I just had a brainstorm for a new software program!! What the heck should I do next?

[Arkitech]

So I'm driving home today and I was trying to figure out what my next real estate investment should be and all of sudden it hit me, a great idea for an investment tool. I won't go into details for obvious reasons but I have a ton of questions.

How do you protect an idea until it gets developed?

What would be the best route to go for finding a software developer?

I have a million more questions but I'll just stop with these two.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> how do I protect my idea

Patent it is the only way, even then it has to be a specific process not just a general type of application like a word processor. Very expensive, and no way to be sure the patent will stand up (if there is prior art)

> software developer

If you know someone, it's easy, otherwise you'll have to hire someone. A decent and experienced lead developer will run you $60-$90K / year plus benefits, but you can find someone without experience for less.

Don't expect to get investors for a software product in this economy, so expect to come up with all the other funding yourself, including legal fees (incorporation as S, C, or LLC, plus trademark registration), website, marketing, etc.

Unless you have at least $200K to invest or $50K+ and a developer friend who will work partly for equity, I'd suggest giving up on your bright idea.

 

[yoda291]

get a lawyer. Start coding or take an ad out in the paper. That is all.

 

[Arkitech]

geez is it that difficult to get software developed these days?

 

[singh]

Originally posted by: Arkitech
geez is it that difficult to get software developed these days?

Depends on your needs

 

[oniq]

Of course you can always give your idea out for free, let people code the program for you, then make lots of lives easier knowing you did it. Hopefully the kind coder will give you credit for the idea =).

 

[DaveSimmons]

PS just FYI, I'm speaking from experience, I'm lead developer at a small, 3-year-old e-learning software company that has been pretty successful, and have friends that started a auction software company with VC money (invenna) that's now dot-gone. Of course I can't give you specific financial details about either company.

 

[GermyBoy]

Originally posted by: Arkitech
geez is it that difficult to get software developed these days?

Yes. And unless your idea is really really cool, which I'm sure it's not, you'll just end up wasting your time.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

start a sourceforge project.

 

[Nocturnal]

Or, learn how to code yourself.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Arkitech
geez is it that difficult to get software developed these days?

For anything non-trivial, yes.

What kind of application size and complexity are you thinking of? If it's small enough, you could probably just hire a conultant to the initial version, but you should realize that an experienced C++/windows developer has a fairly high hourly rate. You also need to budget in ongoing maintenance and upgrades.

Once you have the program, oyu have 0 income until you market it and find customers. At a minimum (if not going with a shareware / garage approach) you need to incorporate and trademark your company name, build a website complete with credit-card processing solution, and figure out how to advertise.