I didn't ask him, he just publicly revealed it to everyone on his email list. In fact, he did it on 2 different occasions. Remember, these emails are from way back in or …I had to do some digging to find them. Whoa…that's alot of people! As a result of these emails and other research, the decision was crystal clear to me…I should definitely create Long Tail Pro.
You may have to do some more digging to find out if your competitors are making money. However, if you can find anything that references sales, user base, website traffic numbers, or other stats, you can often extrapolate how well the business is doing.
I also want to emphasize that seeing your competitors making lots of money is a GOOD thing! Having a healthy market of buyers even though they are currently buying your competitors products is better than not truly knowing if there is a good market.
If you are not a coder yourself, you'll need to hire a software developer to get your business off the ground. I've hired several developers as a non-technical founder and here's the lessons I've learned. You can learn more of the ups and downs I've had as I learned to hire a developer here. Now, there are lots of places you can go to find a great developer.
I've listed a few ways below. You can find great freelance developers that will give you a quote to complete your entire project or work on an hourly basis. The advantage of a freelance developer is that they are a contractor and not on your full-time payroll forever.
Many freelance coders exist in the world and they range from extremely talented to severely under-qualified to be bidding on your project. My advice is to do a phone call with your top few candidates and make sure they can communicate well with you and understand your job well. I personally have used Upwork to find lots of great talent. Depending on the complexity of your job, you may be able to hire someone overseas at a lower rate than the equivalent US based developer.
Are you ready to hire a full-time developer right out of the gate to get your software company off the ground quickly?
Well, there is no shortage of places to go find the talent you need. In addition to the places listed above which can also potentially lead to full-time hires , there are other job sites like:.
You can also work with either software development agencies or with talent agencies to help you find the right person for your job. A potential reason you might want to go with a software agency is that they might be local. You can likely find a company in your local community that is willing to work with you. This can be advantageous if you want to meet in person and really get to know who you are working with. And of course, you are supporting your local community.
However, there are also TONS of other companies that are willing to work remote for you as well. Here's just a couple:. Another potential option if you would rather give someone ownership in your company as opposed to just paying them cash out of pocket is to find a technical partner. By Spencer Haws. Spencer Haws is the founder of NichePursuits. While consulting with other small business owners as a business banker, Spencer finally had the desire to start his own business.
He successfully built a portfolio of niche sites using SEO and online marketing that allowed him to quit his job in Since then he's been involved in dozens of online business ventures including: creating and exiting Long Tail Pro , running an Amazon FBA business for over 3 years and selling that business, founding LinkWhisper.
You can learn more about Spencer here. Thanks Velinsky. Several users are beta testing v3. You did good job on the software mainly the marketing part.
Especially when you came accross some affiliate manager. I think most of your sales is coming from affiliates? I tested out the need and people like it, I truly believe my plugin will succeed with good marketing approach and improving it the same like you do for Long Tail Pro.
Right now I am getting traffic already and people starting using. I am really excited to see how it goes. Thanks Yaro. Actually most of my sales do not come from affiliates. I just checked my stats, and about I ran the business from to with NO affiliate manager. I used an affiliate manager for a one-week sale in is all.
So, he worked with me for about a week. This is great, I though the software started succeeding after you hired aff manager and you still working with him. Will wait for next post. I love this blog! I have been following you now for about a year, you have totally inspired me to do some of the same things. Its not always beneficial for the business to have me spending all my time building my own products where I could just hire someone to build it for me.
Quick Question. When you started selling LTP, what kind of marketing efforts went into promoting it? Did you have the email list builder that you have now? Meanwhile, you may gain revenue from support and maintenance. Basically, you may own a successful software business without a technical partner.
However, having someone more code-savvy may be useful. They can be involved part-time into your company and review the architecture and code. In return, you may offer them equity in your company. However, you will have to share your growing profit with the co-owner in the future.
One more option is to turn to a reliable vendor offering software as a service. However, you will depend on them a lot, as you will have less control over the software development. Besides, you should allocate some extra time and budget for communication with the vendor to make sure the software satisfies your requirements.
Once you have an idea, obtain the necessary patents and register trademarks to protect it. Make your collaborators sign a non-disclosure agreement at the product creation stage to prevent leakage of any project-related information.
State your business purpose, product, target audience, competitors, financial needs, and the expected time to market for your product. Quirky, Inc. The startup struggled to raise money, went through numerous layoffs, and even shut one of its offices. Later on, they eventually filed for bankruptcy and sold the business in September Now, the invention startup is back with new owners and a new business model.
The platform preserves its purpose, but Quirky itself will no longer manufacture products. Instead, they delegated this task to other companies. The startup conducted no market validation and chose the wrong distribution channel — retail chains. So, they overspent on inventory but failed to recognize whether each product addressed a real consumer need. After all, clicking on an invention you like is different from being ready to pay for it.
Determine the legal structure of your business for the purpose of taxation. Take care of insurance in case something goes wrong with your software. Organizing your own software development team is difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Consider outsourcing your development efforts at least at the first stages. This way, you will get this piece of work done by specialists.
If they are overseas employees, you may benefit from their lower labor rates compared to those of the specialists inside the US. Longer project engagement, costly onsite training, language barriers, and different time zones are possible drawbacks with this option. However, reliable contractors mitigate them to the minimum. On the contrary, hiring wrong people will ruin even the most elaborate plan. GovWorks Inc. The founders had a sound business plan, sufficient venture capital, and a growing audience.
The absence of well-coordinated teamwork led the company to a failure. Testing reveals bugs in your software and ensures its quality. This way, you increase customer satisfaction, which adds to your profit and reputation.
However, factors such as time pressure can make you delegate your testing efforts to others. Software prototyping allows you to get an idea of how the final product will look like before investing time and money finishing it. Users test it, provide their feedback, and decide whether they opt for it in the future. Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.
Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website. Most software development companies market their programs online, through websites and other platforms. What other platforms are most appropriate for a particular business to use depends on what programs that business creates.
Still unsure about what kind of business you want to start? After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in , web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler. Recommended : Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.
Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems to find the best phone service for your small business. Nextiva is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.
Select your state below for an in-depth guide on completing each of these steps in your home state. While many different types of people work within the software development industry, business founders tend to be people who bridge the gap between logic and creativity. Writing programs, of course, requires a strong command of logic.
Entrepreneurship Quiz. Much of the work that goes on at a software development company is done on a computer. Business owners spend time writing code, testing and debugging programs, marketing their programs and providing support to customers.
Business owners must themselves know how to code in at least one programming language, and competency in several languages is highly advisable. This technical knowledge is necessary to code and debug programs. Many community colleges and four-year colleges have computer science programs, and local software developers may offer private tutoring. A software development company can be a small, one-person business, or it can grow into an international corporation.
Gorges is a local development company in Ithaca, NY, and Logos is a good example of a niche-specific company. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship.
As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need. Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners. Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. Many successful software development companies have raised support on Kickstarter before launching. Business owners who do hire employees frequently bring on computer programmers, computer developers, designers and marketers.
When hiring developers, look for candidates who have the required programming skills and the desire to work in a software start-up environment. Consider offering key employees stock in the company. Advertise on job boards such as Monster. Be very specific about the skills and number of years of experience you are looking for.
In addition to knowing the right programming languages, look for those who have experience working on teams to bring a new product to market. Check all references carefully. Ask friends and colleagues in similar types of software industries for recommendations. Create a development time line for the product.
Allot a reasonable amount of time to the development of your software product. A complicated data management system may take much longer to develop than a simple mobile phone application. Before creating the time line, get input from your development team and outside experts to make sure the time allotted is appropriate for the type of software you are brining to market. You want to beat any other potential competition, but you do not want to offer a product that is full of bugs because it was rushed.
Oversee the development process. Facilitate clear communication between you and your development team to ensure that everyone is operating under the same product vision. Hold status meetings weekly to make sure progress is being made according to your timeline. Part 3. Test your software product after the development phase. Establish a structured quality control and assurance process. This may involve a small team of developers testing each feature for smooth functioning on various operating systems, or bringing in new testers with fresh eyes to interact with the product.
Write up a complete set of testing procedures and make sure all testers are following it to the letter. If steps are skipped it will not be a valid test. Gather a team of beta testers. Then fix all bugs and retest. Finalize your product by fixing all bugs and errors, and conduct a final test to ensure quality. Choose beta testers from industries that you previously determined have a need for your type of software. Market your product. Hire a marketing firm or experienced marketing professionals to work for your company.
Consult with such professionals during the product development process to help shape decisions about product features, uses and market audience.
Marketing professionals should be getting feedback on product features, etc. Develop a website and a Facebook page for your company when your product is ready to launch. Provide a lot of "teasers" about what is to come and what the software will be able to do for them.
Determine the price point for your product. Compare it to similar products on the market. Then decide if you want to charge via a licensing fee, a time-limited subscription or per transaction by the end user. Licensing fees are usually a one-time charge for the life of the product, such as purchasing the current version of Microsoft Office. A time-limited subscription would be for a specific period of time before an additional charge is incurred. This would be appropriate if you foresee a lot of upgrades being released.
Per transaction would be a charge every time the customer uses the software such as at a point of sale. Did you know you can get expert answers for this article? Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow. Ken Koster, MS. Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 3. It depends on what you want to build.
If you'll be working from home, the startup costs will be much cheaper. It all depends on how many months you want a buffer for, whether or not you want an office space, where your office location is, cost of insurance, etc. Not Helpful 5 Helpful There is no standard average revenue; it depends on your business model, customer segment, pricing structure, and more. Some software companies may never get revenue and fail while some companies get billions of dollars per year.
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 8.
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