A new tech startup seems to launch every other day, and this competitive industry can be intimidating to break into. However, with the right education, capital, and fortitude, creating a profitable software business is possible. If you’re thinking of taking the leap and starting your own software startup, keep these tips in mind to ensure profitability.
1. Have Capital Prepared
You’ll need to first understand your startup and operating costs. Accessing the right financing is integral to immediate and long-term success, and sourcing out said financing could be more difficult than you might have previously thought. Costs can vary drastically depending on a variety of different facets of the business, namely the complexity of your planned software, the equipment you plan to use, and the employment costs. If you’re looking for an investor, consider peer-to-peer lending. While private investors charge higher interest rates, you’ll have the money you need at your disposal. Check out sites like LendingClub.com to get in contact with looking investors. Before doing so, make sure you have a solid business plan in place with every last detail covered to ensure your pitch is well-received.
2. Determine Your Focus
Are you going to offer software products or software services? You must understand the distinction between these two terms. Software products are generally a set of applications created to complete specific tasks, and may be developed to target a particular portion of the market. In contrast, software services provide maintenance help for already developed software products. Deltona, FL Carpet Cleaning is one such example, which provides affordable professional carpet cleaning service.
3. Find the Right Partners
Don’t have coding experience? Don’t count your software development dreams out quite yet. You don’t need to be a skilled programmer to make a software startup successful, but you do need to find the right connections and hires to make your business viable. Finding a partner with business experience in the software industry is a great place to start, and brushing up on your own knowledge is never a bad idea.
4. Find The Best Talent
You may choose to outsource your developers, and this can be a cost-effective move. This is especially true in the case of accomplished developers, as the right talent might not always be geographically close. Electing to outsource means expanding your talent demographic to a worldwide scale, and may ensure a better chance of securing a more qualified developer. One issue with outsourcing is that it can result in miscommunication, a lack of supervision, and some disjointedness between a developer and your onsite production team. However, companies like Inflectra have made it easy to keep track of projects no matter where in the world your employees reside. Track hours, see real-time work and run automated testing to keep your software development timeline on track, and minimize any miscommunication between the production team and development.
5. Use Customer Feedback During Development
Run consistent testing throughout development to ensure your product is meeting a need that other competitors aren’t currently fulfilling. Ask test consumers what they think, take their feedback into consideration (especially their criticisms) and turn it into action. Use focus groups to determine the changes that need to be made before mainstream release, and work out bugs before launching. It’ll save you a cache of money and time down the road, and it’s more than worth the initial investment.
6. Offer Competitive Pricing
With the onslaught of software companies, consumers have their pick of the litter when it comes to choosing their preferred software. Beyond usability and a high-quality product, the price should be your main concern. Offering competitive pricing will help you gain a leg up on the competition right out of the gate, and there are a variety of ways software startups have found to cut costs on the back and front end, whether it be through cloud-based services or outsourced development
Creating and maintaining a successful software startup company is not always cut and dry, and to reach profitability, you’ll need to pour endless hours and plenty of capital into this venture. Keep these tips in mind as you attempt to take your software idea from concept to reality.
