We are a traditional service business, but we have built a proprietary AI software tool that we want to sell as a subscription. Our current Accountability Chart is built for service delivery. Should we cram this new product line into our existing marketing and operations seats, or do we need to build a completely separate structure on our chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Cramming a new software-as-a-service product line into an existing service-delivery structure is a recipe for operational chaos. Traditional service businesses and software companies operate on completely different models, metrics, and speeds. If you try to force your current leadership team to run both, you will dilute their focus and stall both lines of business.

To prepare for a clean exit, you must build a structure that clearly separates these two distinct value propositions. On your Accountability Chart, you should create a separate branch for your product line.

This means you will have distinct seats for Product Marketing, Software Operations, and Tech Support that are separate from your Service Marketing and Service Delivery seats. In the beginning, because you are lean, some of your existing leadership team members might sit in seats on both sides of the chart.

Howsoever, by keeping the structure separate, you clarify the different roles and measurables required for each model. This structure makes the unit economics of your software tool transparent to future buyers, which is critical for securing a high valuation. It also shows a clear path for scaling the software independently from the labor-heavy service side of your business.