{"id":524,"date":"2015-09-13T20:33:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T00:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/zenefits-is-making-insurance-brokers-obselete\/"},"modified":"2015-09-13T20:38:49","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T00:38:49","slug":"zenefits-spells-bad-news-for-insurance-brokers-but-good-news-for-your-startup","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/zenefits-spells-bad-news-for-insurance-brokers-but-good-news-for-your-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"Zenefits spells bad news for insurance brokers but good news for your startup"},"content":{"rendered":"

14 months. That\u2019s how long it took for me to receive my last paycheck from my employer after I left to attend business school. When I first started my job, I had to attend workshops to help me navigate all the benefits I was receiving, sign up for online accounts to access information about these benefits, and still interface with our HR staff on a weekly basis to make sure I was doing everything correctly. Navigating my employee benefits was extremely complicated work, and it\u2019s even more complicated for small business owners on the other side of it who have to set up these payroll and insurance accounts and ensure they are giving me and the rest of their employees adequate and competitive benefits. That\u2019s why Zenefits, a company that creates software to help small businesses set up and manage their HR operations, gets my vote as a \u201cwinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Zenefits is disrupting the traditional HR industry. Currently one of the fastest growing software-as-a-service companies, Zenefits has already signed up 2,000 small businesses that employ a combined 50,000 workers (source: NYTimes). Zenefits offers web-based HR software to companies for free, giving these small businesses access to health insurance, payroll, commuter and several other benefits and HR services for their employees all in one place, and all online. If the company decides to purchase health insurance through the Zenefits software, the health insurance company pays Zenefits. In 2014, Zenefits saw $20 million in revenue.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?t=108&v=E-0EpztLz0c<\/a><\/p>\n

This model is bad news for health insurance brokers who traditionally fill the role of helping companies select and purchase coverage for their employees. The current health insurance brokerage market is estimated to be $18 billion. Whereas once the commission rates that health care providers set for these brokers were not publicly disclosed, the Affordable Care Act mandated that insurance providers publish their set rates. This eliminates the brokers\u2019 control over this market and allows Zenefits to help \u201csmall businesses buy health insurance pretty much the same way people shop for airline tickets\u201d (source: NYTimes). Zenefits collects the fees that brokers used to receive, while also offering small businesses effective HR software for free. The predictable stream of revenue from monthly premiums also makes Zenefits popular among investors, who dished out $500M in the latest round of funding in May (source: Crunchbase).<\/p>\n

Another reason why Zenefits stands to unseat traditional insurance brokers and payroll tools is that it navigates all the legal complexities that go along with providing benefits to employees. With the passage of the Affordable Care\u00a0Act, small companies are under pressure to ensure their HR programs are compliant. Zenefits promises customers that all they have to do to be compliant is to download the software, and Zenefits will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n

But insurance brokers are not backing down easy \u2013 they are complaining to insurance regulators and in some cases even suing (source: Fortune). Zenefits has also faced recent public complaints about their software not working properly and freezing (source: Buzzfeed). Despite these complaints, Zenefits maintains 99.2% of its clients every month and claims an exceptionally high net promoter score. Zenefits is positioned to capture a large chunk of the brokerage market, continue its rapid pace of growth, and disrupt the historically stagnant HR market \u2013 all of this spells \u201cbig winner\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NY Times: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/09\/21\/business\/zenefits-leader-is-rattling-an-industry-so-why-is-he-stressed-out.html?_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

Crunchbase: https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/zenefits<\/a><\/p>\n

Fortune: http:\/\/fortune.com\/2015\/06\/30\/zenefits-human-resources-software\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Buzzfeed: http:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/williamalden\/zenefits-hr-rocket-ship-but-some-customers-left-behind#.femyE1wP4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about why Zenefits gets 'winner' status by helping small businesses manage employee benefits for free<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[227,226,7,225],"class_list":["post-524","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","hentry","category-disrupt","category-human-resources","category-winner","category-zenefits"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/digital-winners-and-losers\/","yoast_head":"\nZenefits spells bad news for insurance brokers but good news for your startup - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/zenefits-spells-bad-news-for-insurance-brokers-but-good-news-for-your-startup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zenefits spells bad news for insurance brokers but good news for your startup - 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