5 ms·

Herd mentality is the result of domain knowledge. All programmers experience problems with ToDo lists.. How many programmers experience retail analytic problems

by rjprins 15y ago

Herd mentality is the result of domain knowledge. All programmers experience problems with ToDo lists.. How many programmers experience retail analytic problems? There are many, many more of these niches. If you want to find a good market start talking to people outside the software development industry. The further the better: - Doctors - Notaries - Florists - Elementary school teachers - etc.. You will come across some many problems begging for solutions you wouldn't know which one to pick.

kenjackson 15y ago
And you'll learn how hard it is to sell into these niches. I've met people that have built surprisingly good software for janitorial services, recycling centers, among other niches -- who found it really hard to sell, despite the need being there. I would love to see some stories about people who successfully sold into these sorts of niche markets.
- alanfalcon 15y ago
  Sounds like there's an opportunity to create software that will help niche developers sell to niche markets ...
  - mattmanser 15y ago
    Well, it exists, but unfortunately they're wetware and they're called 'salesmen'.
  - mattmiller 15y ago
    I have been trying to figure out how to simplify selling to enterprise. The problem is sales decisions are made by managers who don't use the software. Getting the attention of these managers is expensive and the sale takes months. I think if you could let the enterprise user try the software first, then let them push management to buy the software you could sell to enterprise for less money w/o the sales people. The idea has holes, but I am working through it.
    - lurker19 15y ago
      This is freaking brilliant. Instead of carpet bombing prospective users with whitepaper sales bullshit (hello, Pentaho!) put out a good freemium or open source product with a straightforward pricing model, and lace the software or web site or mailing lists or IRC channel or other techie hangouts with practical advice for setting up a purchase order and explaining the value proposition to management. Most of the "sales" guidance is not really specific to a specific product, so a core set of materials an tools for building a pitch deck could be deployed with minor customizations for each product. win-win win: Software product companies need fewer salesmen, so they can sell at a lower price for higher profit, and users get easier access to the tools they need to be efficient, and engineers develop credibility as business leaders in their organizations. Keep me posted on your progress.
      - mattmiller 15y ago
        The biggest benefit I think is the lower barrier to entry for these clients. That creates more competition and better products. How do I communicate that to enterprise clients? I suspect that they think a higher barrier to entry is a good thing b/c it weeds out bad companies. It is just a brain storming exercise at the moment, but if I can come up with something clever I will try to make some noise.
    - EwanToo 15y ago
      I think that's pretty much the model of every "freemium" business SaaS app? See Basecamp, Zoho, Google Apps, etc. You can use it yourself (or in small groups, 5-10 people) for free, but if you want to grow it into a 50 user service, or 50000 users, then you need to speak to a sales person (or dig out a credit card).
      - tluyben2 15y ago
        Those are enterprise? Except Google Apps, which > $100 million rev/year companies are using basecamp or zoho on a company (not departmental!) level? Departmental sales are easy, you just need a few users and there is no 'big manager' involved usually. But to get companies to pick your software as the company standard... I don't believe basecamp or zoho are there. But I could be wrong.
- earl 15y ago
  I built some software a decade or so ago that did ticketing / concessions / gift cards / inventory / time clock for smaller movie theaters. You wouldn't believe how crappy what they were using was. Still, selling was a royal pain; either people are doing all the above w/ paper and it's hard to demonstrate how much better software can make their lives, or they're locked into a competitor with enormous annual fees. It can be done, but it's not as easy as the blog author makes it sound. Also, don't underestimate the technical support load of dealing with really technically incompetent people.
- nosse 15y ago
  Four dudes from my school thought that it's too complex problem to calculate by hand the amount of gravel needed for road construction. Dynaroad is their business and it's doing really good. http://www.dynaroad.fi http://www.dynaroad.fi

by rjprins 15y ago

kenjackson 15y ago

And you'll learn how hard it is to sell into these niches. I've met people that have built surprisingly good software for janitorial services, recycling centers, among other niches -- who found it really hard to sell, despite the need being there. I would love to see some stories about people who successfully sold into these sorts of niche markets.

alanfalcon 15y ago
Sounds like there's an opportunity to create software that will help niche developers sell to niche markets ...
- mattmanser 15y ago
  Well, it exists, but unfortunately they're wetware and they're called 'salesmen'.
- mattmiller 15y ago
  I have been trying to figure out how to simplify selling to enterprise. The problem is sales decisions are made by managers who don't use the software. Getting the attention of these managers is expensive and the sale takes months. I think if you could let the enterprise user try the software first, then let them push management to buy the software you could sell to enterprise for less money w/o the sales people. The idea has holes, but I am working through it.
  - lurker19 15y ago
    This is freaking brilliant. Instead of carpet bombing prospective users with whitepaper sales bullshit (hello, Pentaho!) put out a good freemium or open source product with a straightforward pricing model, and lace the software or web site or mailing lists or IRC channel or other techie hangouts with practical advice for setting up a purchase order and explaining the value proposition to management. Most of the "sales" guidance is not really specific to a specific product, so a core set of materials an tools for building a pitch deck could be deployed with minor customizations for each product. win-win win: Software product companies need fewer salesmen, so they can sell at a lower price for higher profit, and users get easier access to the tools they need to be efficient, and engineers develop credibility as business leaders in their organizations. Keep me posted on your progress.
    - mattmiller 15y ago
      The biggest benefit I think is the lower barrier to entry for these clients. That creates more competition and better products. How do I communicate that to enterprise clients? I suspect that they think a higher barrier to entry is a good thing b/c it weeds out bad companies. It is just a brain storming exercise at the moment, but if I can come up with something clever I will try to make some noise.
  - EwanToo 15y ago
    I think that's pretty much the model of every "freemium" business SaaS app? See Basecamp, Zoho, Google Apps, etc. You can use it yourself (or in small groups, 5-10 people) for free, but if you want to grow it into a 50 user service, or 50000 users, then you need to speak to a sales person (or dig out a credit card).
    - tluyben2 15y ago
      Those are enterprise? Except Google Apps, which > $100 million rev/year companies are using basecamp or zoho on a company (not departmental!) level? Departmental sales are easy, you just need a few users and there is no 'big manager' involved usually. But to get companies to pick your software as the company standard... I don't believe basecamp or zoho are there. But I could be wrong.
earl 15y ago
I built some software a decade or so ago that did ticketing / concessions / gift cards / inventory / time clock for smaller movie theaters. You wouldn't believe how crappy what they were using was. Still, selling was a royal pain; either people are doing all the above w/ paper and it's hard to demonstrate how much better software can make their lives, or they're locked into a competitor with enormous annual fees. It can be done, but it's not as easy as the blog author makes it sound. Also, don't underestimate the technical support load of dealing with really technically incompetent people.
nosse 15y ago
Four dudes from my school thought that it's too complex problem to calculate by hand the amount of gravel needed for road construction. Dynaroad is their business and it's doing really good. http://www.dynaroad.fi http://www.dynaroad.fi