In case you didn’t know, a software company is one that develops and distributes computer software with the purpose of providing learning, entertainment, etc. Like everywhere else, starting a software company in Nigeria requires start-up funds, a knowledge of programming, marketing skills and technical expertise.
In comparison to hardware, software startups are absolutely easier to monetize and more profitable. Here are some solid tips to help you set up a money-earning software company of your own.
1. Define your area of focus
There are many fantastic potentials in the software industry but you need to first decide on a focus. However, the two main sectors in the software industry are software services and software products.
Software products are sets of applications that are targeted at individual businesses or home users. They are usually developed to target a particular market segment. For example, programs to ease paperwork like writing letters, preparing graphs, invoices, etc. Or maybe a magazine company that wants to re-design an existing word processing package to suit their translation needs for English and Igbo.
While on the other hand, software services cover marketing or maintenance software like helping a company move its existing data to a new system. It can also include audit, record-keeping, a customer list, salary accounts etc. When deciding on starting a software business, carefully conduct a survey of the market, evaluate your investment capacity and human resource available to you.
2. Hire a technical team
As a growing startup, it’s smart to keep an efficient team working on different projects. To build a good brand image, you need people who are motivated enough to complete projects successfully according to clients’ requirements. For instance, a team each for securing clients and carrying out projects.
And of course, this would mean more projects and more profits. Once your clients can trust the quality of your work, you’d get more people who would be willing to stick to your company for their services. You can have so much money at your disposal but with mediocre talent, all that money will go down the drain. So, hiring the right team would not only keep your staff from being idle and demoralized but ensure quality of work produced.
3. Decide if you need a partner
Let’s face it. It takes two to tango but if the tunes are different, that is one miserable situation right there. Deciding to launch a software company by yourself or having a business partner is yours alone to make. But either way, be clear on who should be in charge. Just because someone makes a great spouse or friend does not mean they would be great as business partners.
List out what you want in a business partner -investment capacity, expert advice etc. This makes it easy to choose a business partner based on real justifications rather than for emotional reasons.
4. Location is key
You can have the best product in the world but if it is inaccessible, of what use is it? Luckily, the Internet has made the global market more accessible to everyone. Of course, market competition is tougher on the internet, but with or without a physical location, it’s still your best bet.
First, conduct a comprehensive market research. Start small with the basic needs of your customers in mind. With an accessible location, you can build your profit and client base.
5. Evaluate your outsourcing needs
Overall, you must do some evaluation on whether you really need additional help. For some, outsourcing may mean delays and quality compromise but it is not always cheap and may, in fact, be far more difficult. You could end up with higher costs with outsourcing if things backfire. But the decision has to be taken only after you have carefully evaluated every single aspect of it.
Set aside some time to take a decision on why, how, when and from where you could go for outsourcing. Balance that with a cost-estimate. Your business will always be your baby, no matter how small or big it is; for more advice and tips to launch your dream company visit http://www.frugaltrendsetter.
Did you find these tips helpful? We’d love to know from your comments!