Zoho Corporation, a global company that offers the most comprehensive suite of business software applications in the industry, is launching its Small Business Emergency Subscription Assistance Program (ESAP) to help its customers weather this global crisis. ESAP is one way Zoho is committing itself to helping its small business customers. For up to 20,000 qualified paying customers with 25 employees or less, Zoho is waiving the cost of every single application they use, for up to 3 months.
Zoho is a 24-year-old, bootstrapped, privately held company with more than 50 million users located in over 180 countries. Since the beginning, Zoho has owed its existence to its small business customers. While Zoho now has grown significantly upmarket, supporting mid-market and enterprise customers in addition to small businesses, the company believes that for the broader economy to stay healthy, small businesses must first stay healthy and viable. ESAP is intended to lighten the financial burden put upon our small-business customers during this chaotic and difficult period.
Earlier this month, Zoho launched Remotely, a platform of 11 collaboration applications, provided to businesses of all sizes around the world for free, so that companies could effectively make the transition to remote work. Since its release two weeks ago, more than 4,600 new companies are running on the platform, and that number is increasing every day. In the same period, Zoho has seen a 500 per cent growth in usage of its collaboration apps and 1,000 per cent growth in daily new users of Zoho Meeting.
Between this global program and the no-cost availability of Zoho Remotely, a full virtual collaboration platform, Zoho is committed to helping as many businesses as possible. They are encouraging other companies in a position to help businesses survive to join us in supporting the small business ecosystem.
Commenting on the launch, John Legg, Founder at The Debug Store said:
"Zoho's generous offer will make a huge difference to small businesses. Zoho is one of the world's best-kept business secrets. My business has been using Zoho tools for many years. It is now based in a home office and it would be impossible to operate effectively without using Zoho One."
"Businesses are hurting. They already face tremendous pressure on revenue and cash flows. Not knowing when things will get back to normal is even worse," said Sridhar Vembu, Zoho co-founder and CEO. "Every bit of help we, and other companies, can offer to keep these small businesses afloat will go a long way, not just financially but emotionally as well. We are in this together, and contributions from every business help our community get through this pandemic."
"Certain industries have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and we strongly encourage our customers in these industries to please apply for this Small Business Emergency Subscription Assistance Program," continued Vembu. "While we want to provide relief for as many small business customers as possible, we will prioritize those who are most in need and hope that others who are adapting to market conditions will help us by allowing program availability to those struggling to stay afloat."
Sridhar Iyengar, MD of Zoho Europe, adds: “With COVID-19 disrupting people’s lives, it’s absolutely critical that small businesses are given full support to continue operating despite the chaos. With huge pressure on revenues, cashflows, and millions of workers worried about the future of their jobs, being able to log-on and remain productive is essential. This emergency programme package will provide relief for many small business customers and those struggling to stay afloat. We are proud to offer this support at such a crucial time and hope to play a key role in supporting businesses and their communities.”
