have been my greatest companion during CocoSign's starting days. And most of the books I read were about different business strategies and mentalities.
Keeping a sharp lookout on these books, I have been able to apply some of their principles in my daily workflow with success!
Some of my favorite ones are:
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - To learn about how entrepreneurs can use lean principles to avoid failure and sustainably achieve success.
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill - To understand the habit of successful people.
- The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen - To understand why some businesses succeed while others fail.
And podcasts like the startup chat & Piers Morgan podcast have also been my great on-the-go companion in recent days.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?π
My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs would be to keep a check on your finances and make sure you know how much cash is going out of your pocket each month.
You should be ready for any kind of trouble and have enough resources in hand to tide over those tough times! Also, it's always good if you can find partners who are honest and dare to speak out their minds when required. You will never experience stagnation if you have that kind of team culture!
But, before anything else, master your craft and don't try to take up too many things at a time. Because you can't be good at everything. So, make sure whatever work you do is perfect and is aimed at the growth of you as well as your customers.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?π
We are always on the lookout for young, self-motivated people who are ready to work hard and help CocoSign grow. Imbibing fresh talents and retaining experienced people have been a key part of our growth.
Where can we go to learn more?π
Check out our services in detail at:
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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