Intuit

Intuit Case
Case
Individual
Individual Assignment
Assignment

Andrés Pérez Gómez andres.perez.g@gmail.com 2020

Q.1 Why and how exactly might Xero (and similar competitors) be a threat to Quickbooks? How
concerned should Intuit be about competitors such as Xero?

• Any new emerging competitor can disrupt QuickBooks business

model as the new players came with digital and online capabilities
embedded in their value proposition, Quickbooks itself just
compete as a product in that field Xero created a multitenant,
visual appealing, collaborative platform that can be attractive to
advisors in that way displace QuickBooks from that market if this
competitors capture a substantial client base and therefore start
using data to complement and create services to generate network
effects. Competitors offer similar subscription models and are
targeting SMB in similar geographic locations.
• Intuit can benefit from high cost switching but anyway should be
concerned about these new players in the market.
• Quickbooks competitors: https://www.xero.com/
• https://www.zoho.com/books/
• https://www.waveapps.com/

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 Q.2 What should be the business model for QuickBooks Financing? Substantiate your response by
listing pros and cons for the chosen business model.

I believe the Pre-negotiated offers from a limited set of pre-selected

providers can make the difference for created a multisided network.
Value proposition
For Providers: Give access to a market
Pricing 4.5M Client Potential:
that has been rejected in the past with
1. Commission on financial
a a data driven risk scoring.
transactions on selected products.
For Lenders: Financial products
2. Annul Fee
approved and fitted to their needs.

•
Pros
Financial Hub for SMB Cons
• Strong process to select providers with pre- • Narrowed quantity of providers,
negotiated financial offers. controlled network effects.
• Bulk pricing/offers distributed on the network • Risk of offer the same products as
other aggregators on the financial
• Data related recommendations for specific
market
products
• Risk of customer churn looking for
• Credit risk scoring based on accounting behavior.
direct offering on the providers
• Creating new financial products based on
• Reputational risk if providers do not
network needs.
perform as expected.
• Use QuickBooks well know brand name to Give
• Example of Marketplace: w
stress-free financial options to clients.
ww.fidor.com
• Opportunity to grow network with other SMB 3
complementary services.
 Q.3 Between QuickBooks Financing and Concierge, which is the more important opportunity to
pursue? Why?

Value Proposition: Client –

Pricing: Commission fees per Provider – Multisided network
transaction, 4.5 M Customers effects with increase in sales and
with multiple purchases on Budget optimization,
month. recommendation of valuable
services.

• As QB Financing preferred business model is focused on the recommendation of

financial offerings and has an strong problem to solve, thus value generation is
greater, I believe the QB Concierge seeing from a p2p platform for SMB I see a strong
opportunity to pursue as creating a marketplace platform for filling the needs of
SMB, as HBS Studies state business owners do not have time to evaluate their
purchase needs and compare prices to gather the maximum value on their budget.
• If intuit can address their data quality issues created a super marketplace for SMB
services and even having their natural customers as services providers create a
multi-sided network effect that can grow exponentially, with the support of
QuickBooks as a trusted named brand and creating a data-driven marketplace
service with reviews, offerings and bulk discounts based on customer behavior can
benefit the network and create value constantly.

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Q.4 To what extent should Intuit pursue platform opportunities for QuickBooks (QB)? Why?
1. Peer-to-peer platform for QB customers (e.g. Intuit Customer Network). No Intuit Partner
Platform, no QuickBooks Financing (QBF), and no Concierge.
2. Peer-to-peer platform plus platform for third-party developers. No concierge and no QBF, but
possibly rely on third-party developers to develop similar initiatives
3. Peer-to-peer platform plus platform for third party developers plus Concierge
and/or QBF
4. None of the above – stay focused on QB as a pure product

I see number three as the opportunity to create a multi sided super-platform

business where the main function of Intuit is connecting small business with
other small business and providers to generate exponential value for the
network, that peer to peer platform will integrate software, financial, travel,
logistic and soon on services that every small business needs in their daily
operations and in some cases the owners can´t be focused on get the right
product on at the right time, Intuit with their customer based and the network
effect of the offerings plus data science to anticipate and predict customer
needs, I don´t see this opportunity as an invasive ad-based offering is more a
demand-based offering as the procurement process can be tied to inventory,
financial information or travel information that the platform can fulfill in a very
efficient way. With the 4.5 million user base the opportunities are exponential.
Think you need from paper clips to a loan, a platform that centralizes and
offer you based your real preferences and business data can be something
mesmerizing. 5
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