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Thinking about starting small applications business-NEED FEEBACK

By RayJeff ·
With all the work I'm doing the project at work, I had thoughts of wanting
to start a small business. Actually the idea of a business been in my mind
for years, but wanting to specialize in somehting has been tossed around for
the past 4-5 years between me and a classmate of mine.

I think I've finally found a definate niche area. The idea is provide
application development services in the education field. Specically, K-12
teachers---public or private. And since I always have a pipeline in one
school potentally with one friend who's a teacher I'm going to develop a
database and possibly a few other schools, I want to go for it.

I guess now, I need feeback from you guys to help make my idea cleaner and
leaner for me to actually start.

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Schools, small businesses, and VC money

by jmgarvin In reply to Thinking about starting s ...

Ok, so you want to start a business...don't quit your job just yet.

1) VC money is HARD to come by when you are doing application programming. You better have a graphic artist to make it pretty and somebody to explain WHY a school should buy your product over say Peoplesoft or Banner. Make sure you can integrate with current LMSs, portals, and other systems...

2) Schools tend not to invest in small business software. They usually get burned and when they don't the support offered on the software is usually nominal. You HAVE to offer excellent customer service, plus be able to customize for each school on the fly.

3) Running a small business with a friend is a good way to lose the friend. Make sure you don't have monetary ties and that each investment is independent. Also, KEEP YOUR JOB. You just work 80 hours/week now. You come home and work on your small business for 6 months until you have a bitchen product.

4) Don't lose heart. It is hard work. Just keep at it....find your niche and attack it!

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You're thinking way too small

by bschaettle In reply to Thinking about starting s ...

OK, step back and look at the BIG picture here. You have potentially one database project for one teacher. Gosh, you MIGHT be able to generate a couple hundred bucks from that, and then be saddled with support calls foreverafter.

Definitely do not give up your day job just yet, my friend. School districts are notoriously cheap, and incredibly short-sighted when it comes to technology and software. This niche you've found probably exists because no one can make money there. Just ask your teacher friend what kind of annual license fee they would be willing to pay for your application -- it may open your eyes.

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check this out

by leonor.ilustre In reply to You're thinking way too s ...

http://www.myinternet.com.au/

Hope this helps you with ideas...

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