Theoretically: Got a piece of software written - what next..
Discussion
Hello,
I'm not in this situation I hasten to add but I've been thinking about things and mulling things over. Now, I'm in a position where I could write a piece of software, no problem. I can design it, write it blah, blah, blah which is all well and good but it won't make me any money on it's own. Lets, for arguments sake, say its a piece of software for the motor trade (this is only theoretical - I know there are a million and one motor trade systems out there!)
So - what next?
How would you go about getting the product out there? Would you employ a "salesman"? How would you source/recruit them? How would you pay them? How would you finance them!
My thoughts have been along the lines of:
Take software and business plan to the bank and ask for a "development" loan
Use these monies to recruit a salesman (local paper AND/OR agency?)
Pay him on an OTE basis with a small basic but provide a car as the need will be to take around the software and display it etc.
Use the fruits of these sales to pay the loan/make a profit etc.
So - that's the thought pattern of a programmer and nothing else. What about you guys who have done things like this? What would you look for in the sales man? I was thinking young, hungry for the limitless OTE... but would they be happy with a tiny basic and a Fiesta Diesel as a company car etc?
Just thought I'd open the forum up to see what people think and maybe get some nuggets of wisdom along the way!
Cheers,
Phil.
I'm not in this situation I hasten to add but I've been thinking about things and mulling things over. Now, I'm in a position where I could write a piece of software, no problem. I can design it, write it blah, blah, blah which is all well and good but it won't make me any money on it's own. Lets, for arguments sake, say its a piece of software for the motor trade (this is only theoretical - I know there are a million and one motor trade systems out there!)
So - what next?
How would you go about getting the product out there? Would you employ a "salesman"? How would you source/recruit them? How would you pay them? How would you finance them!
My thoughts have been along the lines of:
Take software and business plan to the bank and ask for a "development" loan
Use these monies to recruit a salesman (local paper AND/OR agency?)
Pay him on an OTE basis with a small basic but provide a car as the need will be to take around the software and display it etc.
Use the fruits of these sales to pay the loan/make a profit etc.
So - that's the thought pattern of a programmer and nothing else. What about you guys who have done things like this? What would you look for in the sales man? I was thinking young, hungry for the limitless OTE... but would they be happy with a tiny basic and a Fiesta Diesel as a company car etc?
Just thought I'd open the forum up to see what people think and maybe get some nuggets of wisdom along the way!
Cheers,
Phil.
There'll no doubt be an exception somewhere but broadly speaking, anyone who'll work on the terms you've outlined should not be considered a suitable candidate. To get quality sales staff out of their car allowance, pension, private health, basic salary and realistic OTE you have to do something a bit special. A diesel fiesta and jam tomorrow isn't going to cut it. Most startups use equity to tempt people on board.
What about resellers? Managing a channel is hard but may prove easier than managing a salesforce of dubious quality.
What about resellers? Managing a channel is hard but may prove easier than managing a salesforce of dubious quality.
That's true - the kind that'd be attracted wouldn't be much cop would they. Equity would be an idea... but how would you be able to manage the fact that you, say, offer 20% of the company and then they turn out to be rubbish and bring in no sales. How would you rescind their equity? You'd have to be sure that they were in it for the long haul too - the equity is only worth something (aside from dividends which can be, for all intents and purposes, regarded the same as OTE) when they sell?
Is that the way people would go, though? Hire a salesman? Or is it a false economy. If you can string a sentence together, is it best to do it on your own? What if it takes off though and you have to do both the sales and the support/maintenance etc.
Is that the way people would go, though? Hire a salesman? Or is it a false economy. If you can string a sentence together, is it best to do it on your own? What if it takes off though and you have to do both the sales and the support/maintenance etc.
Jubal said:Would any resellers be interested in a product that isn't already established? I have no idea how reselling works (presumably they just take a cut on the sales of the software?). Do the resellers actually "sell" though? Or are they just avenues for customers to seek out the software (if you see what I mean)
What about resellers?
Identify who your customers will be, understand their business needs, create your product to meet those needs, find an actual customer willing to use your software (don't expect them to pay much/at all and expect them to require far more support than you think is necessary), use them as a reference to market the software to similar businesses in the same area, and grow from there. I'd avoid anything that costs serious money (hiring development/sales/marketing bods, for example) until you have established a profitable business.
You'll need to identify both the right sales person and decent marketing strategy. If you can find someone with contacts and knowledge of the business area then you're on to a winner. Someone coming into it cold will have a hell of a job. Unless the software is a complete revolution that makes the decision to purchase a complete no-brainer.
I'm from the software side and know that, for a specific product my business partner and I are working on, we'll need people with both knowledge of the business area and contacts into local government... not easy to find nor cheap to employ. If you want a job doing well then you need to pay for it!
I'm from the software side and know that, for a specific product my business partner and I are working on, we'll need people with both knowledge of the business area and contacts into local government... not easy to find nor cheap to employ. If you want a job doing well then you need to pay for it!
Plotloss said:Exactly.
Thats currently where I'm stuck.
To make an equity offer attractive you have to make the salesman believe in your concept.
Then it follows that if you can make the salesman believe you could in fact make a prospect believe.
So then the salesman becomes redundant.
Maybe someone'll give you a nugget to go with too!
GreenV8S said:
Identify who your customers will be, understand their business needs, create your product to meet those needs, find an actual customer willing to use your software (don't expect them to pay much/at all and expect them to require far more support than you think is necessary), use them as a reference to market the software to similar businesses in the same area, and grow from there. I'd avoid anything that costs serious money (hiring development/sales/marketing bods, for example) until you have established a profitable business.
I'd go so far as to slightly re-order the 1st few items in that list like so:
1. Identify who your customers will be
2. understand their business needs
3. find an actual customer willing to use your software
4. create your product to meet those needs
...as I don't think you're likely to fully understand their requirements until you get a customer on board who's willing to give you input to the design process. Assuming your system is in the right area already, get them to alpha test it for you and refine it as you go. Hopefully at the end of the process you'd have a product that really does work in your chosen marketplace (rather than you thinking it will - no offence intended!) and the bonus of an installed reference site.
Keep everything you can as configurable as possible, as you just know that the next prospect in line will want exactly the same system but can you just change this bit here and that bit there and, oh, how about completely re-thinking the entire design...?
GreenV8S said:Very good point. It comes down to when, I suppose, profit is "enough" to justify getting people on board.
I'd avoid anything that costs serious money (hiring development/sales/marketing bods, for example) until you have established a profitable business.
Don said:Very true - what a (potentially) good idea!! Why didn't I think of that!!
YOU are the person who believes in the software. YOU should go talk to the punters. Maxteam (or similar) will do the cold calling to get you in front of people.
JonRB said:I wonder whether that would really work with "professional" software rather that has a very specific purpose?
What about the shareware route? The guys at Ross Tech who make VAG-COM seem to do ok.
Great ideas though chaps... thanks!
Plotloss said:
Hey, that Maxteam sounds like a plan, I'm going to have a look at that now...
If you try them out - mention my name and they'll probably make it more expensive!
The way they work is that they have a team of cold callers (who are pretty damn good). You pay an upfront setup fee - for them to develop their telephone script etc - and then you pay £200 per appointment.
Its not cheap. But there again its a LOT cheaper than a Sales bloke. We have never had so many appointments to see people ever before - and we've hired our own people before now. The appointments are well qualified too - we have no complaints about going to see people who couldn't give a shit.
The only barrier is then whether or not the software makes a big enough impact in the Sales meeting and how much they need what you're flogging.
Your Mileage May Vary of course...
pdV6 said:Yep - totally agree (been there done that!
Identify who your customers will be, understand their business needs, create your product to meet those needs, find an actual customer willing to use your software (don't expect them to pay much/at all and expect them to require far more support than you think is necessary), use them as a reference to market the software to similar businesses in the same area, and grow from there. I'd avoid anything that costs serious money (hiring development/sales/marketing bods, for example) until you have established a profitable business.
I'd go so far as to slightly re-order the 1st few items in that list like so:
1. Identify who your customers will be
2. understand their business needs
3. find an actual customer willing to use your software
4. create your product to meet those needs
...as I don't think you're likely to fully understand their requirements until you get a customer on board who's willing to give you input to the design process. Assuming your system is in the right area already, get them to alpha test it for you and refine it as you go. Hopefully at the end of the process you'd have a product that really does work in your chosen marketplace (rather than you thinking it will - no offence intended!) and the bonus of an installed reference site.
Keep everything you can as configurable as possible, as you just know that the next prospect in line will want exactly the same system but can you just change this bit here and that bit there and, oh, how about completely re-thinking the entire design...?
) I'm sort of/almost/kind of not/maybe/may not be (
) in that situation which is what's got my brain working. My trouble is - I get as far as assuming its written (I know I can do that bit) and end up at the "well, what next" bit. Hence the post... just to see what other think about situations like this and what experience people have etc. All very interesting...
>> Edited by chim_knee on Tuesday 16th May 13:53
Is it software specific or will they turn their hand to any prospecting?
I have no issue presenting a concept, intial contact scares me rigid for some reason though.
I've got various letters of introduction and cold call scripts that I've tried to write and just end up sounding like an eager teenager or a bad writer.
Sorry phil, hijack ends...
I have no issue presenting a concept, intial contact scares me rigid for some reason though.
I've got various letters of introduction and cold call scripts that I've tried to write and just end up sounding like an eager teenager or a bad writer.
Sorry phil, hijack ends...
chim_knee said:
What about resellers?
The best resellers will sell your product on your behalf as if they were your own salesforce. For that they will expect to make very healthy margins and will want customer ownership so they can sell other products and services to the same customer. If your product is any good then you should be able to recruit a channel even in a startup phase. Training, supporting and educating them until they are self sufficient will be the hardest part.
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