^-- I hear that.

Also consider that many times engineers are asked to do the impossible, which is to say they are being asked to violate the following maxim:

Quality ~ Price ~ Speed : Choose Two


So business-savvy engineers understand how to treat each new case of someone wanting to violate the above. Treat them with respect, understand their underlying business needs, and build trust through results one step at a time. Pair the dream back to reality gently. Technical debt, etc.

Quote: (03-14-2018 11:35 AM)456 Wrote:  

^-- I hear that.

Also consider that many times engineers are asked to do the impossible, which is to say they are being asked to violate the following maxim:

Quality ~ Price ~ Speed : Choose Two


So business-savvy engineers understand how to treat each new case of someone wanting to violate the above. Treat them with respect, understand their underlying business needs, and build trust through results one step at a time. Pair the dream back to reality gently. Technical debt, etc.

Very few engineering jobs are designing new things.

Most are just excel jockeys with repetitive tasks that are slightly complex.

I am/Was an engineer.

I'm thinking of selling off the main product line my business makes. Just too much effort for little reward. Is there a place to go to try and sell businesses?

Quote: (03-15-2018 03:55 PM)ColSpanker Wrote:  

I'm thinking of selling off the main product line my business makes. Just too much effort for little reward. Is there a place to go to try and sell businesses?

It's not a place. You need (1) accounting to present and a (2) believer in what you are doing. The buyer can come up with all sorts of adjustments about how he will make it more rewarding.

Quote: (03-19-2018 01:00 AM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  

Quote: (03-15-2018 03:55 PM)ColSpanker Wrote:  

I'm thinking of selling off the main product line my business makes. Just too much effort for little reward. Is there a place to go to try and sell businesses?

It's not a place. You need (1) accounting to present and a (2) believer in what you are doing. The buyer can come up with all sorts of adjustments about how he will make it more rewarding.

http://www.bizbuysell.com
http://www.businessbroker.net

http://www.davidcbarnett.com has a bunch of resources, many free, for selling/buying businesses.

Your local mega-commercial real estate guys will likely have a business brokerage branch. Be careful signing up with them, as you might pay a commission of some charge regardless of whether or not the business sells. Just work through all the contingencies prior to signing with a broker. It is not the same as signing a real estate broker.

Whatever you do, don't say a word to anyone that you are considering selling. Any marketing needs to be "genericized."

Would any of you gentleman be so kind as to read some copy I have written for a business I'm getting off the ground? I would like opinions on this from repped guys who know what constitutes good copy. This would be off the forum as I don't want any personal endeavours linked to here. PM if willing to help

Anybody know of any trusted app developing companies?

Finally started making money again after closing some deals with new clients I met through networking and my (disorganized) "shotgun" lead-generation approach.

I made no money in the months of December, January, and February. Not one dime. It was a brutal 3-month gap of zero income that had me doubting my grand plans and whether I would make it.

But now, I have two clients on retainer and another one in the pipeline.

Such is the life of a freelancer.

Quote: (03-21-2018 09:38 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

Finally started making money again after closing some deals with new clients I met through networking and my (disorganized) "shotgun" lead-generation approach.

I made no money in the months of December, January, and February. Not one dime. It was a brutal 3-month gap of zero income that had me doubting my grand plans and whether I would make it.

But now, I have two clients on retainer and another one in the pipeline.

Did the work you had previously fizzle? Or did you set it aside to focus on closing higher paying clients?

How did you make maximum use of your time during that 3 month income gap?

Quote: (02-12-2018 06:41 PM)ColSpanker Wrote:  

Count me in. 25 years working for sinking ships and sycophants. I couldn't take it any more. After I was ejected from the last one, I went out and started my own. It never really took off the way I wanted, but it does provide some income.

Quote: (03-21-2018 11:57 PM)Suits Wrote:  

Quote: (03-21-2018 09:38 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

Finally started making money again after closing some deals with new clients I met through networking and my (disorganized) "shotgun" lead-generation approach.

I made no money in the months of December, January, and February. Not one dime. It was a brutal 3-month gap of zero income that had me doubting my grand plans and whether I would make it.

But now, I have two clients on retainer and another one in the pipeline.

Did the work you had previously fizzle? Or did you set it aside to focus on closing higher paying clients?

How did you make maximum use of your time during that 3 month income gap?

The work I previously had fizzled out. One of my clients from last year had more work for me, but didn't like the rates I quoted her, so she passed. I haven't heard from her since, despite following up twice.

I kind of expected a slow down during the holidays, but I was hoping things would pick up with new clients in January, just after the new year. However, I hadn't laid in the groundwork for marketing my business, so I had to scramble in those last two months.

I told everyone I knew that I was looking for work, and hired a couple of assistants to help me with prospecting. That way I got a referral which turned into a retainer. Another client I sourced myself through a website that serves as a listing for startups and small businesses. And two other clients through networking in Vietnam. I try to go to one networking event a week, or at a minimum, two per month, here in Saigon.

Along with the work I have now, I need to establish a process for self-marketing as well as a sales funnel. Something that goes like:

1. Google alerts / LinkedIn sales navigator / Startup directories (depends on niche or market segment) ->
2. Initial outreach and relationship building ->
3. Qualify each prospect whether they need my services and/or if we are a good fit ->
4. Offer to help and fish for interest ->
5. Follow up if needed ->
6. Close ->
7. After finishing work, ask clients how they liked my work, what could be better, and try to secure repeat work

I must admit that I'm not very organized with this yet, and that partially leads to income gaps and slowdowns. I'm thinking I may need to outsource some of this, but I need to know the exact process to be able to train someone else on this.

I also spent the last two months redesigning my website, cutting 3 seconds off load time, and SEO'ing it up.

Where are you hiring these assistants?
Kinda looking at doing something similar for a project here.

Quote: (03-22-2018 12:34 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Where are you hiring these assistants?
Kinda looking at doing something similar for a project here.

I hired a Vietnamese assistant. He collects contact info of prospects given the parameters of a niche. He's very good and smart, and charges a reasonable rate. Got him by a referral through a buddy.

Hey guys, let's say I was designing an automotive App that revolves around roadtrips.

would you personally want a UI theme based around

Summer
Fall
Winter
Spring

Fall colors are easier and more charming and I feel would bring in more users

Why not all four?

But serious question: are you already planning the aesthetics for a product that doesn't exist yet?

Every bit of information I’ve read about app development say to design and wireframe first. To show investors and such.

Quote: (03-22-2018 10:06 PM)Keepiticy2 Wrote:  

Every bit of information I’ve read about app development say to design and wireframe first. To show investors and such.

This is the correct approach if you want to get the project funded from the early stages and are happy to give away the equity that goes with that.

It'd be interesting to know if there were any value in the colour scheme changing to match the seasons. I feel like hues that match the season would make the UI a more natural part of the user's life. No idea if it would have any effect in practise though. It would probably only be a matter of adjusting shading rather than the fundamental colour itself.

I have a Serbian girl who has been doing work for me for about three years remotely. Due to some changes I'm making I will no longer use her in the near future and am looking to see if I can find someone else who can offer her something.

She does about 20 hours a week at $5/hour and I've found her to be honest in her dealings. She speaks Serbian (native), English (fluent), Dutch (conversational) and German (basic).

If anyone is interested send me a PM.

A little inspiration for any would-be entrepreneurs, related to my last post. This article is on the BBC today, and it's a lovely overview of who Brunel was, and why he was so remarkable. I shall be heading down to the exhibition at some point soon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-43323013

Quote: (03-22-2018 05:13 PM)Keepiticy2 Wrote:  

Hey guys, let's say I was designing an automotive App that revolves around roadtrips.

would you personally want a UI theme based around

Summer
Fall
Winter
Spring

Fall colors are easier and more charming and I feel would bring in more users

Check out the color schemes in competing apps or other popular apps.

Color schemes can be changed quite easily. The more important aspect is the flow of your software when people interact with it. In other words, how easy it is to use.

As much as I want to fund it myself, the price to develope an app st this scale is around 100-150K (all the companies I’ve talked to) not to mention my marketing strategy, time in which I want to launch, legal stuff etc etc. and learning how to code something as complex as this would take forever

Quote: (03-23-2018 07:38 AM)Keepiticy2 Wrote:  

As much as I want to fund it myself, the price to develope an app st this scale is around 100-150K (all the companies I’ve talked to) not to mention my marketing strategy, time in which I want to launch, legal stuff etc etc. and learning how to code something as complex as this would take forever

Try fiverr.com.

This one is a lot cheaper for example: https://www.fiverr.com/fruktorum/develop...fe09dd1a8c

https://www.fiverr.com/search/gigs?acmpl...=undefined

Quote: (03-23-2018 07:38 AM)Keepiticy2 Wrote:  

As much as I want to fund it myself, the price to develope an app st this scale is around 100-150K (all the companies I’ve talked to) not to mention my marketing strategy, time in which I want to launch, legal stuff etc etc. and learning how to code something as complex as this would take forever

I hope you are bringing more to the table than just an idea and wire frames.

Do you have any experience with apps?
Have you run large software projects?
Are you perceived as an expert in the market for this app?
Do you have any insights into this market that others don't?

I'm not saying this to dissuade you. On the contrary, I hope you will start positioning yourself as a selling point when you do get to the stage of pitching to investors.

If all you have is an idea, I would start making yourself known in the market. Start positioning yourself as an expert. Start building content that the market will value. Start building email lists of your potential buyers.

That can all be done without a finished app. I would wager that the probability of success will be higher if you start serving this market before trying to find investors.

I’ve started doing what you’ve said but since I’m a decent graphic designer I decided to work on the UI while I have the time and idea. I’ll rather have SOMETHING now

The question that every entrepreneur who wants to approach investors needs to ask himself is, "What's stopping the people with deep pockets from simply developing this idea on their own without my help?"

If you can't answer this question, you're probably better off not seeking investors and you might want to reconsider the idea itself.

Ideally, you can (non-delusionally) laugh at the idea of someone else succeeding without your help. For example, if you're a Olympic gold medalist skier who has developed a new type of ski for beginners, investors are going to want you on their team, even if the idea could easily be recreated without your help. It would also be great to have a rock-solid set of patents that make it infeasible for anyone else to create your product without your help.

I agree with wwt, there's a lot to do to prepare before looking to invest so much time and money into a project.

Are people currently using anything similar? If so, how would you carve out a share of that market?

If your idea is novel, or compelling different, do you see a 'blue ocean' (untapped market potential) without competition? How would you draw users to your app? What key idea(s) would induce them to try (and I assume buy) what you plan to offer?

For instance, I use Waze when road tripping. The highway / traffic alerts / road closures and user updates are very useful to me. It's also free. I believe there's a ride sharing function available too. How would you see drawing drivers away from something like that to your concept? It's certainly possible, but it seems to be an all-or-nothing user case since it appears you can only use one nav app at a time.