Copyright 2005 Ross Lambert
I've heard several prominent web marketers mention in their
classes and public forums how easy it is to create your own
software. Why, all you have to do is run over to Elance.com
or RentACoder.com and have some poor shmoe from Outer
Slobvia whip out what you want. And all for the price of a
few trips to Starbucks.
Uh, not quite.
Is that a spec in your eye?
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First of all, there is the matter of specifications. A spec
is a description of what your software should do. The more
specific your desires, the more detailed your specification
needs to be. Even the most malnourished coder in Slobovia
is going to balk if you say, "Try a gray background–oops,
no, don't like that. Let's try light blue… Oh, that's not
right, either. Let's try mauve." If you just want to
specify "the important stuff", you have to be prepared to
accept all the "unimportant stuff" however it is handed to
you.
By the way, both RentACoder.com and Elance.com have
provisions in their process and terms of use that protect
their developers from vague specifications. The good news
is that there are also provisions to protect you, the
publisher. Regardless, the more detailed your
specification, the greater the chance of a happy outcome.
Ah, but writing those darn specs takes a lot of time… far
more time than it sounds like when the gurus tell you how
easy it is.
This was only a test…
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There's also the small matter of testing. Once you accept a
developer's work, they get paid and get on with their
lives. You, however, must live with the software. If you
don't find every bug that must be fixed before you pay the
coder, you either have to put out another project for bid
to repair things or live with the problems until you do.
Therefore, you must test your software upside down and
backwards, on a variety of machines and different versions
of operating systems. You must also test the installer and
the help system… oh, you forgot to specify those? Too bad,
those tasks now require an additional project. Since they
are radically different in nature (one is technical, one is
not), you probably need two different people to do the
work. Coders are rarely proficient enough writers to create
an effective help system. I'm being kind, so let me
emphasize this point without getting nasty: Don't let your
programmer touch your documentation. Period. Never. Ever.
Help, oh I need somebody…
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You may be tempted to skimp on your help system.. Trust me,
that is not a good idea. For one thing, in the minds of
today's consumers a reasonably good help system is
considered a bare necessity. For another thing, a good help
system will lower your return rate. It is a worthwhile
investment.
A help system also lowers your ongoing technical support
costs. What tech support costs you say? Well, here's a
statistic that will blow your mind: Most software companies
allocate a minimum of 30-40% of a product's purchase price
to technical support. The reason is simple: It's cheaper
than refunds. Now you may not have created a Microsoft
Office clone, but I guarantee you that some inexperienced
users are going to need handholding. In my opinion, even in
the world of niche products you must at least offer
same-day e-mail support.
Xena is cool. Xenophobia is not.
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Now before you think I'm just an American developer dissing
the folks from other lands over on E-lance and RentACoder,
think again. I use both services and love them. And I have
developed some excellent working relationships with
individuals at both sites. My purpose here is to fire a
warning shot across the bow of wannabe software publisher's
boats: Software development is a mind-bogglingly labor
intensive task whether you do it yourself or pay someone
else to do it for you. Web sites like E-lance and
RentACoder have lowered the cost of software development to
the point that a middle-class American can think about
becoming a publisher without having to sell the house.
But you can still get burned, and it is worth counting the
total cost of publishing before you get started.
-- Ross W. Lambert, The Midnight Marketer
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Ross Lambert is co-founder of TheVentureForge.com, a
mentoring, hosting, tooling, and e-commerce incubating
membership site. He is also a Senior Software Engineer for
a fast-growing telecomm in Kirkland, WA and a happy husband
and father.