How to Find a Software Development Partner
Avoid wasting time and money on a software developer that does not deliver what you need. Fool Me Once… I hired a team in the early 2000s to build a low-level Internet filter because it was technology I had no experience with. Our first round of calls went well. They affirmed that they could do the job in about three months. We communicated regularly, but the project just kept dragging out. In the meantime, I built the frontend and studied low-level Internet filtering. Almost a year later, I had an “ah hah” moment. I realized it was impossible to create what I had asked for. I brought this up on our nightly call, and the project lead confirmed it was impossible. When I asked why they didn’t tell me, he said, “we’ve been doing what you told us to do.” What “I” told them to do? I was telling them…
5 Simple Steps to Create a Custom Software Application
Building a custom software application can be daunting. If you’ve never done it before, it’s hard to know where to start. Five simple steps to create a custom software application Here are the essential tasks that ensure custom software development ends in success. Begin with the end in mind Assemble your team Plan your work Develop, test, and review iteratively Review/Repeat Begin with the end in mind Know what you are creating before you start because custom software development is costly. Don’t waste time making anything you don’t need. Take the time upfront to consider precisely what your software should do to support your business objectives. You don’t need to get into every minute detail. You just need to understand what the software should accomplish on behalf of your users. User stories and user journeys can help you achieve this. Assemble your team Choosing the right team is critical to…
Begin With the End in Mind
Don’t Waste Your Time Developing custom software is expensive and time-consuming. You should not undertake it lightly. Be sure you understand the end goal before you even start. Your software may increase efficiency, improve communication, or create new job opportunities. Solving real-world problems or addressing industry pain points are great goals. However, you must know what you are trying to achieve before you start, or you will waste A LOT of time and money. I was really impressed with Berkemeyer ConceptsProgram Manager, Fives Lund LLC Stay Focused You will likely fail without a clear vision. Without clearly understanding your end goal, you will not know whether you are on track or even heading in the right direction. Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.Alice: I don’t much care where.The…
Custom Software is a Long-Term Commitment
It’s Time for Custom Software Custom software may be the right solution for your business. It will solve problems off-the-shelf software may not be able to because it is designed specifically for your unique business needs. It will help support your business objectives and should earn you more than it costs to build. Just be sure you have a long-term perspective on your custom software before you start. Would you rather just talk about this? Schedule a FREE consultation. Creating custom software is a long-term commitment. Once you begin, be prepared to make regular investments in it for a long time. You should be ready to invest time and money to ensure your software project is successful and healthy. It will need to be updated regularly for as long as you continue to use it. Custom Sofware is a Long-term Commitment A software application typically takes several months to complete.…
Count the Cost of Custom Software
Considering a custom app for your business? You can solve a lot of problems with custom software. Be sure you have counted the cost before you start, however. A custom mobile or web app can enhance user productivity, provide a better customer experience, or even be a status symbol. Nonetheless, creating custom software may not be your wisest choice. Just want someone to talk to about this? Software is Expensive All software is expensive. You may think your monthly subscription fee for the software you are using is high. Perhaps you’ve considered spending it to build custom software instead. The bad news is, if you think existing software is expensive, you will not like the cost of custom software. Custom software is even MORE expensive. Custom software is not a one-time out-of-pocket expense. Once you’ve created custom software, you will need to budget both time and money for it every…
Don’t Be a Victim
You’ve poured your life into this business. You’ve invested heavily in both time and money to create something of value. Then, one day, out of the blue, it’s gone. Your site is down, the resources don’t load or, heaven forbid, the developer just goes dark and doesn’t respond to you at all. You have no idea where these assets are stored, much less how to fix this. Are you prepared for this? You should be. It’s not a matter of if, but rather, when one of these scenarios will happen to you. Click here to schedule a free 15 minute call Be Prepared Your website, images, PDFs, Word documents, database, custom software, and any other digital assets are the foundation you’ve built your business on. You have poured enormous amounts of time and energy into creating these materials. Have you considered the huge financial impact you will face if your…
What’s Important Now?
I was on a bi-weekly strategy call with one of our clients the other day. We were discussing his implementation strategy for their custom software. Like so many organizations out there, this is a small well run team with a limited budget of both time and money. There is constant pressure to do more with less. This particular company is run via the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), something we embrace as well. A core tenant of EOS is focusing on a 90-day world driven by high-priority Rocks. The central mission of the company for each 90-day cycle is ensuring those Rocks are accomplished. Despite this clear corporate focus, each of the five business units within my client’s company have prioritized the software development tasks differently based on their own needs. He was stuck. He could not figure out how to move forward without having some business units feeling unsupported. I…
Measured is Better
“What gets measured gets improved” Robin S. Sharma “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Chinese proverb It’s not working You’re team is not producing what is needed to succeed. For that matter, they’re not even close. You know they are capable, but you just can’t move the needle on improvement. Despite meetings, brainstorming sessions, threats, and even just plain patience, the situation stays the same. There is hope. Better yet, the solution is actually not difficult at all. Know where you are going You will never know if you are on track if you don’t know where you are going. Begin with the end in mind. What does success look like? Write it down. By clearly identifying success you will know how far away from it you are. You will also know how to tell when you have arrived. Click here to schedule a free…
Is Custom Software Killing Your Business?
If your custom software investment feels like a bottomless pit, this post is for you! There are two ways to manage a software project: Focus on getting a lot of tasks done. Focus on building software that meets your business objectives. While most development managers just focus on getting tasks completed, as a business leader, you focus on adding revenue to your bottom line. You know it’s important to add value with every line of code written. Click here to schedule a free 15 minute call If your process isn’t working, give me a call at (573) 944-2667 or fill out our contact form. There’s no obligation, at all. I start with a free consultation to help you understand what’s really happening in your development process. Many business leaders don’t actually know. Focus On Your Business Objective If you don’t manage your team strategically, the endless backlog of “features” will keep your developers busy while your business slowly dies. As a…
Winning: One Pitch at a Time
I am a little league baseball coach. I didn’t play baseball growing up, so I don’t have experiential knowledge to lean on. Instead, I had to learn the game while coaching. One of the first things I learned is you can’t win if your pitcher doesn’t throw strikes. Period. Pitching is a very slippery slope in little league. Just lobbing a ball into the strike zone has good chance of getting a strike. A few balls thrown outside the strike zone means the batter walks to first base. It takes, at the most, 3 walked batters for the other team to start scoring a point every time another batter is walked. Confidence erodes quickly when this happens. The young pitcher’s face and body reflect what’s going on in their mind. As confidence erodes, more and more pitches fail to make it into the strike zone. A snowball of bad pitches,…