Comments on: Selling your own software vs working for the man

By: Jakony Amnon

Jakony Amnon — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:23:04 +0000

Ts a very good idea to work from home. I have done it for since 2009. I develop software prototypes every week and then attempt to convince some small company that it can add value to their business. However I would still prefer that working from home be a side business. Thanks.

Jakony Amnon
Kampala, Uganda.

By: Jakony Amnon

Jakony Amnon — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:14:54 +0000

Good article! Key aspects, as mentioned by a previous comment, is marketing. In some respects, it is all about the marketing – what are you selling, who is going to buy it, is there demand for it, and of course, probably the most important aspect – how are you going to sell it.

By: Jakony Amnon

Jakony Amnon — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:24:23 +0000

Educative article! Why not work for both? Get a good junior partner to run the Micro full time while you run part time. Business is sometimes about partnerships. Maximize earnings from both boss and micro….

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:39:23 +0000

Some people are so uncomfortable with uncertainty that they simply cannot bear to take the chance involved in starting their own businesses. If something makes you miserable, you shouldn’t do it. And, besides, we need people in those steady jobs to provide support services for us (the people who deliver your packages, the person who serves your lunch, the executive who okays the purchase of a huge site license of your software).

It’s true that success isn’t guaranteed, and the red line can move up and down for all kinds of reasons. But I know very few people who have regretted taking the plunge

By: Glenn C

Glenn C — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:31:15 +0000

I think it might be missing the huge variability in how much microISVs make. Some (a lot of?) microISVs don’t make much money… after going through the stories in Bob Walsh’s book, there is a huge range in how much microISVs make.

Preferably, you have enough saved up to make 2-3 products and see what sticks. And I think it’s important to avoid difficult markets and products that are bad ideas. My theory is that the best approach is to make a product that in significantly more useful/better than the other choices out there, so there should be lower risk (and higher return). If the competition is very good then your microISV is going to be a lot riskier.

By: Bruce Chapman

Bruce Chapman — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:46:58 +0000

This is an old post, but we can now comment that the WFTM line is not as riskless as some people expected it to be.

The advantage of MISV is that in bad times, your income can decrease by 20-30% as sales flatten or decline. How is that an advantage? In bad times your WFTM income can suddenly decrease by 100%. Once you are established and selling (at T1), it’s actually less risk to rely on many small sales than one big salary. If you can release more products, your risk decreases even more, particularly if they’re not correlated markets (ie 1 financial planning product and 1 farm equipment maintenance product).

By: Philip Yana

Philip Yana — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:12:43 +0000

Mmm… this makes me wonder if there is a place for a business that can support micro-ISVs in the areas where they’re likely to be weak.

Quite a few people mentioned marketing as critical, and there is the issue of how long you have to live off savings, and the risks of the product not taking off at all.

Some kind of org that can put in a bit of finance and marketing know-how in a return for a share of the upside might be a winner for both parties. If there are enough potenital micro-ISVs out there.

By: Andy Brice

Andy Brice — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:12:08 +0000

jb,

You are correct. But, as I say in the article, I am making a lot of simplifications and assumptions.

By: jb

jb — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:07:26 +0000

The difference between the two lines should somehow account for the time value of money. If you have enough money in the bank to house and feed yourself up until T1, you are losing money that you could make investing that money in the stock market up until T2. If not, then you are borrowing money that you will need to pay back with interest. All other things equal (and assuming that investments would perform well, you’re still behind at T2 by taking the microISV route.

I don’t say this to discourage anyone from taking the microISV route at all, just to point out a factor that is not accounted for above.

By: maria

maria — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:36:26 +0000

You forgot to mention that you will have no colleagues anymore. You will be pretty much isolated. And you completely miss out the product lifetime cycle affected by competition, big players stepping on your feet, etc.

And v1 is before v2, before v3. It is not a one shot work. And your boss pays you always while a loser program earns nothing.

Take all this into consideration.

maria