Software road hurdles

[Alexey Karasev]

I recently heard a lot of stories about guys getting rich creating some SaaS or other software business. If you listen to Dane Maxwell - that's easy as hell - you search for the problem, then presell your solution, hire a developer and get rich. However, that's obviously a fairy tale, o/w everyone would be rich by now. Every markets has its hurdles that stop everyone from getting rich. So does anyone know what are they for this type of software business?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GuestUser113]

I recently heard a lot of stories about guys getting rich creating some SaaS or other software business. If you listen to Dane Maxwell - that's easy as hell - you search for the problem, then presell your solution, hire a developer and get rich. However, that's obviously a fairy tale, o/w everyone would be rich by now. Every markets has its hurdles that stop everyone from getting rich. So does anyone know what are they for this type of software business?

You are asking the wrong questions.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984358102/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

 

[Alexey Karasev]

You are asking the wrong questions.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0984358102/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1432650332&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&keywords=fastlane millionaire&dpPl=1&dpID=514kBeGrXDL&ref=plSrch

How come? I'm on the final chapters of this book and don't get why this question might be wrong. Am I missing something?

 

[obrian]

it's possible to make alot of money creating software but there is alot of elements that lead to creating a proper software for the market place. it took years for microsoft to take off because they're earlier versions were so poor lol.i do ccomputer programming and trust me it's like alot of work man sleepness nights and stuff like that but you know i love what i do.because when it comes to software development you got to have proper planning, development team, a testing team that test the code, the user experience got to be amazing but it depends on what kind software your making whether it's for the backend part of a system which goes unnoticed by the user or the front end which is the part the user interacts with so their are alot elements both great and small which needs to be added to create a great software.this quote sums it up.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Alexey Karasev]

it's possible to make alot of money creating software but there is alot of elements that lead to creating a proper software for the market place. it took years for microsoft to take off because they're earlier versions were so poor lol.i do ccomputer programming and trust me it's like alot of work man sleepness nights and stuff like that but you know i love what i do.because when it comes to software development you got to have proper planning, development team, a testing team that test the code, the user experience got to be amazing but it depends on what kind software your making whether it's for the backend part of a system which goes unnoticed by the user or the front end which is the part the user interacts with so their are alot elements both great and small which needs to be added to create a great software.this quote sums it up.

View attachment 9783

Obrian, thanks for the reply! If I understand correctly, the summary of what you wrote above is you have to work hard to create a piece of software. But that's true for almost any business - be it ecommerce site, infoproduct, blog, etc. I'd like to hear more about what it takes to be successful in this industry. E.g. you have to be good at tech, or have many connections or is it a pure game of chance to succeed building software?

 

[Digamma]

Your first thread started well, now you fall on this.
Software is like any other business. Hard. Do it and you'll know what hurdles there are. Nobody will give you the perfect recipe because it don't exist.

If you listen to Dane Maxwell - that's easy as hell - you search for the problem, then presell your solution, hire a developer and get rich.

Of course, he's selling you something. Ain't easy.

However, that's obviously a fairy tale, o/w everyone would be rich by now.

Somebody Luffy this up, please.

 

[obrian]

well not necessarily good a tech but if you are good at it it would be a bonus

Obrian, thanks for the reply! If I understand correctly, the summary of what you wrote above is you have to work hard to create a piece of software. But that's true for almost any business - be it ecommerce site, infoproduct, blog, etc. I'd like to hear more about what it takes to be successful in this industry. E.g. you have to be good at tech, or have many connections or is it a pure game of chance to succeed building software?

Develop programming expertise. Obtain a degree in computer programming or get an entry-level job at a software company where you can train with a software development mentor.
Work for a software company in a management capacity. Strengthen your leadership and communication skills, and tune into the needs of end users and product marketing processes.
Generate a product idea. Develop an innovative product idea based on what you have learned and observed about the needs of end users. Once it becomes clear that a market exists for your product idea, consider starting your own software company.
Protect your product idea. Obtain the necessary patents and trademarks. Ask your team of collaborators, if applicable, to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).this is really damn important man trust me, this a really messed up industry man competitors can come in and take your market share so this is a very important step.
Create a business plan. Write a plan that describes the purpose of your business, product, branding approach, market audience, product competition, and financial needs and plans.Become knowledgeable about licensing, taxes and insurance. Research the requirements of your jurisdiction for licensing, sales tax, income tax, liability insurance and other requirements. Consult an accountant or attorney, if necessary.
Raise funds for your software company. Software development requires time and resources.Explore venture capital funds. Contact venture capital firms to discuss the possibility of entering into an agreement.Research grants and loans. Explore the availability of grants and loans for small businesses.Find investors among relatives and friends. Discuss your software product idea with family and friends to explore the possibility of their investment in your business.
Purchase the necessary equipment and applications. Equip your development team with computers, programming applications, data storage capability, servers and all of the necessary tools for creating and distributing the software.
Hire developers. When hiring developers, look for candidates who have the required programming skills and the desire to work in a software start-up environment.
Develop your software product.Create a development time line. 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.Oversee the development process. Facilitate clear communication between you and your development team to ensure that everyone is operating under the same product vision.
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.Gather a team of beta testers. Allow a small and select team of end users to use your product to gauge its user-friendliness, effectiveness, accuracy and/or efficiency.Fix all bugs and retest. Finalize your product by fixing all bugs and errors, and conducting a final test to ensure quality.
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.

i got these from out of book man i hope it helps.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Alexey Karasev]

Your first thread started well, now you fall on this.
Software is like any other business. Hard. Do it and you'll know what hurdles there are. Nobody will give you the perfect recipe because it don't exist.
Of course, he's selling you something. Ain't easy.
Somebody Luffy this up, please.

No offense, but I think this opinion is a bit myopic. Every industry has its own winners. Rockefeller cannot build Facebook and Zuckerberg will suck at building an oil company. Also you can spend months researching startups to open your own VC fund only to find out later that you actually have to invest a couple millions of your own money which you simply dont have. It's better to know in advance in which pub you are going to spend your precious time. As for the magic pills of course they don't exist.

 

[Alexey Karasev]

well not necessarily good a tech but if you are good at it it would be a bonus

Develop programming expertise. Obtain a degree in computer programming or get an entry-level job at a software company where you can train with a software development mentor.
Work for a software company in a management capacity. Strengthen your leadership and communication skills, and tune into the needs of end users and product marketing processes.
Generate a product idea. Develop an innovative product idea based on what you have learned and observed about the needs of end users. Once it becomes clear that a market exists for your product idea, consider starting your own software company.
Protect your product idea. Obtain the necessary patents and trademarks. Ask your team of collaborators, if applicable, to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).this is really damn important man trust me, this a really messed up industry man competitors can come in and take your market share so this is a very important step.
Create a business plan. Write a plan that describes the purpose of your business, product, branding approach, market audience, product competition, and financial needs and plans.Become knowledgeable about licensing, taxes and insurance. Research the requirements of your jurisdiction for licensing, sales tax, income tax, liability insurance and other requirements. Consult an accountant or attorney, if necessary.
Raise funds for your software company. Software development requires time and resources.Explore venture capital funds. Contact venture capital firms to discuss the possibility of entering into an agreement.Research grants and loans. Explore the availability of grants and loans for small businesses.Find investors among relatives and friends. Discuss your software product idea with family and friends to explore the possibility of their investment in your business.
Purchase the necessary equipment and applications. Equip your development team with computers, programming applications, data storage capability, servers and all of the necessary tools for creating and distributing the software.
Hire developers. When hiring developers, look for candidates who have the required programming skills and the desire to work in a software start-up environment.
Develop your software product.Create a development time line. 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.Oversee the development process. Facilitate clear communication between you and your development team to ensure that everyone is operating under the same product vision.
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.Gather a team of beta testers. Allow a small and select team of end users to use your product to gauge its user-friendliness, effectiveness, accuracy and/or efficiency.Fix all bugs and retest. Finalize your product by fixing all bugs and errors, and conducting a final test to ensure quality.
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.

i got these from out of book man i hope it helps.

Thanks for the info! I think it might be useful.

 

[Digamma]

No offense, but I think this opinion is a bit myopic. Every industry has its own winners. Rockefeller cannot build Facebook and Zuckerberg will suck at building an oil company. Also you can spend months researching startups to open your own VC fund only to find out later that you actually have to invest a couple millions of your own money which you simply dont have. It's better to know in advance in which pub you are going to spend your precious time. As for the magic pills of course they don't exist.

What I said is that all business is hard. You made a list of extremely hard things and then asked "but it can't be that easy, or everybody would be rich". Except none of those things is remotely easy, as you will learn in the first five minutes of working on them.
Hence, my "try to do it and you'll see what's hard about it".

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BruceWayne]

If you listen to Dane Maxwell - that's easy as hell

hire a developer and get rich.

I'm a software dev, and I can tell you that making software is messy, hard to estimate, and the finished product is often somewhat defective (full of bugs). And that's if you know what you're doing.

If you don't know how to develop software and you're going to hire devs, it gets really complicated quickly. How will you know anything about what the dev is doing (if they are doing it right, and they on track, over their head, etc)?

So, in Dane's pitch, that's the catch.

Oh, there's another one. I believe his method involves going around and talking to businesses to find pain points they will pay for. The rub is just because someone says they'll pay doesn't mean they really will. What people say they'll do and what they actually do is often different as I'm sure you know.

 

[blackhat]

getting rich

get rich

be rich

getting rich

I think that is your problem.

 

[Alexey Karasev]

I'm a software dev, and I can tell you that making software is messy, hard to estimate, and the finished product is often somewhat defective (full of bugs). And that's if you know what you're doing.

If you don't know how to develop software and you're going to hire devs, it gets really complicated quickly. How will you know anything about what the dev is doing (if they are doing it right, and they on track, over their head, etc)?

So, in Dane's pitch, that's the catch.

Oh, there's another one. I believe his method involves going around and talking to businesses to find pain points they will pay for. The rub is just because someone says they'll pay doesn't mean they really will. What people say they'll do and what they actually do is often different as I'm sure you know.

Great reply! Thanks Bruce!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Alexey Karasev]

I think that is your problem.

It might be my problem, but definetely not my pain as I live pretty comfortable with it ))

 

[exige]

The challenge/secret in all SaaS is marketing... customer acquisition, conversion into paying customers, and retention. It is one thing to validate your software idea and pre-sell it (and convince some people to pay for it up front), but then your challenge is scaling it while retaining existing customers and getting the renewals. That challenge is pretty much universal to marketing any product online. The rest is all solvable through your own labor or money for outsourcing.

 

[GIlman]

There are a couple people on this forum actively doing this (I.e. Putting money out there to build a product) from different backgrounds. I am a self taught dev, I have build SaaS applications in the past that did well, and am currently deep into my next project. Tafy is another member on this board who is actively building a product, I've seen it and it is real not just talk. Both of us have invested hundreds probably thousand + hours into our products and companies.

I can tell you from the dev perspective how this process has gone.

Hiring someone else to program is still a tremendous amount of work. I spend probably a minimum of 15 hours a week reviewing code, issuing bugs, building specs, reviewing developer work logs, researching online to find ideas for features, etc.

In general, you can't just tell someone what you want. You have to show them. Tafy has used a graphic designer to create mockups to do this. I have coded wireframes to show the dev the visual product. This is a very time intensive process, but when done right 1 hour of my time can form 10 hours of time for the dev to create the product.

Don't expect your dev to be creative. They are implementers.

I don't believe Dane maxwells method is realistic for most people. Unless you are just one hell of a sales person, it's going to be very hard to sell vapor ware to people. Just because he can show one or two people who have done it this way does not make a statistically significant sample to prove it is a reasonable approach.

Businesses are all to familiar with software concepts that never materialize. I am at the stage now where I have usable components to my software. I am showing these around and just at the point where I can have a meaningful discussion about what my product will do for people.

You can also reach out to @Iwokeup who tried the maxwell method, see what his take on preselling is.

Anyway, best of luck with your endeavor.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kevin Peter]

Pick up something that you have had issues dealing with in your day to day work life. Put the idea into production, get it developed and market it.
For instance, have you seen the number of time tracking tools available in the market now? If you have seen my new thread recently on the forum put up for suggestions, I really am going crazy before finalizing one. Over a period now, we have tried tested and rejected hell lot of such tools. They seem lucrative at the start, with the offers and support, but ideally not credibility in the market.

 

[tafy]

I cant code and I am building an epic size saas application, it can be done. But don't expect anyone to be interested until you have nearly finished it and have customers and a great usp. Good luck.

 

[eliquid]

I've owned and built 4 SaaS applications myself.

When I say 4, I really mean 3 tiny ones that filled tiny and small/limited markets and 1 that is taking off and doing really well.

Solve needs that are scalable and limitless and charge well for it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kevin Peter]

I've owned and built 4 SaaS applications myself.

When I say 4, I really mean 3 tiny ones that filled tiny and small/limited markets and 1 that is taking off and doing really well.

Solve needs that are scalable and limitless and charge well for it.

Would love to know more on how did you succeed.

 

[eliquid]

Would love to know more on how did you succeed.

Always know, there is no magic formula.

For me, I stuck to something I knew a lot about... digital marketing. I had some leverage as a prior web coder and some good rep at various forums also centered around digital marketing. As a digital marketer, I have about 15 years under my belt, so I was heavily invested in using this knowledge.

My path is a little different than most, I can code and build a website and I can also market it myself. A SaaS application would be something easier for me by myself than most others on a team. Don't think I have some magic bullet or key. No, I just used what I knew and that I also had an advantage on.

I also stuck to 1 industry the whole time, Internet marketing professionals, for all my SaaS stuff.

I will say this, 2 of the 4 SaaS were very childish attempts at a SaaS. At the time, that wasn't even my goal to build one. I didn't even know what SaaS meant back then. I just wanted to make some side money.

Probably the best of the 2 childish ones made me about $80k NET profit for myself in one year before it fell apart and this was years ago. When it came time to promote them.. I had another advantage, leverage at popular marketing forums where tons of people knew me and trusted me. These were the ONLY places I even advertised those 2 products/services. I had partners on both of those attempts which helped out also with time.

Both of them fizzled out after about 1 year. They didn't solve a big enough need and I was entirely under Google's control for what I offered on both products/services.

Some time passed before I got running well with my 3rd and 4th SaaS. Life just kinda got in the way.

The 3rd SaaS was built purely as a hobby tool for me personally. A scratch I needed to itch. It was to be a tool to actually help me be a better freelancer to my digital marketing clients and save me time and money so I could do less work. A few of my friends saw it and wanted to use it and then I knew I could probably charge money for it. I obtained a partner to help out and the SaaS was born as my first real attempt to make a real "SaaS" product. This has been my most successful SaaS attempt so far and I followed the same outline as above... I coded most of the early alpha version to a MVP on my own, stuck to a industry I knew ( digital marketing ), and leveraged my rep at places where my clients would hang out ( digital marketing forums ). Bringing on a great partner accelerated this business to where it is today. I would say the biggest change I made in this SaaS ( which was purely unintentional ) was that it had larger scale/reach, solved a bigger need, and wasn't under the influence/control of Google anymore. This SaaS attempt has so far been my biggest success so far.

My 4th SaaS is still a small baby and will remain so. To be honest, this was also a product I built for myself and was actually part of a solution for one of my 2 childish SaaS from before. I used it in the other SaaS to help that SaaS, but after talking about it to some close friends and seeing one of them actually build a copy of it and sell it on the forums I was at, I decided to release my original version of it as a SaaS product itself. It has very small scale and reach and solves a small need. I probably shouldn't have done this one as a SaaS, but I wanted to also see if I could launch one "without a partner" too. This SaaS is profitable and is probably something I could hand off to one of my kids. It takes up 0 of my time weekly though.. so it's nice "vacation" money each month.

I have a 5th one I am pondering on atm. However, I don't want to take away from the 3rd SaaS which is doing very well and needs a lot of attention still. This 5th SaaS is actually another scratch I need to itch for the 3rd SaaS. I built it out to help with the 3rd SaaS, but it can actually be a standalone SaaS in its own right. Much larger reach, much larger problem, no influence or control from 3rd parties.. but not the Internet marketing industry. The only drawback is taking away time to work on it from a SaaS that is doing well and needs my time.

I have a ton of other ideas, but I am only 1 person. Having partners is great, but you have to chose wisely.

 

[Kevin Peter]

You are an inspiration. WOuld like to discuss some of my ideas with you and look forward to have them in place and own a SaaS

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.