Vancouver-based Indaba Systems, a seven-year-old company that provides ecommerce software to book-selling clients throughout the United States and United Kingdom, has grown out of its 3,000 square foot Fruit Valley space at the corner of West 13th and Kauffman Avenue. Now, company executives say they’re on the hunt for a new 4,000 to 5,000 square foot location in downtown Vancouver.
“We’re looking for the buildings and the environment (at a new location) to have some uniqueness to it because that’s part of the draw,” said Tad Weigel, Indaba’s vice president of operations. “We’re in a firehouse right now and people come in and say, ‘That must be the most amazing place to work!’ Unfortunately, we’re just at the point where we’re outgrowing it.”
And grow they have. Gary Jones, Indaba’s CEO, said his company has experienced roughly 20 percent growth in the past two years. Every year prior to that, he said, Indaba has nearly doubled.
Key to the company’s growth, according to Weigel, is the fact that Indaba provides hosting service and customer service in addition to software that supports pricing, inventory management and shipping. All of this, he said, gives clients the freedom to simply focus on selling.
“One of the things that Gary [Jones] did to differentiate Indaba from other competitors was to add the service components on top of the software,” said Weigel. “So now we’re in a growth industry where a lot of people are entering the market to sell online. We have a tool they can use to do that, so we grow with our clients.
“It’s all about letting our customers do what they do best, and we handle the rest for them,” he added. “That’s kind of our service model.”
With a unique software/service model in tow, Jones and Weigel said Indaba’s offerings have been utilized by an array of organizations including retail businesses and large nonprofits.
“There’s certain stuff that either doesn’t make it to the [nonprofit] stores, or doesn’t sell. So they end up having to salvage it or donate it to another cause,” explained Jones. “We can determine what the value of these products are so they can maximize their revenue, whether it’s selling it online or in their stores.”
“There’s a lot of gratification that comes when you know you’re enabling these nonprofits to complete their mission,” added Weigel. “We have nonprofits that come to us with no online book operations and with the indaba software we can actually enable that business.”
Jones and Weigel said the ability to work with nonprofits helped Indaba sustain growth throughout the tough economy because people want to buy thrifty.
“People are able to buy books online for a penny,” said Weigel. “People are shopping more nonprofits. So when it [the economy] is good, it’s good. When the economy is bad, we still fit in and help.”
As Indaba looks to downtown Vancouver for a new space, the company is working with local agencies like the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) to help in the relocation process. Weigel said Indaba has plans to use the CREDC to help subsidize training costs during the recruitment of local workers.
“If we can find people in Vancouver that want to work in Vancouver and stay in Vancouver, it’s going to be better for everybody,” he said. “It’s great to see that’s a priority for the community right now.”
