User-friendly and mobile-first: Our SaaS solution for travel expense accounting

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TL;DR

The Challenge

INNOQ employees were spending up to two hours per month on travel expense reporting, with no suitable tool available on the market. Four INNOQ developers decided to build their own solution, web-based, mobile-first, and genuinely easy to use for both travelers and back-office teams.

Our Approach

The team developed a SaaS product using Ruby on Rails and Postgres, with ROCA and progressive enhancement architecture for universal device compatibility. An initial MVP was tested internally with more than 100 colleagues over a year and continuously refined. After a market analysis confirmed the subscription model as the most attractive pricing approach, the product was publicly launched in fall 2017 as Reisekosten-Gorilla.

The Outcome

The platform halved accounting time for both travelers and back-office staff and quickly attracted paying customers. The team continues to operate and develop the product independently alongside their regular work at INNOQ.

Results at a Glance

• Halved Accounting Time: Travel expense accounting now takes only half as long for both travelers and the back office
• Internal MVP: An initial minimum viable product was tested internally at INNOQ with more than 100 colleagues over one year and continuously improved
• Market Launch: In fall 2017, the product was officially launched and quickly attracted paying customers
• SaaS Business Model: Based on a market analysis, a subscription model was defined as the most attractive pricing approach
• Mobile-First Approach: Universal use on any device without native apps through responsive design and progressive enhancement
• Independent Operation: The team develops and operates the product independently alongside regular work at INNOQ ### INNOQ expertise at a glance

• Agile development of an SaaS solution
• Development of an intuitive UX concept
• Conception and validation of complex features in Design Sprints
• Product management and ownership
• Marketing
• Independent operation

Travel expenses: pain point or opportunity?

When the topic of travel expense accounting is mentioned, it is not uncommon for people to roll their eyes. For a long time, that’s the way it was at INNOQ, too. Although any lengthy stay at a customer site is more an exception, business trips are part of the equation. On average, therefore, employees spend up to two hours each month submitting receipts, travel expenses, and per diem costs. In addition, there was a part-time position to handle the accounting in the back office.

As a result, four committed INNOQ developers decided they did not want to put up with this nerve-racking status quo any longer. In the absence of suitable tools available in the market, they just built their own travel expense solution.

From MVP to market maturity

It was clear that it needed to meet certain prerequisites:

• Web-based with data storage in the cloud
• Intuitive UX and maximum simplicity for travelers
• Relief for the back office, for instance through uncomplicated data import/export
• Mobile-first development: universal use on any device without native apps

An initial MVP (minimum viable product) was first used internally at INNOQ. Based on the feedback and constant usage by more than 100 colleagues, it was developed further continuously over a period of one year. In the fall of 2017 the decision was finally made to make the Reisekosten-Gorilla available to other companies as well. The product was officially launched and quickly led to the first sales to paying customers. A prior market analysis also showed that a subscription model based on the SaaS approach (software as a service) is the most attractive to many potential customers.

Beyond development

For the launch of the Travel Expense Gorilla, many things had to come together. In addition to the actual development, above all, good product management was a must.

Particularly for start-ups, it is essential that the feature backlog be prioritized rigorously. Time is a scarce resource. We develop only features that lead to better usability or show additional sales potential.

Robert GlaserFounder

It was also shown once again that the famous 80% (in this case: development and testing of an MVP) often goes much more smoothly and easily in product development. The devil is in the last 20% – product facets like payment and operation take a lot more effort and should be considered at an early stage. Strategic decisions must also be made. For instance, based on a competition analysis, a suitable price model was defined. But even the best solution does not sell itself. An initial marketing concept was drafted, ads were placed on Google and Twitter, telemarketing was carried out.

The Travel Expense Gorilla is still in bootstrapping mode and does not allow for any big marketing budgets. So we have to be creative. An important success factor for us is strategic partnerships.

Tim Keller, Founder

Making it future-proof

Currently, the Travel Expense Gorilla is being refined and operated by the four colleagues in addition to their work at INNOQ and is receiving initial financing from INNOQ. In the long term, however, the Travel Expense Gorilla will have to stand on its own feet and pay its own way. Until then, a lot of sweat and tears will have to flow into development. In addition, we need to find a scalable marketing strategy, get external financing, and build up a dedicated core team.

The work on the Travel Expense Gorilla is very fulfilling. We have maximum freedom and flexibility and learn a lot of new things every day. However, it has also shown us how much it takes, not only to found a start-up but also make it successful.

Roman Stranghöner, Founder

Technical highlights

• Web application with responsive design, universally available on any device
• ROCA and progressive enhancement in the front end
• Back end based on Ruby on Rails and Postgres