STRATIVIA SOFTWARE LLC HELPS SAVE MONEY AND FAMILIES

Kenneth Kelly’s reason for creating a budget and financial management software application, Budget Forecaster Software, over 3 years ago was simple – he wanted to save money and his family. Like most middle-class families, he noticed that although he and his wife had a decent amount of money coming in, at times there was equally as much going out.

He recognized that they needed a budget and that software would help with that. So he tried some of the money management software programs that were on the market and felt that these programs were not very user friendly. “I

wanted something that was simple, yet comprehensive, so I decided to create my own budging system using Microsoft Excel” recalls Kenneth.

One day while visiting, his wife’s mom, who happens to be a real estate broker, witnessed him using the program, but she didn’t realize that Kenneth created it. “I remember my mother in-law saying ‘Wow. That’s pretty neat.’” Her initial excitement about the program provided him with the first indication that perhaps he was on to something.

After the first prototype was completed, Kenneth distributed several copies to friends and family members. He states that this enabled him to test and poll the users to determine the usability and friendliness of the program. Based upon the data, they made modifications and developed the first production version of their budgeting and money management software and began selling it as a downloadable product online. It was an immediate success and they recouped all of their start-up costs within the first 6 months of business.

Kenneth realized that in order to reach more customers, they needed a marketing niche. The goal was to reach as many end users as possible. Therefore, they had the software professionally packaged and began marketing to realtors and lenders as settlement, referral, promotional, and thank you gifts for their clients. “Our pitch was, ‘it’s your job to get them into the house. It’s our job to keep them in the house.’” Kenneth recalls. Before they knew it, they were getting large bulk orders of 100 or more CD’s at a time. Later they expanded their market to include, financial planners, debt counselors, credit unions, and banks.

The success of Budget Forecaster, has paved the way for their company to create other products and services. Today, they develop various financial management software applications geared toward a wide variety of user groups. “As our users become more adept at managing their financial matters, we would like them to move on to our next level of financial management applications,” says Kenneth. “In the future we will offer more web-integrated products along with offering additional services, such as online bill payments,” states Kenneth. However, he says that Strativia Software LLC will always remain committed to serving the needs of less financially savvy users.