Simplifying Commercial Software Development?

NerdOfPrey writes "I'm nearing completion of development and testing of my first self-produced commercial application, but just beginning to appreciate the full bevy of other associated tasks ahead. There are help files to compile, end user license agreements to write, a website to create - and a secure online payment system to identify and integrate, automated installers to build, logos to design, marketing, and so on. Are there any good web-based single sources of information covering these sorts of issues? I've never had to do all of these things myself in the past; a comprehensive 'small developers guide' would be of considerable benefit." So is there anything besides "imitate, guess and pray" for all the tasks that come after the app is written?

Comments

depending on the app..

[gl4ss]

it might be worth your time to just use one(or many) of the existing ecommerce sites that allow smalltime developers to easily sell their stuff as the sales channel.

again, depending on the app it's definetely worthwhile to try to generate some buzz.. pimp the product up, but do try to stay on the better side of spamming..

hell, apply for slashvertisement. if the first submission doesn't make it try another..

Maybe I am spoiled

[MerlynEmrys67]

But I wouldn't consider development/testing to be done without the help subsystem (RoboHelp - nroff depending on your OS) or the Installer (./config, Wise, installshield) written. In fact those would be two subsystems that I would think were critical to even get it into testing (how did you/your testers install the darned thing in the first place)

Frankly (and thankfully) I've never hand to deal with these issues... If you are a small shop, look into the tool chains that are used to develop the systems that you need - and use them

Re:Maybe I am spoiled

[i.r.id10t]

Unfortunately, that is the way quite a few F/OSS work. So the code gets written and fixed and worked on, but no one seems to want the "lowly" job of writing good clear documentation, and keeping it current with the current release of the software.

I don't mind RTFMing as long as the FM has been written and I can find it....

Re:Maybe I am spoiled

[hey!]

Well, I agree, but there are tough choices to make. You can't do as much or as well in every area as you'd like.

How you focus your efforts depends on you customers -- it is important to know them, and it is important to choose them wisely and appropriately for the product's life stage.

Intuitively, you want as many customers as possible, and truth be known I'd never turn a customer away if he really wanted to spend money. But you have to understand the adoption cycle for new software products and target different audiences accordingly.

The first customers you get are the early adopters. No question, you need a working installer for these folks, but understand these people are people who are attracted to novelty. To meet the needs of early adopters, you need features, features that will establish your market position. These people need lots and lots of attention too. So, you focus on making a featureful, stable product that does cool things. You will focus your attention on finding customers that meet the early adopter profile, who are willing to put up with a bit more aggravation in order to be able to do something new and different.

You also have to understand that these people will want new bells and whistles and will have strong opinions about what should go into the product. It is very important to be responsive to these people without letting them dictate the contents of the product (unless they want to pay for customization). Nonetheless, it follows in this early phase that you will be adding features at the highest rate ever duing the product's life cycle.

This poses a huge documentation challenge, especially if you have a model of producing a comprehensive guide to every single jot and tiddle of the software. Furthermore this comprehensive "reference guide" only has limited value to the early adopters, who will explore every nook and cranny of the software on their own. So, if you can maintain a comprehensive reference guide to your software's features as you add them -- more power to you. At the very least it can help you with product testing. But in this product life phase, your reference documentation is probably not going to be very polished, or terribly useful to a non-initiate. In truth, early adopers are not manual readers, they're tinkerers.

What the early adopters need is something different -- not a guide to what every datbase field means or what the action of every widget is. What they need is a guide to accessing the power of your software -- the stuff that sets it aside from the competition. Thus I'd say something like a collection of success stories and recipes for doing the cool stuff in your software is a higher priority. It also can serve as marketing literature in this phase of adoption.

Eventually, your product starts to become more mature. When people say "can it do X", you no longer run into your hole and code up the changes, because it already does. Now is time to slow down the rate of change and adopt longer release cycles with more limited feature additions. Now is the time when you can attempt to create a comprehensive product manual without your documentation guy having a nervous breakdown.

The good news is now you are ready to make some real money -- in the vast majority of the market that are not early adopters. However, they won't be satisfied with just a recipe book for doing cool things. They'll want a manual they can have next to their computer that tells them exactly waht that widget in your GUI does -- they are not attracted to the adventure of twiddling it and discovering what it does. Here's where that incredibly amateurish refernce guide you put together comes in handy. Don't even think of showing this piece of crap to a pragmatic adopter (much less a skeptic). Take it to a professional tech writer, and have them produce a real manual. Rather than keeping a writer on staff before you have any revenues and while the product is changing rapidly, hire one on a project basis when the product is stabilized and bringing in money. Eventually, when you are bringing in dough on a regular basis, it will be cheaper to hire one, but for now just buy their services.

Re:Maybe I am spoiled

[topham]

You mean having to read header files isn't end-user documentation?

(don't even ask me about installing MythTV on a machine with 100% Linux compatibility... UGH!) (I'm sure it's me...)

Division of Labor

[Apreche]

This is what we call division of labor. If you write software, like I do, then you should not be doing those other things. A graphic designer should make the website. A data entry person should enter in all the information. An interface designer should make the GUI. I think a big problem with jobs being hard to find, besides outsourcing, is companies pushing fewer people harder so they can hire fewer people and pay less money. I was just on a project that pushed me to do craptons of overtime, even on weekends. I will never do that again.

If you are a software developer you do your job of developing software. Anything else you tell the boss you don't know how to do that. Also be sure to note that you can learn to do it, but it will take time and money. And since this will be your first time doing it, you probably wont do the greatest job despite great effort. If your boss has half of a brain they will hire other people to do the other parts. If not, then work at your usual pace leaving the parts you don't know until laste. When the project is late, say I told you so!

Oh, and if losing your job worries you then grow some nuts and watch office space. There's more to life, its not worth it.

Re:Division of Labor

[gl4ss]

he is doing all the stuff for _himself_, in that kind of situation depending on his financial status it may very well be impossible to pay for an outsider for those things(without vc/debt, which he might not even want before seeing how the product goes).

Re:Division of Labor

[mind21_98]

Hmm, does that imply you want the guy to embezzle money from his boss too? ;-)

Re:Division of Labor

[mini me]

... If you are a software developer you do your job of developing software.

But I like to write software, design graphics, and do interface design. And if I have to stick to a single one job from the afromentioned list I get bored fast. My ideal job encompasses all those areas.

Just don't leave your dayjob yet

[hsoft]

Good luck.

Also

[Anonymous Coward]

a comprehensive 'small developers guide' would be of considerable benefit

Also, I am 6'2'' and weigh like 560 lb, so if anyone has a comprehensive huge developers guide, I'll take it.

regarding the website....

[jeffy124]

You mentioned a website to be developed. One of best pieces of advice i've heard regarding websites (iirc, it was from the useit.com guy) - people (aka, customers) spend their most of their time on other websites. In other words, dont do anything that's out of the ordinary.

One way to do this is to identify a competitor of yours, check out their site. Make notes of what's good and what's bad about it, and what you can do to improve upon the bad.

what do you mean by commercial?

[edalytical]

Do you mean retail software or shareware?

I can tell you a thing or two about shareware, but not retail software. When I was getting started with my shareware biz I had to wing it. I have learned a lot, though.

Recently I found a site called Software Marketing Resource. It seems to be a comprehensive guide. There is also a good O'Reilly article on macdevcenter.com called The Do's and Don'ts of Shareware. It is Mac oriented, but the same principals can be applied to any platform. Make sure you read all three parts.

By far the most difficult thing for me has been finding contacts to send press releases, and then sending them. Tedious and nerve racking.

Building a business once you have a product

[datGSguy]

This I hope will help with the larger picture you hint at beyond ecommerce. The easy answer is, there is not an easy answer. At least, not one I have ever found. I have personally started a number of ventures, and once you have a product, all the hats change.

The suggestion I always make to people, is write a simple business plan, even if you never show another soul. Creating a plan points out where the holes are that need filling. Below is a simple outline I often start with, just start with a paragraph about each item. It is written from a funding search point of view, but this is a good place for everyone to start as the people with the money often ask the right question. Business Plan Outline

Give a detailed description of the business and its goals.

Discuss the ownership of the business and the legal structure.

List the skills and experience you bring to the business.

Discuss the advantages you and your business have over your competitors.

Discuss the products/services offered.

Identify the customer demand for your product/service.

Identify your market, its size and locations.

Explain how your product/service will be advertised and marketed.

Explain the pricing strategy.

Financial Management

Explain your source and the amount of initial equity capital.

Develop a monthly operating budget for the first year.

Develop an expected return on investment and monthly cash flow for the first year.

Provide projected income statements and balance sheets for a two year period.

Discuss your break even point.

Explain your personal balance sheet and method of compensation.

Discuss who will maintain your accounting records and how they will be kept.

Provide "what if" statements that address alternative approaches to any problem that may develop.

Operations

Explain how the business will be managed on a day to day basis.

Discuss hiring and personnel procedures.

Discuss insurance, lease or rent agreements, and issues pertinent to your business.

Account for the equipment necessary to produce your products or services.

Account for production and delivery of products and services.

Concluding Statement

Summarize your business goals and objectives and express your commitment to the success of your business.

Once you have completed a draft of your business plan, review it with a friend or business associate or the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) or the Small Business Administration (SBA). They will give you all the other information you will most likley need.

Re:Building a business once you have a product

[mrami]

I second all this. Both SCORE and SBA are great resources, with all kinds of links, sample business plans, etc. The business play will absolutely help you focus your direction (my main problem is always focus; with software you can do anything), plus no investor/lender will take you seriously without one.

And remember, (to me at least) a business isn't really a business unless you can take a year off and it keeps running. Without that, you've just created another job with no time off.

Re:Building a business once you have a product

[MasterDirk]

This is a good list! Now, if I'd have googled for a business plan I'd have found this document, which has much of the same but is even neater.

I for one never knew it was that much work just setting up a business. Maybe this is why I'm better suited to being an employee :)

Re:Building a business once you have a product

[datGSguy]

Try not to be daunted by the list. Just like coding the application, take it in steps, and use small concise bits of information. Especially if going to family friends or your local bank, none of them want to read more than a four-page document. I have written over 40 plans for mine and other people's ventures, the main goals are to let you and those reading it know that you have covered or at least put some thought into what's involved, and potential problems. People invest in people, not in plans.

selling your product

[216pi]

I've written a win32 product and was looking for someone who'll sell it for me.

Use ShareIt. easy to use, the shop runs on their server but you can define templates that makes the user think they're still on your site.

I love them. really.

If all the stuff with testing and help files etc. didn't work that good, you can even say them that they shall refund everyone who demands it without annoying you.

Re:selling your product

[cerebralpc]

Can I ask how many units have you sold?

Re:selling your product

[216pi]

hehe. no.

Word of mouth?

[magefile]

This may or may not be relevant, based on the type of software involved. However, I have written some software that is of interest to schools (mostly high schools, but middle schools and universities might also be interested), and I decided to skip e-commerce, building a website, etc. Instead, I am contacting local schools directly and asking if they're interested. My target audience (school boards and principals) are highly networked, so I expect the word of mouth factor to be high.

So you may not want to fsck around with e-commerce.

OS Commerce. Big intellectual challenge.

[Futurepower(R)]

I'm really shocked that no one has yet mentioned OSCommerce.

You are right that marketing is a huge intellectual challenge.

--
Government data compares Democrat and Republican economics.

No-hoper

[hopethishelps]

This guy doesn't know which way is up.

He says he's a go-it-alone commercial developer and he hasn't a merketing plan? Well, he won't make that mistake again.

He says he's "nearing completion of development and testing", and he hasn't got any help files compiled yet? Sounds like he's not ready to start final testing.

It's so easy for somebody to write some code and kid himself he's starting a viable business. Probably happens somewhere every week. I don't know why /. eds though it was worth a story, though.

Re:No-hoper

[topham]

It's worth a story if only to get 200 people telling him he hasn't even STARTED yet.

EULA madness

[valshaq]

...end user license agreements to write...

O my god! Do you want to play Microsoft or what? It is NOT needed/useful to waste your time setting up such rubbish that obstructs potential users.

Re:EULA madness

[jqh1]

Unless you go with one of the free/open source licenses out there, you pretty much need to come up with a license agreement -- really, you should talk to a lawyer about that.

You should also talk to a lawyer and an accountant about setting up your books and business entity.

ASP

[BortQ]

The Association of Shareware Professions has loads of good info in and around its website. There are member-only newsgroups that are also very useful. It costs $100/year to be a member, but if you are planning to make a business out of it it is well worth it.

Re:ASP

[legirons]

"The Association of Shareware Professions has loads of good info in and around its website. There are member-only newsgroups that are also very useful. It costs $100/year to be a member, but if you are planning to make a business out of it it is well worth it."

Presumably you can download some sort of crack that you type in to get free membership?

Some links

[Anonymous Coward]

For independent software development and running your software business:
Eric Sink
Joel on Software (read business of software newsgroup)

For inexpensive, reliable order processing:
SWREG
ShareIt

Installers:
NSIS (Windows)
BitRock (Linux, Windows)

Icons/Website:
Go to KDE Look find some artwork you like and contact the author.