Booting a New Business - On the Software Development Highway

Background
Those amongst us, who were born at least before 1970, must have witnessed the dotcom boom of the late 1990s, as well as seen and been affected by the bust that followed soon enough. When the boom began, the media was inundated, day in and day out, with news of dream tie-ups between venture capitalists and just-out-of-college, still-wet-behind-the-ears young twenty-something boys and girls. The entire dream was woven around what the internet could do for folks like you and me. And when the boom busted, boy! How it busted! A quick review of the top ten dotcom businesses that gobbled up millions of VC dollars and took them down the drain really makes interesting, if introspective, reading.

A few years down the line, and the next generation of entrepreneurs and businessmen are ready, yet again, to take the software highway. This time around, however, they have the power of hindsight with them. All the dotcom stories are now neatly chronicled in the form of case studies and enshrined in the libraries of business schools and available on the web to browse through and draw lessons from. Internet, the backbone which dotcom businesses based their strength upon, has quietly gone from strength to strength since the boom/bust. Newer technologies and newer hardware have made the internet more robust, more reliant, and more user-friendly than ever before. Software companies, most notably Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and their ilk, have realigned their manpower and restructured their products, rejigged their business model to make internet their center of gravity, and have come up with far better ways to both transact and seek pleasure on the web than ever before. Blogs, RSS, Merchant Accounts, dropshipping, podcasting, adsense, online local advertising, are terms that have found coinage as a result of some creative footwork by technocrats and savvy businessmen and women like you and me. Marketing channels and consumer strategies are creatively tapping into the newfound interest in computers and the web, generated by the convenience that they bring to day-to-day life. Entrepreneurs are veering once again towards Internet in general; and software development in particular, as a possible option around which to build a business and career.

Bridging Entrepreneur gung-ho With Software
Yet, despite all the promise of business success and prosperity that Software Business holds out, there are still quite a few who find it beyond their reach. The moment you mention S o f t w a r e, the mind immediately visualizes a group of nerds who are furiously banging out some gobbledygook on their keyboard. Some entrepreneurs simply fail to make the connect between their wealth-creating ability and software. Which is a pity, actually.

People who come to me for counseling on new businesses are invariably people with a lot of entrepreneurial vision and grit. They are people with an ingrained perseverance and stamina to withstand the rough and tumble of lean days that a career as businessperson invariably involves. They are people who don't mind dirtying their hands and feet in the trenches, so that they understand the nitty-gritty of their business. These are the guys and gals for whom the golden cage of a cushy, nine-to-five job holds no meaning, and they yearn to fly the skies and test the limits of endurance of their wings. The breed of entrepreneurs is a breed apart. And yet, whenever I would broach the subject of this exciting new opportunity to them, they would baulk at the idea. "But, Software Business, Sanjay? Isn't it supposed to be so damn technical? Can't you suggest something that is more conventional? Something that is within my limits? Something that does not involve a steep learning curve, and where I can invest my time and money and begin to see results in the fastest possible time? Huh?"

Sigh. Here is one exciting opportunity - Software Business. At the time of writing this article, Microsoft is on the verge of launching its most awaited operating system, the Vista, E-commerce is elevating to the next higher level of operations, more and more customers are getting hooked up to computers and the internet, with even mom-and-pop stores looking for a piece of the cake .... And here are these entrepreneurs, the people who can make things happen - the people who have the ability to change the world. And they say - "Tell me about a more conventional business"!

There are so many things that you can do with a computer. The machine that sits on your desktop is like a monster that needs forever more work to do - and it is within the grasp of your ingenuity and creativity to think up things that you can make it do for you. When these "things" are something that positively affect the lives of thousands and millions of ordinary folk - boy, will they flock at your door on all fours! Such a mouth-watering thought! But - this Business of Software development; this programming; this gobbledygook - how does one come to terms with this monster? Heck, I am an entrepreneur, not a programmer!

It was this quest to bridge the gap between a software-illiterate entrepreneur and the exciting, moolah-rich Business of Software, that made me scour the net. And scour I did. Quite a few of the solutions on offer were downright imbecile and premature, and quite a few others I dismissed as thoroughly impractical.

Insights From Ben Prater's Book
It is a book written in 2001. And it was crafted by someone who is already into the thick of the business of developing and selling software, and is willing to share his insights with the rest of the world. This man is Benjamin Prater. His sales page on the web actually begins with a blunt and hyped-up statement - "How to Create Hot Software - Even if you've never touched a line of code!" Marketing spiel, eh? The price tag said USD 97, and I bought it online.

The content has hype in its pages, which is something that I can forgive Mr. Prater for (he has to sell his book, after all). But once he settles down to the core content, the book begins to unveil, layer by layer, all that it takes to set up a neat business in the domain of software. Right from idea inception, through to developing the software, setting up a website, down to selling it and maintaining / upgrading it: in short, the entire works. And best of all, the entire content is presented in a very lucid style, without introducing any business management mumbo-jumbo.

Test Your Entrepreneurial Skills
Which of the entrepreneurs who come to me will I recommend this book? As I mentally shortlist the probables, I think I am looking at the following qualities:

- You must really, _really_ want to build a career in software business, for you really, _really_ see the potential that this domain has in the years to come. Remember, the book acts as a guide. You are being shown the way; but it is you who has to do the walking!

- You must have the openness of mind to absorb new techniques of doing business. If you are used to your established methods of dealing with people and handling transactions, to the point that the thought of trying out something new gives you the goose bumps, then what to talk about software business, any new venture with its own model might be difficult for you to consider. I know I am putting it bluntly, but it *is* a cruel world out there.

Final Word
If you think you fit the bill, go ahead. Your decision might really change your bank balance for the better; take care of the mortgage; help your kids through college ... fulfill your dreams ....