What Is B2B SaaS? 7 Examples Of Successful SaaS Companies

Whether you’ve heard the term B2B SaaS or not, you probably already use different SaaS products for your business.

How do I know? Recent studies show that the average company in the US uses 130+ SaaS applications to manage various business operations. In addition, the SaaS space is expected to be worth almost $200 billion by the end of 2023.

But what exactly is the B2B SaaS business model, and why is it spreading like wildfire? In this article, we’ll answer this question and share some of the most successful B2B SaaS examples to help you understand how it works.

Let’s dive in.

What Is B2B SaaS And How It Works?

B2B SaaS is a business model representing cloud software solutions business users can access from a browser or mobile application for a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription fee.

B2B and SaaS are two separate terminologies.

• B2B: Business-to-business companies that serve other businesses, not consumers, with their products.
• SaaS: Software as a service is a subscription model in which users can pay a small fee to access web-based software applications.

So, B2B SaaS companies serve other businesses through web or mobile-based software solutions. They manage everything from cloud storage, technical software updates, customer data, and the infrastructure required to run the software smoothly.

In return, the customers (other businesses in this case) can access B2B SaaS tools for a relatively small recurring fee compared to the high license fees of conventional offline software.

The B2B SaaS business model has grown rapidly in recent years. You’ll find it in diverse industries, such as project management tools, invoicing solutions, digital marketing and SEO software, CRM tools, and email marketing automation tools.

For example, Mailchimp, a B2B SaaS company, is a leading email marketing and automation platform with 14 million+ users.

In many of these categories, companies have to compete each other in an extremely tough landscape. The B2B marketing funnel is also substantially different than B2C marketing methods.

Why Do Companies Use B2B SaaS?

Here are some reasons companies increasingly turn to B2B SaaS products for business solutions instead of conventional offline software.

Affordability: You can pay a small monthly fee to access SaaS software instead of buying expensive licenses.

Quick deployment: Integrating SaaS products into your existing software stack is much easier than offline products.

Free trial: Most SaaS companies offer free trials or money-back guarantees allowing customers to test their features before paying.

Scalability: Customers can upgrade or downgrade their SaaS subscription depending on their business needs. This flexibility allows them to optimize costs and stay profitable while using the best tools.

Low maintenance: SaaS companies handle all the technical issues allowing customers to focus on their businesses.

Accessibility: Most SaaS products are cloud-based, which means customers can access them on any device and location.

Security: SaaS companies invest millions of dollars in cyber security systems to ensure the complete privacy of their customer data.

Timely updates: SaaS products constantly improve their features without the customers needing to download or update software versions.

On the other hand, software companies create SaaS tools instead of offline products as it allows them to generate recurring revenue, bootstrap their company, gain valuable usage data, and easily onboard customers.

7 Examples Of B2B SaaS Companies Worth Emulating

Let’s discuss examples of some of the world’s most successful B2B SaaS companies in various industries.

Example #1: Shopify

Shopify is the world’s leading eCommerce CMS platform designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs create, manage, and scale online stores without technical skills. 

It is among the most successful companies in the world that has revolutionized the eCommerce industry by empowering over 4 million small and medium-sized businesses with world-class online stores.

Getting a custom eCommerce website that matches Shopify’s features would cost you thousands of dollars. But thanks to the B2B SaaS business model, Shopify is available to users for as low as $29/month.

Example #2: Monday.com

Monday.com is among the leading work management tools in the world. It started as a project management solution but evolved into a cloud-based work operating system offering project management, time tracking, business planning, resource management, workflow automation, and CRM features.

Monday offers much more features than conventional project management tools at a fraction of their license price. In fact, you can even use it for free.

Example #3: Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an excellent example for several reasons. Firstly, it is the leading all-in-one SEO platform with unmatched keyword research and competitor analysis features. It provides content marketers, SEO agencies, and search marketing professionals with everything they need to find profitable keywords and outrank their search competitors.

But the most remarkable thing about Ahrefs is that its growth is almost entirely based on its world-class blog content and influencer outreach strategy that consistently attract leads and customers. It publishes problem-solving content on various SEO topics and dominates the SEO niche for some of the most competitive keywords.

Example #4: Clearscope

Clearscope is an on-page optimization tool that helps content marketers attract more organic search traffic to their articles and blog posts. It is a hugely successful company in the SEO niche that has only been around since 2016 but has amassed a dedicated following and a large and loyal user base. 

Clearscope finds the most frequently used search terms related to your primary target keyword and helps you optimize your content for maximum search visibility. In addition, it provides excellent collaboration features making it an ideal tool for agencies and distributed SEO teams.

Example #5: Helpscout

Helpscout is a leading help desk, live chat, and customer relationship management platform with thousands of customers across the globe. 

It is known for its intuitive user experience, and robust communication features that allow small businesses, startups, agencies, and even large corporations seamlessly manage client communication through multiple channels.

Example #6: Thinkific

Thinkific is a great example of how innovative B2B SaaS companies are helping businesses break barriers and make more money without technical skills.

It is a leading e-learning platform that allows professionals, functional experts, digital product sellers, and educational institutes to create, sell, and manage online courses in a professional classroom environment.

But despite solving such a complex problem, Thinkific only requires its sellers to upload their content and start selling. It handles content management, cloud storage, and student data and even processes online payments for its teachers.

Example #7: 7Shifts

7Shift is an excellent example of the unique problems B2B SaaS companies solve. It is a restaurant employee scheduling platform that allows owners to manage shift workers.

If that sounds too simple, imagine a restaurant with 1000+ shift workers like chefs, servers, admin staff, and managers in multiple locations.

With 7Shifts, managing employee leaves, overtime, shift schedules, and time-in/time-out is a breeze thanks to its intuitive user interface and powerful tracking features.

B2B SaaS Is The Future

With thousands of B2B SaaS companies in every industry, it’s easy to think they’ve already peaked. But research shows it’s only the beginning of the SaaS revolution. In the coming years, you’ll see more and more companies solving micro-level problems efficiently and growing at an exponential pace.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section.