More service, less software?

Dunno about you, but I tend to collect SaaS products for a while before I realise I don’t use them enough to keep.

(SaaS stands for Software as a Service, which can probably be described as any software you subscribe to and pay for ongoing, like Xero, Canva, Calendly, or Netflix.).

It’s amazing to have so many options just a few clicks from being solved. One problem I find with a lot of them though, is that they’re basically an empty box.

I pay for the subscription, but then I need to essentially learn a new piece of software in order to fill it up with stuff.

Some are easier to learn than others. For example, with Canva I was creating designs almost immediately and found it pretty intuitive, but when I opened a Xero account, I basically needed a crash course in accounting to know how to do even just the basics my bookkeeper needed me to do.

There might be some bias and pre-loaded knowledge there with my design background… an accountant might argue that Xero was easier.

The “stuff” always needs to be added to get the benefit of the tool, and how much you personally need to learn and do, varies.

• With Canva, there are prebuilt templates which I can use, or I can start from scratch and build my own.
• With Xero, it’s partly automatic and partly manual. Bank feeds automatically bring in my transactions, then I need to manually file them, and the bookkeeper and accountant do… whatever they do.
• With another tool I used to use called RescueTime, it was all automatic. It logs your time in various tools and apps, and just sends you a report each month to show you where your time went.

So for some, you do the work; for others, the software does the work; and others again, it’s a joint effort.

But that learning at the start is always needed. Even Netflix has a learning curve (and then another one when they change the layout).

Personally, I don’t mind the learning when it’s for a fun tool like Canva. But when it’s just for keeping things ticking along (like Xero) the learning is constant, annoying, and sometimes mentally heavy.

Xero is my big example here, probably because it had the biggest learning curve for me. It still does, and I often have to speak to a pro to find whatever thing I need to do–so I wonder what something like Xero would look like if it came bundled with kick-off service as standard, instead of just an empty box of software.

I’m curious if this is your experience too. There’s a SaaS for so many things, and the better designed ones are easier to pick up. But sometimes, you just need a hand to get rolling…