Startups Stack Exchange Archive

How to move forward in my startup journey

I need some help on how to move forward in my startup journey.
My current situation is as such:

I have a fully completed product that I developed with the intention of launching a startup. The product is a software that is offered to clients as a service for a monthly fee. The service is ready to go and all I need is my first client.

Im having the following problems:

  1. I do not know how much to charge for the service. There aren’t any other companies offering this service so I cannot compare.
  2. The service has not been tested in a real corporate environment so I am afraid the software might fail.
  3. I do not know how to create packages and price plans for my service.
  4. I do not know if people will actually buy this service from me. This service is very important to companies but they wont die without it.
  5. I do not know how to get clients.
  6. I do not know if I need funding and if I do where can I get funding?
  7. Do I need my client to sign any documents or contracts?
  8. How will my client pay me? Bank transfers? Do I need to send them a bill?
  9. I have so many different versions of the product in anticipation of clients different needs. Is this ok or should I stick to just one version?

Basically I am just really confused on how to move forward with my product and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 8487

I do not know how much to charge for the service. There aren’t any other companies offering this service so I cannot compare.

  1. This is where a customer survey can come in. I take it you didn’t do an open Beta test? This is something that you approach potential customers with, do a presentation, and say at the end “how much would something like this be worth to you?”. If you did a beta test, your beta testers could answer this, otherwise you are going to have to cold-call or do some marketing.

The service has not been tested in a real corporate environment so I am afraid the software might fail.

  1. This is a failing in your software development methodology, not a startup issue. Being a software developer I know you can test these things. You can stress test web applications and write unit/functional/integration tests for the rest of it. I’d start doing some testing now.

I do not know how to create packages and price plans for my service.

  1. This depends on what you are offering and how you wrote the software. The software needs to support the idea of packages and pricing. Usually they limit the amount of access, features, or data depending on the subscription level.

I do not know if people will actually buy this service from me. This service is very important to companies but they wont die without it.

  1. A market survey or canvasing potential customers can answer this question for you.

I do not know how to get clients.

  1. Marketing, trade shows, magazines, networking, advertising, etc. Getting your product out there is the hard part, you can also try offering free trials.

I do not know if I need funding and if I do where can I get funding?

  1. Unless you have viral growth or slow sustained growth, you will probably need some sort of funding. As to where to get it, thats difficult to answer. The short answer is small business loans or family members. The longer answer involves getting investors involved but is the subject of entire books and too long to answer here.

Do I need my client to sign any documents or contracts?

  1. Depends on what you are offering, since you didn’t provide details, its impossible to say.

How will my client pay me? Bank transfers? Do I need to send them a bill?

  1. Again, hard to say. Depending on the price you can set up recurring billing through any number of online payment gateways. Usually you do provide an invoice, usually electronically.

I have so many different versions of the product in anticipation of clients different needs. Is this ok or should I stick to just one version?

  1. As a developer, the fewer versions you have the better. Even if the client doesn’t use a particular feature, its easier to have one product version than many. But don’t put time into a feature that a minority of clients will use, its not worth it.

A lot of what you are asking is really geared towards “how to run a business”, I’d suggest picking up some books and read up on it. Perhaps it isn’t your “cup of tea” so to speak, and you may want to look at partnering with somebody who handles the business side while you focus on the technical side, this happens a lot with startups as the founder(s) are usually more focused on the product than the business.

Answer 8497

I have a fully completed product that I developed with the intention of launching a startup. … The service is ready to go and all I need is my first client.

If you do not have any clients yet, then you have no product. When your first customers will confirm that you have created a product they were dreaming of, only then you can be assured, that the thing you have created have some value. Right now you have something/idea/prototype that might become a product.

So before digging into all other questions, you must focus on one thing and one thing only - getting your first early adopters. I would say, that pricing/contracts/payments/ etc. is not so important right now. Do what you have to do to get your first clients. Give your software for free to the first 50 users. Do a pilot project for one customer for free or for a really a small price. Usually smaller companies agree to get new products even if they have some bugs with the agreement that you will fix those bugs and tailor your product based on that company’s feedback. Go and meet your potential clients in person and try to sell them your software for any price that comes from the top of your head. If they agree to do a pilot project with you, then think about agreements and other stuff.

After a pilot with one company you will have a much better understanding about what to do next with your product and it will be more likely that it will be accepted by other companies.

And only when you have a steady and growing customer base, only then you think about investors.

To sum up - go to meet your customers and start with a pilot project. Wish you the very best on your endeavor.

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