Just a Personal Point of View
I'll Write It, You Sell It - Why Not?
30-Jan-2006
by Susan Pichotta
SUCH A GOOD IDEA
Yesterday in the AISIP members forum, there was a post from a new member.
He listed his programming experience, said that he was available to write a new
software product (any product), and was looking for a partner -- someone to
handle the marketing and sales.
I've seen this question asked before, and it is one I asked myself, many years ago.
It usually goes like this: I'm a good programmer. I can write great software,
but I can't sell it (and don't care to learn). So, why not partner up with
someone who knows how to sell software, and then we'll both make money?
Ah, it sounds so simple. Why not, indeed?
It is not an impossible task, but there are some serious issues that need consideration.
If you ignore these issues, chances are you will get burned, and badly. But if you are aware
of the issues, and deal with them ahead of time, then maybe this would work for you.
WHO DOES WHAT
First off, who will do what? OK, Developer-Dude will write the software, and Sales-Dude will sell it.
But who will write the Help file? Who will write a Getting Started guide? If you really want to
sell the software, you should think about Wizards, and Tips of the Day -- who is going to write those?
Are "Tips of the Day" sales items, or programming items?
Who decides whether you have these things?
If it is up to Sales-Dude, you will have them. If it is up to Developer-Dude, maybe so and maybe not.
After all, his software is already wonderful, right? And whose problem is documentation and training,
anyway? And the website? And copy protection? And any scripts needed to work with the
registration services?
Speaking of training, are you going to have demos? Tutorials? Who will do them? Who will pay for
the software you need to write them? What if Sales-Dude does the tutorials and website,
but Developer-Dude hates them?
LOOKS AND FEATURES
For that matter, what if when Developer-Dude writes the software, Sales-Dude hates it?
What happens if the software looks dog-ugly to Sales-Dude, and he says, "It will never sell.
This interface will hurt sales." But Developer-Dude says, "It looks just fine, and besides,
that's part of writing the software. I write it, you sell it. What I wrote is perfect."
What if Sales-Dude says, "The software must have feature X", but Developer-Dude says,
"No way, that is way too much work. And besides, I've already spent three weeks working on feature Y,
which is really cool, and I need to finish it." But Sales-Dude says, "Nobody cares about feature Y,
it would only be cool to a geek! Our users will never even know it's there." Developer-Dude says,
"You should tell them, man,
that's your job!" And Sales-Dude says, "My job is to sell what people want, and nobody wants
feature Y, they want feature X! You are wasting your time on feature Y! Get busy on feature X!"
You get my point. What happens to your partnership then?
ADVENTURES IN ADVERTISING
What happens if Sales-Dude says, "We need a special listing at Download.com, a $500/month
Google AdWords budget, expedited listing with TuCows, premium advertising at SharewareJunction,
and forget everything else." But Developer-Dude says, "Don't pay for any advertising, just
list the software on every download site known to man. I don't want to pay money to sell this.
If you build it, they will come." Then Sales-Dude goes ballistic at such an archaic attitude.
Who is paying for the advertising and listing expenses? How much will they spend?
And will it get deducted from all profits, or just from Sales-Dude's profits? "After all,"
Developer-Dude might say, "Sales-Dude didn't pay for half of my coding tools, did he?"
But Sales-Dude might say, "You didn't pay for half of the software I already owned to do marketing
and sales work! And advertising expenses exist only because of this product.
These are expenses I would not have if
it weren't for this product. You already had your coding tools, man." But Developer-Dude
had to buy a special tool just for developing this product. Who paid for that? Is the cost
deducted from the profits? (Whose half the profits?)
I WANT MY MONEY
What is "half the profits", anyway? What will the split be, 50/50? 60/40? 70/30? 30/70?
What happens if Sales-Dude is spending every dime they earn on advertising, when Developer-Dude
wants to actually take some money home? Sales-Dude says, "You have to build the brand."
Developer-Dude says, "I want money. Besides, shouldn't advertising pay for itself?"
Whose bank account does the sales money go into? In whose name is the registration service account set up?
ACCOUNTABILITY
Maybe Developer-Dude would like to see statistics on how much each advertising dollar
earns in sales, and how effective the different advertising campaigns are. But Sales-Dude
doesn't have that information, never has, and doesn't consider it important - he knows
what he's doing. What then? Maybe Sales-Dude says, "Can you write some scripts or something
to track that?" Developer-Dude says, "That's not my problem. I wrote the software, you sell it."
Let's go to nightmare territory: Developer-Dude writes some cool PHP scripts to track
advertising effectiveness... And finds out 6 months later that Sales-Dude has been selling
the scripts as a separate product, and pocketing the profits. What then?
SUPPORT AND SOURCE
Let's imagine that we get past all these hurdles, and the software is selling. Who is responsible
for support? If you decide on a two-tiered support agreement, where Sales-Dude handles the easy
questions and Developer-Dude handles the tough ones, then what happens when Developer-Dude says,
"Man, you could have answered these! Why should I be bothered with this piddly stuff?"
Worse yet, what happens when Sales-Dude sends the tough support issues (like bugs) to Developer-Dude,
and Developer-Dude ignores them? If the software is selling well and Developer-Dude disengages,
what happens to Sales-Dude when it's time to do an update, or fix a bug? What if Developer-Dude
never answers emails, never fixes bugs, just collects money?
Who owns the source code?
AND THEN WHAT?
What happens if the software really is fantastic, but Sales-Dude just can't be bothered to do
any marketing work past the initial push? Maybe Developer-Dude realizes that he can do the
marketing work, especially since Sales-Dude isn't doing squat (or maybe Sales-Dude did the
heavy lifting to get it started, and it's mostly on automatic pilot). What then?
If Developer-Dude takes over the marketing, does he still have to pay Sales-Dude his cut?
What happens if Sales-Dude never does any marketing?
What happens if Developer-Dude never finishes the software?
LEGAL AND FINAL THOUGHTS
And there is the whole "partnership" issue. If one dude is American, you should absolutely,
positively find out about the legal ramifications of entering into a partnership before you say,
"OK, let's be partners!" As I understand it*, just stating that a partnership exists
(thus forming the partnership) is enough to legally obligate you for all debts the other
person runs up in the name of the partnership. (Does that sound like bad news to you? It does to me.)
Different states and countries will have their own rules and laws, you should make yourself
aware of the ones in your area.
Obviously, there are a lot of issues to be worked out before any sort of partnership
should be entered into. Clear expectations for each dude involved should be the very first
thing discussed. A written agreement would be a really good idea - personally, I would insist on one.
A written agreement is, at the very least, an opportunity to spell out the expectations and
responsibilities of each person, and you can refer back to it if your memory should become
hazy on any point. When both parties sign it, it is also a legal contract, and that can be
a good thing if things get difficult later.
And remember, I am not a lawyer, so you should always seek competent legal and business
advice when appropriate. Don't take my word for it. This is just a personal point of view - and
hopefully some food for thought.
* "Own Your Own Corporation", by Garrett Sutton, Esq.
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