Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think our biggest challenge is actually communicating the benefits and features, because my sales experience with Basecamp and Freshbooks is that in three years I have met one real Basecamp user and no Freshbooks users. These apps don't really scale (in a usage way, not a database way) so I think I have solution for teams of freelancers, or a small shop that uses a mix of employees and contractors. I may be crazy, but these apps strike me as more Web 2.0 smoke then fire.
I do offer rates and billing, and what I think is a far more robust interface for managing work. We have a hell of a lot of work to do on the app, but so far my customers love it.
Check out www.positiveware.com. Not open source, nearly free, and in use by small it teams to manage their business. Robust collaboration means you know what everyone is up to, and real-time time tracking means you know how you are doing against customer budget. Mac and Windows friendly, especially on Firefox and IE, nearly as good on Safari. Not iPhone friendly because of the lack of Flash support. And yes, this is shameless self-promotion.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think our biggest challenge is actually communicating the benefits and features, because my sales experience with Basecamp and Freshbooks is that in three years I have met one real Basecamp user and no Freshbooks users. These apps don't really scale (in a usage way, not a database way) so I think I have solution for teams of freelancers, or a small shop that uses a mix of employees and contractors. I may be crazy, but these apps strike me as more Web 2.0 smoke then fire.
I do offer rates and billing, and what I think is a far more robust interface for managing work. We have a hell of a lot of work to do on the app, but so far my customers love it.
I really appreciate your thoughts.
Check out www.positiveware.com. Not open source, nearly free, and in use by small it teams to manage their business. Robust collaboration means you know what everyone is up to, and real-time time tracking means you know how you are doing against customer budget. Mac and Windows friendly, especially on Firefox and IE, nearly as good on Safari. Not iPhone friendly because of the lack of Flash support. And yes, this is shameless self-promotion.