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NetBooks small business revolution begins today

ROHNERT PARK, Sept. 5, 2007 – According to NetBooks founder Ridgely Evers, the revolution starts today at www.netbooks.com.

That's where his startup is launching the only comprehensive solution ever devised for what he calls "true small businesses."

If anyone can grow the new SAP right here in Sonoma County, Mr. Evers and his team of business and technology experts can. He's the creator of QuickBooks, Intuit's leading accounting package for small to medium businesses.

NetBooks already has 40 employees and $9 million in investor funding. It's occupying 10,000 square feet in the former Next Level facility in Rohnert Park.

"QuickBooks is twenty years old. Its networking capabilities are limited, and it predates the Web," said Mr. Evers.

Most business-software developers don't understand how small businesses migrate from an accounting package to a business management solution, he said.

"Silicon Valley equates a move to an integrated package with an advance to a more expensive, more powerful and more complex solution. The true small business just wants to move over to something simple and intuitive."

The true small business he defines as having two to 25 – occasionally as many as 50 – employees. It's managed by the owner with no professional management layer or capital. It's profitable, growing organically, and it's one of 5.1 million such businesses in the U.S.

"Over half the workers in America work at true small businesses," he said.

Mr. Evers does himself, on the side. He and his wife Coleen McGlynn produce and sell DaVero Olive Oil, estate-bottled wines, condiments and gift boxes from their ranch near Healdsburg.

"My NetBooks program is particularly designed for inventory-based businesses because they're the most demanding in terms of functionality."

Most small producers use a patchwork of different systems to handle production, inventory, compliance, shipping, bookkeeping, marketing, CRM and sales, he said.

NetBooks costs $200 a month for five users. If the business outsources its bookkeeping and accounting, and most do, there is no charge for them to use the software. It's available over the Web to anyone with a broadband connection, although business owners can control which employees can access its various functions.

"The ubiquity of broadband makes the migration to management software possible. There's no installation, no costly upgrades, no disruption of work while a new component is added," said Mr. Evers.

And there will be upgrades and new components and capabilities added in response to customer needs.

"But the amount you originally paid is the amount you'll continue to pay, even though you'll be getting more," he said.

Customer support has been carefully thought out. A support function is built into every NetBooks screen. With one click, a user is connected to a support specialist who knows immediately who and where in the program the user is.

"We do support with software attached, not the other way around," he said.

According to Sullivan Winery General Manager Sean Sullivan, his family's winery in Rutherford is just coming online in NetBooks.

"We've been using separate systems for our general ledger, point of sale, e-commerce and wine club commerce," he said.

"We held off on NetBooks for a few months while they built the point of sale software, for me the deal breaker. But I didn't mind waiting for them to do it right. What's a month? I've been wanting this for years," said Mr. Sullivan.

Members of the NetBooks team include tech author Bob Benedict, formerly global engineering manager for Intuit and director of engineering at Macromedia; AJ Herrera, who left his position as president of the prestigious marketing agency Bravo! Marketing to join the NetBooks staff; and Katherine Noesen, a Morehead Scholar in economics at the University of North Carolina, a Rotary International Scholar at the Sorbonne and a Stanford MBA who has developed marketing initiatives and partnerships for Palm Computing and Philips Electronics, among others.