Bespoke software... any call for it?
Discussion
I'm seriously considering leaving work to allow me the time to focus fully on a couple of projects I have. My dilema is that I have a wife and 3 kids to support so can't be totally reckless. In the event that these projects fail, I need a plan B. Since my expertise is in software development, I was thinking of hiring myself out to write bespoke software - I just don't know if there is a requirment for such a service?
My employer for the past 15yrs does this and makes a good margin from it - albeit in a niche area and always as government contracts.
I'm just wondering if there is a need out there for general software development work? Any business owners on here ever considered/purchased bespoke software?
My employer for the past 15yrs does this and makes a good margin from it - albeit in a niche area and always as government contracts.
I'm just wondering if there is a need out there for general software development work? Any business owners on here ever considered/purchased bespoke software?
My business started doing bespoke work, our business plan was to develop bespoke for people, retain the rights to the software and aim to resell it. Didn't work for the first few projects, but that was OK we were paid for doing them, then we got one that did resell and now have a reasonable business (70 employees) out of it.
We still get demand for bespoke work now, but tend to avoid it unless it is part of a bigger project.
We still get demand for bespoke work now, but tend to avoid it unless it is part of a bigger project.
I'll tell you what, create a company and design kids educational software.
Get a few school teachers on board.
Every single piece of educational software I've ever installed has been a huge pile of s
t.
If you can make a name for yourself in that sector, you're good to go.
Market it to schools. I remember we used to pay £2000+ for site licenses of some software bundles, and even those were buggy piles of st.
Also offer MSI's of all your software so they can be installed easily over large networks. A feature lacking in almost every current product.
Failing that, create a sims.net alternative. £4000 a year per school is how much capita charge for SIMS IIRC.
I think small schools would be a great niche. Sims.net has way more features than a small school would need. It's bloated now and built for thousands of students.
Get a few school teachers on board.
Every single piece of educational software I've ever installed has been a huge pile of s
t. If you can make a name for yourself in that sector, you're good to go.
Market it to schools. I remember we used to pay £2000+ for site licenses of some software bundles, and even those were buggy piles of s
t. Also offer MSI's of all your software so they can be installed easily over large networks. A feature lacking in almost every current product.
Failing that, create a sims.net alternative. £4000 a year per school is how much capita charge for SIMS IIRC.
I think small schools would be a great niche. Sims.net has way more features than a small school would need. It's bloated now and built for thousands of students.
Frankeh said:
I'll tell you what, create a company and design kids educational software.
Get a few school teachers on board.
Every single piece of educational software I've ever installed has been a huge pile of st.
If you can make a name for yourself in that sector, you're good to go.
Market it to schools. I remember we used to pay £2000+ for site licenses of some software bundles, and even those were buggy piles of st.
Also offer MSI's of all your software so they can be installed easily over large networks. A feature lacking in almost every current product.
Failing that, create a sims.net alternative. £4000 a year per school is how much capita charge for SIMS IIRC.
I think small schools would be a great niche. Sims.net has way more features than a small school would need. It's bloated now and built for thousands of students.
This is what I do for a living, and good news is we are expanding all the time, dispite everything thats going on in the world, only slight downside is school budgets are getting increasingly tight, so the software needs to be 'needed' by schools, and not a luxury.Get a few school teachers on board.
Every single piece of educational software I've ever installed has been a huge pile of s
t. If you can make a name for yourself in that sector, you're good to go.
Market it to schools. I remember we used to pay £2000+ for site licenses of some software bundles, and even those were buggy piles of s
t. Also offer MSI's of all your software so they can be installed easily over large networks. A feature lacking in almost every current product.
Failing that, create a sims.net alternative. £4000 a year per school is how much capita charge for SIMS IIRC.
I think small schools would be a great niche. Sims.net has way more features than a small school would need. It's bloated now and built for thousands of students.
jamieboy said:
SeanyD said:
Frankeh said:
...educational software....
...schools...Edit: Also I feel like I've somehow given away some valuable information here :P
Edited by Frankeh on Wednesday 7th April 10:19
Frankeh said:
jamieboy said:
Interesting - I thought the likes of RM had that market pretty much sewn up?
They do, but RM are terrible at everything. There's certainly room for improvement. 
And broadening it back out, I guess that's the problem facing a bespoke software developer - if there's a cheap/free mass-market tool that more or less does what the customer wants, it's a tough task to convince them of the long-term benefits of getting a start-up to write something specific to their needs.
jamieboy said:
And broadening it back out, I guess that's the problem facing a bespoke software developer - if there's a cheap/free mass-market tool that more or less does what the customer wants, it's a tough task to convince them of the long-term benefits of getting a start-up to write something specific to their needs.
This is quite true. People will put up with bloated slow software if it does what they need it to do at the right price.
What kind of software do you develop, boony?
There will always be a huge market for bespoke web apps. If you're versed in asp/php/etc then you should do absolutely fine on your own.
Stand alone software is a harder market, I would imagine. Especially if going alone with no backing from a company.
Thanks to all for the replies. Much appreciated.
Siscar, sounds like you've done really well. Congrats. It's encouraging to hear that you still get requests for bespoke software - is that largely repeat clients or new leads?
Frankeh et all - the education software is something i've never really considered but sounds interesting. The problem I see would be trying to get a foot in the door. I'm only guessing, but I'd expect there to be quite a bit of red-tape involved in controlling the software that can be purchased? Approved suppliers and the like. Definately something to think about though.
Just to answer some of the other questions...
Contracting doesn't really suite my needs. My priortiy is releasing more time to spend with the family. I work 40+ hours per week and then spend at least 2 hours each weekday evening and good few hours at the weekend working at home on this project I have underway. If I quit, I'll be working 100% on the project and reckon I'll have more time to spend with those most important to me. If I was to go contracting, I'd be no better off timewise (although much better financially I suppose)
Frankeh asked what type of software I develop - answer is anything really. I've been coding for the past 25yrs, professionally for 15 since graduating. Back-end and front-end apps. Predominantly C++ but can work with most languages. A lot of experience with databases too as well as web technologies. All Microsoft based - never developed anything for Apple or Linux. I'd also try to stay away from web sites too to be honest - that area seems pretty much sewn up and it's not really my cup of tea - although if that's where I'd have to go, then I would.
I'm a dab-hand at scraping info from web sites too, so if anyone has thought of a niche web-comparison site that could be a fortune waiting to happen - get in touch
Thanks again for the feedback
Siscar, sounds like you've done really well. Congrats. It's encouraging to hear that you still get requests for bespoke software - is that largely repeat clients or new leads?
Frankeh et all - the education software is something i've never really considered but sounds interesting. The problem I see would be trying to get a foot in the door. I'm only guessing, but I'd expect there to be quite a bit of red-tape involved in controlling the software that can be purchased? Approved suppliers and the like. Definately something to think about though.
Just to answer some of the other questions...
Contracting doesn't really suite my needs. My priortiy is releasing more time to spend with the family. I work 40+ hours per week and then spend at least 2 hours each weekday evening and good few hours at the weekend working at home on this project I have underway. If I quit, I'll be working 100% on the project and reckon I'll have more time to spend with those most important to me. If I was to go contracting, I'd be no better off timewise (although much better financially I suppose)
Frankeh asked what type of software I develop - answer is anything really. I've been coding for the past 25yrs, professionally for 15 since graduating. Back-end and front-end apps. Predominantly C++ but can work with most languages. A lot of experience with databases too as well as web technologies. All Microsoft based - never developed anything for Apple or Linux. I'd also try to stay away from web sites too to be honest - that area seems pretty much sewn up and it's not really my cup of tea - although if that's where I'd have to go, then I would.
I'm a dab-hand at scraping info from web sites too, so if anyone has thought of a niche web-comparison site that could be a fortune waiting to happen - get in touch
Thanks again for the feedback
boony said:
Siscar, sounds like you've done really well. Congrats. It's encouraging to hear that you still get requests for bespoke software - is that largely repeat clients or new leads?
It's both, we sell into a niche market where our customers take our core package but then we bespoke around it. But we do also see other projects that we don't pursue where there is a much greater bespoke element.If you want to take the sort of route we did the rules I would follow are:
1. Aim for a niche. Accountancy software for small companies is a big market but one that is covered by the big guys, aim for something more obscure that you can be a real expert in
2. Avoid the public sector. It is a nightmare to sell into, sales take forever, the processes are daft, the whole selection process is often little more than a lottery
3. If you can work with a partner, then you may have some capacity to do some speculative development rather than just working to pay the bills.
Good luck
I've been doing this since 1992, so there is a market for bespoke software! Most of my customers are owner managed businesses, which makes the selling process easier than for corporates or government organisations. The applications vary widely, and everything is completely tailored to each customer.
Sales mostly come from referrals and meetings, so you will need to spend a lot of time networking - both in person and on-line (not an excuse to spend all hours on Pistonheads!).
I work from home, which is great in many ways, but leaving work is difficult, and I am on call when I'm on holiday too.
You need to have some projects lined up before you start. If you are worried about maintaining your income, then working for yourself may not be for you.
There's lots of advice from Business Link about starting a business, it's free, so you research all the issues before you commit.
Geoff
Sales mostly come from referrals and meetings, so you will need to spend a lot of time networking - both in person and on-line (not an excuse to spend all hours on Pistonheads!).
I work from home, which is great in many ways, but leaving work is difficult, and I am on call when I'm on holiday too.
You need to have some projects lined up before you start. If you are worried about maintaining your income, then working for yourself may not be for you.
There's lots of advice from Business Link about starting a business, it's free, so you research all the issues before you commit.
Geoff
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