I actually have some projects on hold, all of them seem to capture interest of prospects. But this is the one that is not on hold and why.
- Prospect is a client with 100 employees
- I know the right hand of the CEO (his function is called Special Operations)
- They have an intern that will do data-entry for the next month
- There was a partner meeting on 28 april to discuss the application, but it's been delayed (Busy people over there), but all together + the webapp was deployed 3 days before and the intern didn't had any time to manually input data. So it's for the best
- My expenses could all get payed (currently doing it for free, in my own time), they should be my first big client.
- They will have a deep integration with it (importing newsletters, ...)
- I can sell the application to others.
All in all, what have i learned (and it has been adviced multiple times, just experienced them in real life)
- Get early feedback, when i first discussed the web application, i said that i had an idea that would address his problem, i explained it and i asked him of he could wait another month so, that i would have a early prototype with a minimum of features. I did and he could visuallize the solution and he loved it. 12 people in the company want to contact me (early testers), but i only want to talk through my friend (he is the consultant in this case). He is kinda doing the promotion for me in the company, now i think about it
- Build fast, fail fast. A problem isn't bad, it's how you solve it. I use a github repository to address issues. Get to know the people who have a technical experience employed at your client. Get them to understand that not everything will go smoothly, but you will be on top of it, if there are problems.
- If you're developping a webapp for other people also, you can solve the problems like they want it to. Or you make a general solution and explain them why. You can always find some corner cases where their proposed solution wouldn't work or where there could be dificulties. Explain it to them! Don't be afraid to put something on hold and prioritize your features. You only have x hours a day :)
Comments
I actually have some projects on hold, all of them seem to capture interest of prospects. But this is the one that is not on hold and why.
- Prospect is a client with 100 employees
- I know the right hand of the CEO (his function is called Special Operations)
- They have an intern that will do data-entry for the next month
- There was a partner meeting on 28 april to discuss the application, but it's been delayed (Busy people over there), but all together + the webapp was deployed 3 days before and the intern didn't had any time to manually input data. So it's for the best
- My expenses could all get payed (currently doing it for free, in my own time), they should be my first big client.
- They will have a deep integration with it (importing newsletters, ...)
- I can sell the application to others.
All in all, what have i learned (and it has been adviced multiple times, just experienced them in real life)
- Get early feedback, when i first discussed the web application, i said that i had an idea that would address his problem, i explained it and i asked him of he could wait another month so, that i would have a early prototype with a minimum of features. I did and he could visuallize the solution and he loved it. 12 people in the company want to contact me (early testers), but i only want to talk through my friend (he is the consultant in this case). He is kinda doing the promotion for me in the company, now i think about it
- Build fast, fail fast. A problem isn't bad, it's how you solve it. I use a github repository to address issues. Get to know the people who have a technical experience employed at your client. Get them to understand that not everything will go smoothly, but you will be on top of it, if there are problems.
- If you're developping a webapp for other people also, you can solve the problems like they want it to. Or you make a general solution and explain them why. You can always find some corner cases where their proposed solution wouldn't work or where there could be dificulties. Explain it to them! Don't be afraid to put something on hold and prioritize your features. You only have x hours a day :)