What you need before contacting software developers I.

Validating your idea from 4 questions in 3 minutes

Everyone has an idea. Most of us even regret that we never tried to implement it. Nowadays, most of these ideas can manifest as software software solutions. In the case of these, it really only takes time. Everything else can be learned and available for free for anyone who take time finding it.

Of course, as soon as we dig into it a little, we find ourselves in a rabbit hole and quickly loses the initial enthusiasm then put the thought aside to gather dust on a hidden shelf of our brain. Then there is another group who, due to their personality or life situation, do not shy away from new challenges. For them there’s two types of outcome: They either succeed and create the business of a lifetime, or they burn their invested energy, time, and money and get nothing back for it. I think you can see the preferable way by yourself, without the need of any explanation.

Regardless of the outcome, both groups needs to take the first step towards success. Which is to answer with a yes to the following question: Are we ready for our own idea?

This idea can be detailed endlessly, so we focus on the software development part. In addition, depending on the idea, there are a lot of other thoughts to go through in order to create a successful vision for our product. (cashflow, market timing, choosing a suitable market, market potential, operating costs, customer churn...) However, these are not absolutely necessary for a good idea to become a great software. The reason is that instead of generating direct revenue, a software can earn its implementation cost, and return of investments can be multiplied by other ways. We don't have to think much about it to imagine a factory where we can speed up the work of 10% of the employees with a software support by 1-2%, which can results huge savings for the company.

However, in the case of software development, there are a few points that we must be able to answer first. Without knowing the answers, or in the case of an incorrect answer, we just flying blind with no real destination. And these kinds of predicaments mostly end with a crash.

Do you have enough time for your idea?

Most of the time, we only vaguely know our idea, and as we answer more and more questions to ourselves, our thought cloud crystallizes. Our plan is created by putting these concretized points on paper. We then put this into a form that can be interpreted by others, and we are no longer talking about an idea, but a project, and the first version of our project starting document is ready. Having reached this point, we will be able to show something to others, based on which they can understand what we mean. This way, we are already in the top 1% in the field of ideas, because very few people take this trouble to put actual work into their vision. It’s a good indicator that if we are so unwilling tod o this tiny task, then we should not approach others with it.

Why is that? - you asks. Because this idea is not suitable. It is not suitable because the only person who might believes in it, its own creator is right now thinks that it’s not worth the effort to be summerized in a well thought manner. Until we fix this, don't expect someone else to deal with it. They are almost certainly busy with an idea that is already worth dealing with.

Unfortunately, our part in the software implementation of our idea does not end here, even if we outsource it all to a large company: It is not enough that you know what you want, transferring your idea to others so that they can understand and implement it will take much, much more time. You have to make yourself available so that those who create your idea can talk to you, and gain insight on demand. There will be constant flow of new ideas that will emerge during the process of creation, which did not even exist at the beginning. As your idea progresses and solutions created, these solutions will bring in new questions that someone needs to be able to answer. Most of the time, this is the same person who has the idea.

Do you know when we are ready?

Many people see the potential in the idea, but for an idea to be realized, the idea must become a project. And a project has an end. Do not start any development until we can determine exactly when we are satisfied with the implementation of our idea. Don't get us wrong, our idea can always be improved, it will never be completely finished, we will always have better ideas with which we can supplement and make it more effecient, faster, more accessible.

Now if you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then you can say that you reached the end of your project (we know, we know this article is full of questions, but 95% of software development is practically only questions and answers.)

If you can no longer talk to the developers and the project remains like this:

• Did you achieve your originally defined goal?
• When another team would continue the development, can you hand over the documents they ask for?
• Can the solution work in its current quality for the time you expect?
• Does the person who made it for you think the same?

If the answer to all of these is yes (and of course these questions are made up of many other questions). Then your development has come to an end. Congratulations!

Do you have the resource for your idea?

It is possible that you will not have the opportunity to do everything by yourself, and it is even possible that you will delegate everything to others. In such cases, it is customary to hire a team, company, or person to solve the given task. It's no big secret that the more we outsource everything, the more expensive it will be to implement it. In exchange, as the owner, we can gain a lot of time for ourselves to deal with other things, and what's even more important, our idea can hit the market. Let's not even get into the fact that a person who has been involved in development for several years can expect better results than if we were just starting to learn the profession.

Based on this, the equation can be easily seen:

[(value of our spared time) + (value of expected quality improvement) + (value of faster delivery)] >

(cost resulting from outsourcing)

If this is true, and the costs resulting from outsourcing reach the minimum level, then it is worthwhile to outsource the work. (It is logical that the benefits are also greater, but we are talking about such small values. - For example, if a 14-year-old is the owner of the idea - We are talking about such a small value that no one will want to accept it or take it seriously. At the time of writing the article this minimum value is around 3000 USD net price. This means that if we don't have that amount of money to find someone who would implement our idea, then we should try to do it ourselves or raise money for it. If it is a lower amount, we can probably do it ourselves, it just costs more in time, and if we were not able to secure that much funding for it, even by convincing other that this is a good idea and they should invest in it, then the documentation explained at the beginning of the article is either missing or simply too shallow.