Although reselling software is much easier than building a software development business, it’s not that simple at first.
Many companies struggle to resell software when they first start. If that’s the case with you, you’re not alone. But luckily, it’s easily done!
Once you know how and where to resell software, you’ll be well on your way to growing your software reselling company.
In this article, we’ll discuss everything related to purchasing software from developers and selling it to businesses. We’ll answer all your questions to help you kick-start your software reselling career.
- Is It Possible to Resell Software?
- What is the Value of Software?
- Things to Consider When Reselling Software
- Where to Resell Software?
- What You’ll Need to Resell Software
- How to Resell Software: Step-By-Step Instructions
- STEP 1: Find a Reputable Software Provider
- STEP 2: Test Your Software Before Selling It
- STEP 3: Set Up an Online Platform to Sell Your Software
- STEP 4: Define Your Software’s Unique Value Proposition
- STEP 5: Determine Your Target Audience
- STEP 6: Build a Marketing Plan to Target Your Audience
- STEP 8: Offer Customer Service to Support Your Software and Gather Feedback
- Can You Make Money Flipping Software?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Similar Tutorials to Check Out
- Wrapping Up
Is It Possible to Resell Software?
Can a company work on only reselling software to businesses? Absolutely!
Building a software development company requires so much effort and could easily crumble within a few years. In fact, according to a study released by McKinsey, if a software company grows at an annual rate of 20%, there’s a 92% chance that it’ll only last for a few years.
So instead of becoming a software developer, why not become a middleman and buy it from other developers to sell it to businesses with a profit?
Software reselling companies are a type of recurring revenue business. They usually make a profit range from 15% to 20% per software, which is a pretty decent percentage.
What Kinds of Software Sell Well?
There are millions of software on the internet, but which ones have the highest demand in the market?
1. Medical Software
Similar to everything else in the medical field, medical software must always be up to date with the latest technology. That’s why medical institutes, such as hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, will always be on the lookout for the latest medical software.
2. CRM Software
Customer relationship management software solutions are an essential part of any business. Companies will always want to buy the best CRM software available because they know that their customer’s comfort and satisfaction is their most vital asset.
3. AI Services
AI services have been on the rise for the past couple of years, and it’s only the beginning. AI technology is improving by the minute, and there’s always a newer and better version of AI software every few months. That’s why AI services are worth investing in.
What is the Value of Software?
Software value is measured by future earnings, cash savings, or cash flows.
So the value of any software is determined by the current value of the expected future net cash flows. These future cash flows are projected based on the expected remaining lifetime of the software.
As part of calculating the value of software, the valuator must consider a reasonable discount rate that includes economic, industry, and product risks. Additionally, the current value of expenditures is one of the factors in setting the software’s value.
Does Software Lose Value Over Time?
Yes, software depreciates in value over time. Like any other tool or machine, it won’t perform on day 1000 the same way it did on day one without maintenance or updates.
To lengthen the expected lifetime of the software, the developer needs to be aware of the changes in the tech market around them and constantly optimize their software to their user’s needs.
The longer the software is maintained and optimized, the less value it’ll lose over time.
Things to Consider When Reselling Software
Before you jump right into your new career and start reselling software, there are a few things you need to put into consideration.
1. Know Your Niche and Target Audience
To sell your software, be fully aware of the market. Understand your niche, do your market research, and learn what your target audience is looking for. You need to identify the problem or the need to sell the solution.
Once you’re aware of your target audience and their needs, you’ll be able to send them down the sales funnel with targeted messages that speak to your audience.
2. Understand the Software You’re Selling to Know How to Sell It
Remember that users don’t buy features, they buy benefits. So to sell software to your target audience, you need to understand the software you’re selling and be able to connect it with your audience’s needs.
That way, you’ll be able to paint the perfect picture for your users of how easier their life will be after using this software.
3. Find a Reliable SaaS Partner
Your SaaS development partners are just as important as your software’s users. Since they’re the ones developing the software and creating your product, they need to be chosen carefully.
No matter how good you are as a salesperson, the lifetime value of your client is sure to drop if the software you’re selling isn’t useful and user-friendly. Users are always looking for the easiest software to use, so make sure that’s your software.
4. Set Your Pricing, Service Proposition, and Given Value
Set a profit margin for yourself to ensure that you’re making money with every sale. Of course, this depends on the type of software you’re selling and how much value you’re offering to your client.
If it were a DIY type of software, where the client will handle everything by themselves, it would have a smaller profit margin than a do-it-for-me (DIFM) type of software. In DIFM, you’ll need to help your client with operating the software, in which case it’d be more profitable for you.
Where to Resell Software?
If you’re about to kick-start your career as a software reseller, you’re probably wondering where to start. Luckily, there are plenty of reseller programs where you could start your business.
Some of the best reseller programs available on the market include:
1. Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is an excellent productivity software to resell, including every app in Microsoft suites. One of the factors that contribute to its popularity is the trustworthiness that’s connected to the Microsoft brand.
What Makes This Option Great?
By becoming an authorized Microsoft reseller, you’ll be linking your business with a trusted brand and you’ll get the chance to benefit from the positive brand equity.
- Fees/Commission: Entry-Level Membership is for free.
- Payment Methods: Credit or debit card.
2. GoDaddy
GoDaddy quickly became the number-one domain company worldwide. As a reseller, you could use their servers to build your business and boost profits.
What Makes This Option Great?
The best thing about GoDaddy is that they offer a reseller program and an affiliate program for people who want to try affiliate marketing.
- Fees/Commission: The basic reseller plan is for $111 and the Pro reseller plan is for $186
- Payment Methods: Credit or debit card.
3. Google Workspace
There are two ways to join Google Workspace as a reseller. The first way is to become an independent Google Workspace reseller, which could be quite tedious.
You’ll need at least 100 provisioned Workspace seats to join, and then you’ll go through a credit check and other qualifiers.
The second way is much easier. You could jump into the benefits of the Google resellers program through a third-party provider with a pre-established relationship with Google. That way you’ll be able to skip the qualifying process and get started right away.
What Makes This Option Great?
Similar to Microsoft 365, Google Workspace has the advantage of being one of the top-performing companies in the world. This means that you’ll benefit from its brand name and win loyal customers much easier.
- Fees/Commission: Fees start at $6 per month. Other subscription packages are for $12 and $18 per month.
- Payment Method: Credit or debit card
What You’ll Need to Resell Software
Fortunately, you don’t need to know much about the technical details of software development to resell software. The whole process is simple and only requires a few things.
- Resale License: Getting a resale license permits you to resell a developer’s software to customers. As a reseller, you’ll be able to advertise, promote, and demonstrate the software to your potential customers.
- Sales and Marketing Skills: You need to be skillful in convincing your target audience into buying your product or service and becoming loyal customers. Without strong sales skills and a successful marketing strategy, you won’t be able to grow your software reselling business.
- Operational Knowledge Base of the Software Product: Although you don’t need to know the technical details of developing this software, you need to fully understand how it works and what it does.
It’ll help you sell the software and answer any of your customer’s questions, which builds your customer’s trust.
How to Resell Software: Step-By-Step Instructions
Now that you know the basics of reselling software, let’s get to the technical part. Here’s a step-by-step guide to walk you through the process of reselling software.
STEP 1: Find a Reputable Software Provider
Finding the right provider is the core of your business. You need to have a reputable software provider who would create software that caters to the market and the target audience’s needs.
STEP 2: Test Your Software Before Selling It
Before demonstrating your software to the public, give it a trial run. Test it out for a while and put yourself in your customer’s shoes.
Are you happy with it? Is it useful? Is it easy to use? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it’s back to the drawing board.
STEP 3: Set Up an Online Platform to Sell Your Software
Another important step to do before going live with your software is to set up an online platform to sell your software from. You need to have a place to push your audience towards with your ads.
Setting up a website will make it easier for customers to find your website and contact you for more information.
STEP 4: Define Your Software’s Unique Value Proposition
Similar to any product or service, your software needs to provide value and solve a problem. So the key to selling your software is defining its unique value proposition (UVP), with which it can solve a certain problem in the market.
STEP 5: Determine Your Target Audience
After knowing your UVP, you must determine who this software would help. Remember that targeting everybody means targeting nobody. You must know your target audience and create a persona based on that knowledge.
Determine their demographics, occupations, interests, lifestyle, etc. That way, you’ll be able to focus your efforts on specific people who could potentially become customers.
STEP 6: Build a Marketing Plan to Target Your Audience
Now that you have your persona, create a marketing plan to target them and advertise your software.
Set up a marketing plan and create a web presence for your software. People are less likely to buy something they’ve never heard about.
So make sure to put your name out there and showcase the benefits that your customers would get if they buy your software.
STEP 8: Offer Customer Service to Support Your Software and Gather Feedback
The last step is to maintain your customers. Offer them customer service to support your software and gather feedback from your customers.
That way you’ll earn your customers’ trust, and at the same time improve your software and make it better and more desirable to new users. It’s a win-win situation!
Can You Make Money Flipping Software?
Flipping software is a brilliant way to make a decent income with minimal effort.
It could also be a lucrative side gig to bring in some money to diversify your income. The best thing about it is that you don’t need any inventory or staff, and you can do it anywhere!
Flipping software has two different approaches:
1. Buying and Selling Existing Software
This approach is the easier one. All you need to do is buy software, make a few improvements, and sell it for a profit. The more you work on your software and make it easier and better for users, the more profit you’ll make from selling it.
This approach only requires basic software development and UI/UX skills to work your magic and upgrade the software. However, it also requires an upfront investment to buy software from the developers in the first place.
If you don’t have the initial financial boost to invest in software, don’t give up just yet. The second approach will help you surpass that.
2. Building and Selling New Software
Why buy software when you could make your own for far less expenses? Building your own software lets you save money and increase your profit margin.
However, to do so, you’ll need to know how to successfully develop software and optimize it to suit the market’s needs.
You don’t need to be a software development mastermind, though. If you know the basics of creating software, you could start from there and work your way up.
Also, before selling your software, try running it to fine-tune any bugs you might face. The better your software is when selling it, the more profit you’ll make.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Software Reselling Profitable?
Absolutely! All you need is a reliable software provider, marketing and sales skills, and that’s it.
It doesn’t require that you learn the technical knowledge needed for software development. You just need to understand how it works and how it’ll help your customers.
Is it Legal to Resell Software?
As long as you have your resale license, reselling a developer’s software is 100% legal.
Whether you’re reselling the software as it is or as white-label software with your brand identity, a resale license permits you to promote and demonstrate your software to customers.
Similar Tutorials to Check Out
If you’re looking for an extra side hustle that’s also related to reselling software, you could check out these tech gigs.
- Resell SEO Service: SEO tools have become crucial to all digital marketing services. When you learn the secrets of SEO, you can become an SEO reseller and provide SEO services to digital marketing agencies for a decent profit.
- Resell Computers: With today’s digital economy growing by the minute, the computer market is growing along with it. This article will teach you how to resell used or flipped computers and make a living out of them.
- Resell Electronics: People will always search for new devices, but not everyone can afford a brand-new one. Learn how to start a lucrative business by reselling electronics and flipping devices.
Wrapping Up
Reselling software is relatively simple once you understand where to start. From there, your business will grow in a blink of an eye.
With the right technical know-how and approach, it’s easy to resell software on platforms, such as Google Workspace and GoDaddy.
Knowing your clientele, how to market your product, and how to counter inevitable issues should also contribute to your success.
Now that you know how to resell software and earn a profit from it, share your thoughts with us in the comments. If you found this article helpful, share it with a friend and kick-start your business together!
