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With today’s economy I don’t see much hope in releasing an application that cost money. I strongly disagree with this. Consumers and companies still use money,
by mixmax 17y ago
With today’s economy I don’t see much hope in releasing an application that cost money.
I strongly disagree with this. Consumers and companies still use money, they just use less and, importantly, use it differently. B2B markets are particularly interesting right now. There are thousands of companies looking to cut down on their IT spending, trying to locate better and cheaper options for their expensive solutions.
Make a cheap standardised Intranet to replace the corporate behemoth that costs thousands of dollars every year, make a helpdesk application that can cut down on support costs, offer a cheap hosted VOIP solution that saves on phone bills.
The possibilities are endless, and if you call up a company telling them that they can save money using your product they'll listen.
- edw519 17y agoExcellent advice! This is exactly what I'm doing and I'm busier than ever. As budgets tighten, companies are looking for better (cheaper) ways to get the same work done. It's times like this that enable major shifts. OP has it exactly backwards. I can't imagine releasing a free app right now when the pickins' are so good. A couple of recent examples: One company has a lot of clerical work but a hiring freeze. I automated their intranet-->fax function, freeing up enough time to get more work done with the same number of people. Another company had to push out all of their purchase orders for the next 18 months because their revenue stream was slowing down. A nice little 3 week project for me. Another company had planned on getting a new Oracle product for $500K until I showed them how to get the same output from their existing system for one fifth that amount. (Hopefully they'll have me do that work.) Notice the pattern: slowing economy --> more IT work --> everybody happier.
- kubrick 17y agoI have also noticed the same trend -- companies are willing to spend money on worthwhile services and products. I'm consulting at two startups that sell products/services, and both of them have a nice collection of first customers. Better yet, interest is clearly growing. I keep pointing out that this is amazing considering the economy; I'm not always sure they completely understand how well they're doing. The real point is: don't assume you can't get companies to buy things. They can, especially if it makes pain go away. Be aspirin, not a vitamin.