Paul Farnell from Litmus (a pretty cool compatibility testing webapp) writes a pretty interesting article on how to price web applications.

Read here.

I’m currently in charge with almost almost all the projects here at Brainient. My role as a Project Manager is to ensure that our clients are happy with our work, that everything is developed at the highest quality possible and that the deadlines are met.

My work would be extremely difficult if the people I work with wouldn’t be responsible, if they wouldn’t pay attention to details or if they wouldn’t take their attributions seriously.

But you know what? I work with rock stars. I’ve been very fortunate to find people that are passionate about what they do. Of course, I can’t say we’re all exactly as we should be, but we’re working on it. We constantly try to go one step further and make ourselves better persons. And you know what? It works.

It’s all about the people, and we know that.

If there’s one truism about software projects it’s that they’re never on time. Or on budget. So that may be frustrating and make you lose momentum.

Normally, a startup goes through the following steps until it launches:

Step 1.
You come up with an idea. You tell your friends about it, they love it so you start writing specs. Lots of specs.

Step 2.
You’re happy with the specs so you start looking for a software development house or grow an in-house team in order to get it rollin’.

Step 3.
You develop, test and refine the product. Then you develop, test and refine your product again. And again. And again. You’re happy and enthuziastic the first month. Heck, even the second. Actually if I think about it, you’re all caught up in the process even the third month. But then…

… you start having doubts: is it gonna be up and running soon (or ever?), are people gonna like the product, will they use it, will I still make millions, will my competition get ahead of me?. To make it short, you lose momentum. You’re not as confident and enthuziastic as you were when you started working.

Well, let me tell you one thing: if you spent 3 months working on the project, it’s probably worth something. It’s probably gonna have some fans, make some money (or a lot of them, who knows !? ), open a new market or even get founded or bought. So hang in there. Sooner or later, you’ll see it up and running.

On the other hand, if 3 months passed by and you don’t have at least a rough beta, you should dump the team, rethink the strategy and rewrite the specs, ’cause at one point something went really wrong. Of course, I’m not talking about rocket science here… a’aight? If you build rockets, then you better think of a strategy to keep the momentum baybe, ’cause it’s kinda gonna fly by.

Quickly integrate equity invested strategic theme areas and focused e-markets. Dynamically whiteboard mission-critical outsourcing for client-centered benefits. Objectively deliver future-proof scenarios whereas cross-media ideas.

Interactively supply clicks-and-mortar networks through interoperable systems. Proactively promote intermandated catalysts for change for resource sucking leadership skills. Synergistically leverage other’s fully researched communities without turnkey internal or “organic” sources.

Synergistically benchmark emerging leadership skills via client-centric meta-services. Proactively disintermediate robust schemas and e-business paradigms. Completely morph extensible action items whereas multimedia based methodologies.

Seamlessly provide access to tactical outsourcing and collaborative products. Appropriately administrate cross-media channels and diverse imperatives. Authoritatively transition B2C materials vis-a-vis innovative information.

Interactively facilitate integrated customer service with wireless applications. Energistically strategize distributed metrics with synergistic resources. Distinctively re-engineer premier metrics before functional ideas.

Uniquely implement economically sound methods of empowerment before professional e-services. Conveniently parallel task cross-unit markets rather than cross functional technology.

There’s more where this came from, but to be honest… it’s all corporate bullshit, actually. Here at Brainient we love simple talk and complex thinking. Why? ‘Cause clients don’t care about technology, strategies & architecture, they just want things done the way they want it. Now, sometimes they aren’t right and that’s when we plug-in the corporate techy mumbo-jumbo, but mostly… we keep it simple!

Problem: You want to do everything from hamburgers to rockets. Right? Thought so… we all do. Ok, maybe not everything, but still… as much as possible.

Well, sorry to let you know but that’s how you’re gonna take your business to the ground. Really. Why? Here’s a few reasons:

1. Because if you try to do everything, you’re not gonna do anything right.
2. Because people these days need specialists not one-stop shops.
3. ‘Cause it’s better to have a large steak from a small market than tiny bits (or nothing) of multiple markets.

Solution: Pick a niche. Do something really really well. Be the best in your branch. Try to be the leader, not the follower!

A few tips that might help you:

1. So, how do you pick the niche?
Really simple: make a list with every thing that you love doing. Done? Good. Now, which of this hobbies / passions would you like / be able to transform into a business? Well… guess what: that’s your next business, dude!

2. Research.
If one of your passions / hobbies is building rockets, you might want to reconsider. We don’t wanna discourage you or anything… but make sure that the niche you pick actually exists. Or at least make sure people would be interested in it.

Here’s a few tips to help in your research:
a) start with your friends - talk to them about your idea / product / service. Would they be interested? Would they use it? Would they pay for it?
b) publish some polls - on your blog / site or anywhere you get a chance. Business is all about the people. And if they don’t find any value in your service / product… they ain’t gonna use it
c) follow your instinct - if your subconscious tells you it’s gonna work, try it. You’ve got nothing to lose! Except money, of course… but after all… it’s only money

3. Be ready to work 24/7
If you’re a family person and prefer spending more time with family/friends/fun, don’t start a business. We’re not saying that you should be an antisocial freak, or that you shouldn’t go out, have fun or spend quality time with your family, but you should find a balance. The 8hs/day schedule isn’t gonna work, so better find a good solution from the beginning.

So, finally… we believe that in order to have a successful business you need to do ONE thing right from the beginning:

PICK YOUR 1%

Problem: You’re in a market where the big guys make the rules. In order to survive, you think that the best thing you could do is stay in your row and do your thing. Well, to make a long story short: it’s not going to work.

So, what can you do? Simple: start picking on the big guys. Here’s why:

1. If you don’t, they will
Yup, sooner or later you’ll find yourself kicked out by a product / feature / service improvement they offer. Or, they’ll spend their millions with a marketing strategy that will leave you in the dark. Or, or, or…

So the best thing you could do: Pick on them. Build a better product. You’re in with McDonald’s? Make a better hamburger. Or give two for the price of one. And so on.

2. ‘Cause you’re agile, they’re not
Big companies suck because in order to get things done, they spend half a year on meetings, memos, meetings about memos and so on. You’re small. You can adapt better to the market. And you have one thing that they (really) don’t (although they try to act like they do). For you, it’s easy to have a close relationship with your clients.

3. If you don’t, you’ll feel intimidated by them
Yup, if you don’t start picking on them today, you’re always gonna be intimidated. You’re always gonna be afraid that they’ll come up with a better product / service than you (eg. make better hamburgers, etc).

Why won’t you be intimidated if you pick on them? Simple. It’ll become a game. You do something better, they do something better. You make better hamburgers, they try to do the same. So pick on them! It’s a game!

4. It helps you grow
By picking on them, you constantly need to improve your kick-ass business, to grow / strengthen your product line, or… well, sell more hambugers.

5. It’s fun
Yup, believe it or not, it’s gonna be fun. It’ll help you stress out, relax, drink a lot of caffeine, eat junk food (or hamburgers ), and well… have a really active kick-ass business!

Problem: There are only two types of employees. Those that pick the red pill, commit to the business and put their passion into what they’re doing, and those that pick the blue pill and only work to get their monthly salary.

So, why you shouldn’t keep everyone? Simple. Not everyone understands your extreme kick-ass vision about the business, not everyone is willing to work weekends and spend nights finding solutions to problems. And you know what? If they’re not willing to commit to the business, their work isn’t gonna be outstanding. They won’t build kick-ass products, because they don’t care. Why should you?

Solutions:

1. Share your vision and strategy.
Do it as often as you can. Then observe and evaluate. Do they follow the strategy? Do they embrace the vision? If they do, it’s all great dude. If they don’t, you might consider finding someone else!

2. Do they think they’re rock-stars?
So, you’ve almost finished that kick-ass product and everybody is happy. But, the testing / debugging process begins. If your employees try to get out of it, saying that they could do something more productive with their time? Well, it’s time for some changes. Just tell the HR chick you need other ppl. No problemo, move on!

You don’t need rock-stars. You need people that are commited to the business. That’s it!

3. Make a test
Here’s a test that will give you a really great view about each and every one of your employees: pay the salaries with a few days delay. Not more than 2 or 3. Tell them your cashflow is down and that you’re gonna pay in a few days, not to worry.

The ones that will come to you and say “hey, dude! I work for money! If you want loyalty get a dog” are not commited to the business, they don’t value your strategy, don’t give a *&*#& about your vision and they don’t deserve to work for you!

4. Do you have similar values / interests / ways of thinking?
People flourish when working with people that share their values and interests. It helps them communicate. It helps them grow. It helps them kick serious booty.

Strategy, vision and values. That’s it.

Problem: It’s Saturday evening and you’re in the freaking office, working on the super-freaking-important project that needs to be done by Monday.

Why is this a problem? Well, nothing big, it’s just that you’re gonna die young, dude! And if you ain’t gonna die, well… you’re gonna get crazy anyway.

Solution: Take your intelligent butt off that chair and go have some fun. See a movie. Have a walk in the park. Play some soccer (or whatever it is you’re good at). Relax, it’s not gonna be the end of the world.

Questions you might have:

1. Everybody’s depending on me!
Really? Then… where is everybody? How come only you are working this weekend? Have a break, dude. Unless you have a brain surgery to operate (or some other critical mambo-jumbo), just take a break…

2. I’ve worked all week. Why should I stop?
Well, you just said the answer. Because you worked all week. Hey, God created the world in 6 days and rested in the 7th, did you know that? Are you God? No? Thought so. Go have some fun.

3. What if I love working this weekend?
Well, if you love it dude, by all means, work this weekend! Just make sure you don’t make this a routine. Once you get on the wrong path, well, you’re gonna die. Or at least get crazy .

Conclusion: Life should be fun, so make it that way.