Running a reseller business is often a challenge because you are building an empire for someone else. It takes a lot of effort to generate revenue, but still, you as a reseller do not receive what you deserve in terms of growth, expansion, and branding. However, there is a great option to build your own empire and grow in leaps and bounds in the VoIP industry, which is one of the biggest revenue-making industries in the world. It is considered to be worth billions of dollars and the valuation is growing with each passing year. There are so many different VoIP solutions, which you can use for your business. The open source VoIP billing software can be used to run your business because it has so many benefits to offer to a reseller.
In this blog post, we will explore more details about some of the top advantages that a reseller can yield using an open source VoIP billing solution in the IP telephony industry.
Let’s get deeper into this subject matter to explore the advantages of this VoIP solution for resellers.
1. Who is a Reseller?
In any business, whether it is VoIP or any other, there can be a branch of revenue generation, called the reseller model. A reseller is a person that resells the service or software of another business. A reseller may run a business with the same branding as the main business or a reseller may use a white label solution to run his or her business. There are different models associated with a reseller business for revenue generation as briefed below:
- Revenue share: Share a predefined percentage to the main business owner from the generated revenue.
- Fixed cost share: This model has a specific fee that a reseller must pay to the main business owner at a billing cycle. The reseller can define his or her own cost to receive from customers.
- Hybrid model: In this model, the reseller needs to pay a certain amount every month to stay a reseller of the business. In addition to that, the reseller needs to share a percentage of revenue.
Usually, the main business owner provides a different reseller model, and a reseller can choose this model.
2. What Are the Downsides of Being a Reseller?
The upside of being a reseller is you get quick access to the market without heavy investment. This is one of the major reasons enthusiastic entrepreneurs choose to become resellers. However, there are several downsides to becoming a reseller such as:
- The final decisions related to a VoIP billing solution are always in the hands of the business owner and resellers need to follow the same.
- The terms and conditions along with the reseller model and revenue sharing can change at any time or once the contract is over.
- The business owner always has the power to terminate the contract at any given point in time.
- Resellers are often restricted to working in certain geographical areas only because a business owner would have a larger network of resellers, and each would have a specific region to cover. Thus, a reseller can never go all in to capture the world and make revenue generation opportunities endless.
- Ultimately, the efforts of resellers are put into building a business and brand of the business that runs a reseller network.
Also Read : Definitive Guide to a VoIP Billing Solution
3. What is An Open Source VoIP Billing System?
An Asterisk or FreeSWITCH billing software is a VoIP billing platform developed in the respective technologies. The VoIP development company also provides custom billing software with value added features that allow business owners to run their own business and build a reseller network.
The disadvantage of a proprietary VoIP invoicing and bill payment software solution is that it needs capital investment, which all resellers might not be able to afford. But there is nothing to be scared of because an solution is a real boon for resellers.
An open source solution for VoIP billing, invoicing, and payment processing will be available for free and it will open doors of opportunities for any business owner, including, but not limited to resellers.
An open source VoIP billing platform is a community driven solution that is developed by enthusiastic community members. It is available for free along with its source code. One can customize it and also use a complete white label version of this software to run one’s own business.
4. Major Advantages of Using an Open Source VoIP Solution for Billing by a Reseller?
There are several advantages of using an open source VoIP billing solution. Let’s explore the major ones.
Run Your Own Business
One of the biggest disadvantages of being a reseller is, you invest your smart and hard work to build a business for someone else. However, by using an open source solution, which will also have several amazing features along with billing and invoicing, you will be able to run your own business. For example, ASTPP is the #1 FreeSWITCH based open source VoIP billing platform. It not only provides the world class FreeSWITCH billing software, but it also provides several other features related to a VoIP Softswitch. This helps you run your own VoIP business and automate invoicing, billing, and payment processing. As discussed earlier, the expenses will be too low as it is an open source solution, which will not charge you anything.
Also Read : Role of Open Source VoIP Billing Software in Managing Business Phone System
Define Growth and Expansion Models
Unlike a reseller model in which you are dependent on your partner, you can define your own growth strategy. In fact, the open source solution for billing and invoicing also supports reseller models, so you can create your own reseller network. This will help you build a bigger and high revenue generating brand that earns you more money with the smart and hard work of other resellers.
This VoIP invoicing and bill payment software will be highly customizable, so you will be able to make all types of customizations in the software. You can also integrate other solutions with it using third party API integration and define your business expansion strategy. You will be totally in control of your business.
Keep Your Investments in Control
Open source solutions are free, but you may need to pay for technical services like installments, support, etc. As open source solutions are available for longer periods of time, you will be able to receive plenty of options to get technical help. You can choose the technology partner that best fits your budget. Moreover, you can customize the software or add other solutions to launch several other revenue generating opportunities once you start making money as part of your growth strategy. You will be in charge of investments, so you will be able to ensure the best value for money with your entrepreneurial skills.
Go All Over the World
As you run your own business, you can capture any geographical territory with your smart moves. A majority of open source VoIP billing solutions support multiple languages and currencies. If it is not supporting the same, you can invest in adding these functionalities. With a multilingual platform that supports multiple languages, you can run your business across borders without any restrictions over revenue generation. This can be a great advantage to the resellers that have launched their own business.
Put The Complete Focus on Business
As a reseller, you might be more skilled in business development and sales. Thus, you must focus on those skill areas as they can make real money for you and your business. Once you start making money, you can outsource the entire technical part to any third party technical support provider that masters the VoIP billing platform that you are using. Alternatively, you can also use paid support from the official team that manages that VoIP billing solution. The team has been working with this software for a long time and therefore, even if an hourly rate of support might be higher than other freelancers and companies, you will receive better value over money and relief with the best technical support services.
Concluding Notes
Resellers are the heart and soul of many businesses, but in many ways, resellers get peanuts for their hard work and dedication. By using the best open source VoIP billing software, a reseller can become a business owner and run his own business. He can also set up his own reseller network to manifold his revenue generating opportunities. The open source solutions are available for free and white labeling. This gives more flexibility to run a thriving business. Along with that, there are several advantages that one can leverage by using an open source platform for billing and invoicing because these platforms provide many more functional capabilities than just billing and invoicing. If you are interested in exploring more about it and using the #1 FreeSWITCH based open source VoIP billing platform, contact us.
