We’re here for you

Have you ever heard someone say “private equity bought that struggling company and made it better”? Me neither. So what do you do if your workforce management tool gets bought-out?

Note: I don’t usually write about competitors but some interesting news came out today and it’s worth discussing. Before we get to that, I’ll set the scene for context…

Our roots

We built FieldClock because we thought ag employers deserved better than what was available. The tools that existed were outdated and expensive. This was a side-effect of the prevailing business model where developers would capture as much market share as they could and then stop re-investing in their platform.

Software vendors with expensive up-front costs banked on farmers falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy. Switching to new software was hard because growers didn’t want to write-off their “investment” even though their vendor was no longer actually investing in their platform.

It was extractive, and it didn’t have to be…

It’s what’s on the inside that counts

We launched FieldClock in 2015 with an amazing app; with fair and transparent pricing; and without onerous commitments or expenses. We proceeded to build the best workforce management software for agriculture.

As it happens a competitor launched about the same time we did. On the surface they appeared to be similar – modern software for workforce management – but that’s where the similarities ended. Their business model was built on secrecy, large up-front sunk costs, contract lock-ins, high prices... their business model was extractive.

As an aside: a common Silicon Valley playbook is the “winner takes all” approach. The theory is that you can dump a bunch of money into a startup and win the whole market by aggressively underpricing competition rather than building a compelling product. Once the market is captive, you can raise your prices and recoup your losses.

Uber is a great example of this. A decade ago you could get an Uber in any major city for a fraction of what a taxi cost. Once they had acquired enough of the market (and IPO’d and needed to turn a profit), prices went through the roof. Higher rates, surge pricing, and dynamic pricing resulted in a worse experience for riders, while Uber pocketed more and more of the fee which resulted in a worse experience for drivers.

As far as we could tell, our competitor was following this “winner takes all” playbook. When we were talking to the same prospects, their price would be just below ours. If they thought the farm wasn’t talking to us they would quote 2-4x what our published cost was. If ethics are “how you act when nobody is watching”, their ethics were clearly to charge farms as much fees as they could get away with.

Why this matters

Today Terminus Capital Partners announced it acquired a majority stake in PickTrace. PickTrace is FieldClock’s only notable competitor for mid-size and enterprise agricultural employers. The press release states that the investment will “accelerate product innovation, expand its platform, unlock new markets”. That could be true, but let’s look at Terminus’ track record:

• Their portfolio page lists 38 investments
• About half have been acquired by other firms
• Several have been merged
• There were a half-dozen that I couldn’t find any information on and may be out of business or scrapped for partts

I could only find 9 of the 38 investments (less than 24%!) that were still operating in more-or-less the same capacity as when they were acquired.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this – private equity firms regularly buy struggling businesses to turn them around or strip out the valuable parts – but it does beg the question…

If you are using PickTrace, how will you manage the high likelihood that your workforce management tool will be sold-off, parted-out, merged, or otherwise unrecognizable in the next few years?

• What does this mean for your daily operations?
• What does this mean for your compliance obligations?
• What does this mean for your budget and cost management?
• What happens to you and your employees’ data?

With all due respect

None of this is intended to be rude. I respect competition and I think anybody creating tools for farmers is doing something good. My goal in writing this is to help growers see the writing on the wall.

If your workforce management tool was built on an extractive business model, spent 10 years trying (and failing) to own the market, and a private equity firm just bought a majority stake in it… it’s time for you to give FieldClock a call.

PickTrace customers, we’re here for you!

Here’s what we offer:

• Easy data collection
  • iOS & Android apps for BYOD environments
  • Dedicated FieldClock devices with “smart SIMs” are available
  • Offline mode, Spanish translations, you name it – our apps are built for ag
• Easy wage calculations
  • FieldClock’s powerful Pay Engine enables you to configure complicated ag-specific pay rules without burdening your employees
  • Safeguards to prevent ghost employees and pieces
• Easy Paydays
  • 30+ payroll formats supported and customizations available at no charge
  • Paycards for your employees
• Powerful reporting
  • Report Library with hundreds of pre-built reports
  • Report Builder to create your own reports
  • Personalized dashboards putting data directly in your pocket and your inbox
• Extensive API access
  • Dozens of API endpoints allow you to integrate FieldClock with your ERP
  • Full-feature integration with Harvust, our onboarding partner
• Reliability
  • Historic uptime of 99.99% in the past year
  • Uptime SLA providing guaranteed uptime
• Security
  • SOC 2 certified by a third-party auditor
  • Public Trust Center
• Flexible billing
  • Commit annually, pay monthly
  • Automated usage-based billing so you don’t get nickel-and-dimed if you pick up acreage or share labor with other organizations
• Incredible Value
  • Get started today for as low as $7 per employee per month
  • Perpetual Price Lock keeps your cost basis the same in perpetuity

You will not find a better deal out there. Our commitment to growing our business the “old fashioned way” has led to clients in 28 states and 6 countries. FieldClock is additive, not extractive, and we’d love the chance to add to your operation.

-josh