Insight into software company Intuit

With fewer financial breaks from the government for small businesses, not much hope is found in the failing economy. However, there is one Internet business that is working hard to help small businesses succeed.

Intuit has been helping small businesses for over 25 years. The company provides small businesses with financial advice, website servers, and a help line that is open seven days a week, granting the company’s clients access to its website experts, such as Kevin Hellhake, 34. Perhaps best known for its accounting softwares Finance Works, Quicken and QuickBooks, Intuit says it owns America’s leading personal financial software. However, Intuit also has a website building ability that includes over 2,000 website templates that are available for use. It is predicted that no two websites will look the same, because of the website templates and pictures that Intuit provides for its users. Hellhake, a website designer at Intuit for eight years, has been working in web design for over 20 years. He works to design custom websites for banks by meeting with a representative to discuss their website needs and how to target their desired customer. After meeting with the representative, Hellhake helps his department design a custom website for the client. He helps mainly with creating a user interface to make the website easy to navigate. The website templates that Intuit creates for its customers encompass everything needed to accommodate their e-commerce customers. Clients are allowed to choose which pages--home, about me, etc.--will be shown on their website and what those pages will say. Intuit’s website builder is ranked number one in the industry for ease of use. The websites are operated with drag and drop features. Customers are able to drag text boxes wherever they are needed, add more or delete others. If a customer does not understand how to work the website, they only need to call the help line, available seven days a week, and a web design expert will assist in the matter. Websites created with Intuit have a feature the owner can use to choose key words search engines, such as Google or Bing, will pick through so their website will show closer to the top of the search page. The “Business” website package with Intuit includes a website with five pages, a domain name--“www.mybusiness.com”--and an email address for the business. For the first month, the website is open free of charge and without a contract. If the business owner does not like Intuit’s design, the website will be shut down at the end of the 30 day trial with no further obligation from the client. After the first 30 days, the cost of the “Business” website package is $19.99 per month. If the website is not paid for, it will be shut down, with the potential to be reactivated when payments are received. Hellhake describes the work atmosphere at Intuit as a “creative environment.” He says that the leadership at Intuit has a “solid, strong core” and leaves its workers a lot of “career mobility.” Because of the career mobility that is available to Intuit’s workers, Hellhake has been able to contribute innovative projects to the company. After attending a conference in San Diego, Hellhake recognized an influx of mobile apps in the industry and led an effort to change bank websites to mobile apps. “Leaders at Intuit value their employees,” Hellhake says. “That is shown in their actions, not only their words.” The leadership in place at Intuit is his favorite aspect of the company as a whole. Hellhake describes the leadership at Intuit, “..all the way up to the CEO and the president, Scott Cook, [Intuit] has a solid core that makes leadership-based decisions.” Hellhake says that the leadership of Intuit makes decisions that are for the company and the interest of their clients, not themselves. Intuit also supports small businesses by awarding $1,000,000 in small business grants every three months. The company allows contestants two months to acquire votes to attempt to win. Intuit breaks the award 25,000 dollar increments, and the grand prize winner receives $50,000. Hellhake sees Intuit as “viable” because the company’s services will always be needed.