
How to sell your software for $20,000 - rob
http://nukemanbill.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-sell-your-software-for-20000.html
======
pg
The usual recipe is: spend 10x as much time selling it as writing it. That's
one reason hackers tend not to like this route.

~~~
edw519
_10x as much time selling it as writing it_

This is not my experience.

I'm guessing my split would be more like:

    
    
      sales & marketing - 10%
      analysis          - 15%
      design            -  5%
      development       - 50%
      implementation    - 10%
      support           - 10%
    

Testing is not a phase, it's included in everything. Implementation includes
deployment, training, and documentation.

Sales and marketing was never a problem. There is business _everywhere_. I
mention what I do everywhere I go (who doesn't), and find business almost
anywhere. Everyone uses software these days and everyone needs _something_.
I've gotten 5 figure deals at parties, family functions, networking events,
and mostly from word of mouth.

I love to hack, but I also love to talk about what I do. I may not be typical,
but isn't helping people with cool tech what it's all about?

In my mind, the problem isn't the time needed for selling and marketing. The
real problem is that this kind of business (consultingware, one-off packages,
lite package with customization, whatever you want to call it) isn't scalable.

If my competitive advantage is better value because "the boss" (not some
lightweight on an 800 number) is supporting you, then it's also my biggest
limitation. I only have so many hours in a year. Sure, I can extend myself
with advanced methods and technology, but sooner or later, I hit my limit.
That's why it's so important to find a way to convert your consultingware
business into a product business. Not an easy feat, but certainly worth the
effort.

~~~
webwright
I don't think he's talking about consulting. I think he's talking about big
ticket business software which almost always costs an arm and a leg to sell
and market. Hell, that's true of almost all SMB software as well.

~~~
edw519
The OP was talking about a microISV (he even calls it "consultingware"
himself). No mention of "big ticket business software" anywhere in this
thread.

~~~
webwright
Hrm.

"I think then the best way to come up with a $20,000 B2B product idea is to
focus not on "what kind of software do businesses really need?"

and:

"So, how do you sell it? Firstly, the fact you have a "lite" version is
covered by your reduced price. You're going to sell your lite version for $5K
or $10K a seat or something well below the competition, to account for its
being a basic product."

I think his mention of consultingware is in reference to positioning it as
"product-plus-consulting". Not uncommon in enterprise software to layer on
services.

And, uh- $5 to $10k a seat isn't big ticket?!

------
icey
Another thing to note when going this route is that word of mouth marketing is
INCREDIBLY POWERFUL in a niche market.

If you're in a market where people are paying this much for their software,
everyone talks to everyone else (competitors included).

So, you live and die by your reputation.

------
alex_c
Great read, the author seems very realistic and down to earth. A welcome
change from the TechCrunch microverse.

------
gruseom
After reading this I went back and read all his other posts. They're very
good, and it's excellent to read stuff by someone who's actually _done_ this -
i.e. built a profitable software business from scratch.

------
edw519
This is a great article! I don't agree with everything it in, but it's packed
full of wisdom obviously backed by blood, sweat, and tears. Just a few
thoughts off the top of my head:

 _if there isn't a product for it already, it's probably because there just
isn't a need_

This may be true for software _packages_ , but it is most certainly not true
for custom apps. I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard, "Now if you can
get it to do _that_ , you'd have something there." Oh wait, I do have those
nickels.

 _you have to convince businesses or organizations they need it_

Not if it's _their_ idea. And that's where your ideas should be coming from
anyway.

 _I knew I could make it better so that's where I happened to get my idea._

Yes! Sometimes I think the last thing said before conceiving a software
product is, "Who wrote this crap?"

 _I know if I decided to make automatic parking garage systems, I'd at least
want to hang out at some garage and shadow the workers for a few days. Not to
figure out what they're doing wrong and how my software could fix it, but just
to learn their job, learn what their current system does, and find out what
they like and don't like about what they currently use._

This is solid gold! If you're not sure what "analysis" is, then re-read this
paragraph. Better yet, cut it out and put it on your bulletin board.
Everything here is necessary but not sufficient. I would follow this up with:
Ask questions to everyone about everything they do, preferably in groups,
until you have no more questions to ask. Get a list of every single data
element you'll need from paperwork, screens, or people's heads. Don't stop
until you know you've "got it".

 _In some markets, business customers may not want to use the same things
their competitors use, and will be willing to try a new or unproven system in
the hopes of getting an advantage (better productivity, lower overhead
costs...). The unproven product may fail, but some are willing to try._

This is an almost always overlooked factor in buying decisions, even by the
best of sales people. I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned in an article
like this. Kudos to OP for bringing it up.

 _See? A one-person company is actually a good thing!_

Addressing the concerns about a one person operation is again, solid gold
bulletin board material. I love the "hit by a bus" question. (Does anyone here
actually know anyone who was ever hit by a bus?)

Excellent material from someone who has been in the trenches. Thank you, Bill!

~~~
dmoney
> Does anyone here actually know anyone who was ever hit by a bus?

Yes, but not because of forgetting to look both ways before crossing the
street. A bus went through a building my father was in. He was paralyzed but
is fine now (this was before I was born).

~~~
edw519
I wouldn't normally joke about this, but since your father is fine...

I hope I can meet him some day. Then I'll have a great new response to the
"hit by a bus" concern, "Not a problem. 100% of the people I know who were
ever hit by a bus are fine now."

~~~
LogicHoleFlaw
True story: 100% of the people I know who were hit by a train are fine now.

(That man has the constitution of a bull. I stand in awe of his fortitude.)

------
paulgb
Interesting note on the sidebar: "Although successful I guess, I'm still
trying to decide if it was really worth the hassle." His first post goes into
a little more detail on this:
<http://nukemanbill.blogspot.com/2008/05/first.html>

~~~
izaidi
Thanks for finding that. I thought this was interesting:

"I used to be really easy, always happy and always laid back as an 8-5'er
working for the 'man,' but now I realize I have actually become sort of an
asshole. Unfortunately, the realities of business make you that way. And you
really _have_ to be an asshole to be successful."

I've heard the same thing from a lot of entrepreneurs and I've sensed it
happening to myself as I've gotten more aggressive about pursuing my goals.
I'm pretty sure I'm happier, or at least more fulfilled, but sometimes it
sucks having to replace that lightheartedness with grim determination.

~~~
pg
"And you really have to be an asshole to be successful."

That part's not true. You may have to be in some areas of business, including
perhaps the world of $20k software, but I know plenty of successful people who
aren't assholes.

You do definitely have to be determined. But determination doesn't imply being
an asshole.

~~~
Andys
I have a problem with the $20k+ business software industry: if you spend time
adding anything to the software that isn't part of the checklist of features
the customers want to see before, you're wasting time and money.

The customers make decisions in terms of things like keeping up with
competitors ("we have to upgrade because they did"), and risk to their
personal careers ("I dont want to rock the boat"), and compliance with
industry standards/buzzwords ("Your competitor supports XYZ, why don't you?")

They want to _hear_ that your software is scalable, easy to use, secure, and
well-designed, but they _don't actually care_ if it is or not, and won't even
check.

If I had to sell a product that had sub-standard usability or UI response
times, I'd feel like an asshole. To others, its just how you do business.

~~~
edw519
_If I had to sell a product that had sub-standard usability or UI response
times, I'd feel like an asshole._

Then don't.

Excellent usability and response time are _minimum_ requirements for _any_
software.

------
ashleyw
Personally I hate the idea of building software with the intention to sell it
for as much as possible, as soon as possible.

You will just end up with software which feels unloved. Plus you will treat
the project as a job and will likely not have much fun building it.

~~~
akd
This author seems to be writing software for money, not for love. You can try
to achieve both but ultimately one will have to take priority.

------
aneesh
Great article, but the one point it glosses over is how to get the first
customer on board. It talks about how to identify good markets, as well as
what to do when a company is already interested in buying from you. But
getting a big company to come to that stage is non-trivial, and requires
several meetings with their management for a big, enterprise sale.

So how do you do it? You can't point to a track record, or other customers,
but what you can give your customer(s) is comfort with the sales process, and
transparency. Still it's an uphill battle, and usually you have to talk to a
lot more than a few companies to get a contract of this size.

~~~
narag
He wrote the software and then showed it to potential buyers. The latter
doesn't seem more difficult than the former ç:-)

------
PStamatiou
As an example of how it is possible to sell software quickly- in one weekend I
built a slideshow tool. only about ~350 lines of code and two months later
after it got popular I sold it for $3,000 on sitepoint, domain included.

~~~
izaidi
Mind if we see it, if it's still around?

~~~
simonw
I'm guessing it's <http://flickrslidr.com/>

~~~
PStamatiou
yeah that's it

------
rplevy
One thing this made me think of is the notoriously badly written voting
machine software. I wonder what would be required for someone to compete with
existing providers to make better software for voting machines.

~~~
menloparkbum
Easy. The CEO of your voting machine software company simply needs to drink
human blood from the skull of Abraham Lincoln with various heads of state and
government officials while they are all still juniors in various secret
societies at Yale.

~~~
rms
:/

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_and_Bones>

------
ctingom
Excellent read and really makes you think about what you could build.

------
giardini
Where is the evidence the fellow did what he says he did? What's the company
name? Who is he? What product did he sell? Who uses it?

We all love to read success stories but shouldn't we ask that the provenance
of such stories be provided? Here we jump into discussing the advice of a
total stranger - an unknow with no credentials. "Nukemanbill" could be sitting
inside a mental institution or another teenager playing mind games. Or maybe
he just read the book "All Marketers Are Liars" by Seth Godin and is testing
Godin's ideas. Hell, maybe he's a SPAMmer selling Godin's book and thus this
post.

The only URL on the site that has any provenance whatsoever is the one to
JoelOnSoftware. Heck, I question even Joel's BS ofttimes because his is a
private company and we don't know whether he's floating on his past Microsoft
earnings or really makes money. Should I read someone's writings because he
posts a known URL?

Taleb's right - humans are natural-born suckers. We're too trusting even here
on HN. IMO if you own a company and want to give advice then you should be
willing to name yourself and the company. Without that it's just SPAM.

To it's credit the advice given is worth every cent I paid for it.

~~~
Bill355
Hi giardini, I'm Bill from the blog (tracking back why my daily visitor stats
suddenly went 2,4,0,1, then 7000...)

Honestly I'm just doing that blog as something to do and share some ideas
about what I've experienced. I don't really care who reads it, so if it
doesn't ring true with your experiences you can just move on. But posting my
identity and company would mean my employees, competitors and customers would
be reading every word, and I couldn't be truthful about anything. So I'm
anonymous. I don't really care though, read it or not. I guess I'm just giving
back a little to the anonymous cloud of internet people I've gotten advice
from over the years, both good and bad.

~~~
jamongkad
Well there you have it I guess. Anyways thank you so much for giving time to
share your experiences with us.

