Updates from Wave: Helping small businesses start, survive, and thrive

Here at Wave, our purpose is to champion small businesses.

For the 15 years Wave has been in business, we’ve listened to our customers, gained valuable insights into their pain points, and endeavored to grow as their needs did.

Upon joining the company two years ago, I recognized it was imperative for Wave to evolve and meet the changing needs of small business owners once more.

It was time to take Wave from a startup designed to remove a barrier to entry for aspiring small business owners to a purpose-driven, profitable, and sustainable company designed to support them at every stage of their journeys—from starting to surviving to thriving.

That’s why we’ve introduced a new pricing model.

This change was carefully crafted to enhance our ability to reinvest in the products our users love most and meet the evolving needs of small business owners.

Earlier this year, we introduced our new pricing model to anyone signing up for or creating a new business in Wave. These new businesses were given a choice between two plans: a free plan (“Starter”) and a paid plan (“Pro”).

Since then, we’ve optimized our plans and crafted new Pro Plan features in preparation to roll out to businesses created in Wave prior to our announcement. Starting June 10, 2024, these businesses will automatically be part of the free Starter Plan, with the option of upgrading to the Pro Plan at any time.

‍The chart below outlines which features are part of the Starter Plan and the Pro Plan for “legacy businesses” vs. new businesses in Wave. Legacy businesses are businesses that joined Wave prior to January 29, 2024 in Canada, and businesses that joined Wave prior to February 5, 2024 in the US.

The future of small business ownership

Small business has been booming at an incredible rate over the past four years. In the US, the amount of new business applications filed reached a new record in June 2023.

As of 2023, there were 33,185,550 small businesses in the US, making up 99.9% of US businesses. Microbusinesses, defined as businesses with fewer than 10 employees, make up 92% of all businesses in the US, and contribute to an average of 38% of their owners’ household incomes.

The landscape of small business has changed dramatically, too. A good example of this is the creator economy—one of the fastest-growing segments of small business. In 2022, 8.1 million independent creators earned money in the creator economy—14% more than in 2021.

Despite small businesses contributing so greatly to both the economy and job creation, their financial health needs are often overlooked. Unfortunately, one in five small businesses fail within their first year. And it’s not due to a lack of talent or effort—starting and running a business isn’t easy.

That’s where we come in. By providing small business owners with the tools they need to stay in control of their cash flow, save time on the most tedious bookkeeping tasks, and look and feel professional right from the start, we can set them up to successfully move from starting to surviving to thriving.

In fact, we’ve consistently heard from some cohorts of customers that they would be happy to pay a fee if it meant getting access to the right tools and support—that’s how crucial money management is for small businesses.

Putting the customer first  

Our move to a subscription model, a key component of software as a service (SaaS), will help us drive growth and reinvest in our products, ultimately helping us understand and serve our customers even better.

This change will help us achieve what we’ve always set out to do: put the customer at the center of everything we do.

A SaaS model will encourage us to more diligently and intentionally think about the customer journey; how our customers use our products; and how we can give them an even better, more valuable experience—freeing them up to do what they do best: run their businesses.

Removing a barrier to entry (and beyond)

Whether someone is a completely new business owner or a seasoned professional, there are now options for small businesses at any stage to get access to the money management tools they need.

Enabling small businesses to start has been core to Wave since day one, which is why we remain committed to offering the Starter Plan for free. Our new pricing model will enable us to help small businesses make it through those first critical years, too.

We’re looking forward to this new chapter of Wave and the enriched experience we’ve worked hard to build!