
Ask HN: How do you invent and make money on software products? - colund
I&#x27;m curious what processes people follow to invent software one can charge for. I think it&#x27;s hard to come up with a product people actually want to pay for. The dream is to be able to make a living on software and keep improving stuff that matters to people.<p>So in short, if your main purpose is to make money on software products, what steps do you follow to make it a reality? Most info online is about generic startup ideas.<p>How do you evaluate the profitability?
How do you choose features&#x2F;language?
How do you find clients and how do you approach them?
Do you prefer selling software to consumers or businesses?
How do you dare take the leap?
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jeffmould
Easiest short answer...

1\. Find a problem you experience on a daily, weekly, monthly, etc.. basis.

2\. Develop software solution for said problem.

3\. Resell said software.

It may not happen on the first try, the second try, or the 100th try, but you
are bound to find something that someone has a need for and is willing to pay
for. You may not get rich on all of them, but each small success will build
upon itself.

Whether it is profitable or not depends on many factors, but the sum of those
factors is what did it cost you to develop the software and what does it cost
you to maintain it. Does the software require multiple developers to maintain
or a call center to support?

As for features/languages. Start small and grow from there. Listen to your
users and what they want. Release quickly and often. It's always easier to add
features than to be in a constant state of development. For the language,
simple, choose what you are most comfortable with. Everyone has their own
opinion about every language and framework. If you are more comfortable with
PHP than Rails, then PHP all the way.

Clients. Start with a website. Blog. Twitter. Depending on the software, maybe
some Google or Facebook ads. Forums. Friends, family, colleagues. Each group
is going to be a different approach, but in the end it is all the same.

Consumer vs. Business. This is really dependent on you and your preferences.

Taking the leap. Just do it. If you are not comfortable jumping 100% in, start
small and build on your off hours from your job.

Compared to a decade ago, it is a lot cheaper to try and fail today.

For more info you may start with @patio11's blog:
[http://www.kalzumeus.com/blog/](http://www.kalzumeus.com/blog/)

