Top 3 common missteps of IT start-ups. A view from inside.

   Seems only lazy person haven’t tried to launch a start-up nowadays. Beginners as well as experienced people try to start a project. As a rule newcomers get hooked with many mistakes, but even veterans can follow wrong way. I won’t go into details of business ideas analysis and niceties of monetization, just focus on the essentials. Let’s review the most widespread missteps that are the most evident.

   1. So, you decided to create your service. As a matter of fact you faced with the dilemma to choose a developer. As usual, there are two variants: you cooperate with the company that specializes in your issue, or search for freelancer. Usually the second is much cheaper. Sometimes the difference in price could be even 100%. But wait. Stop this rat race and analyze the situation logically: do you remember that there are no miracles in this world and when you trying to get lower price, you definitely lost in something else?

Here is a short list of risks that you get to boot to the low price

Freelancer	Company
Your idea could be stolen	Company sings NDA and never dares to do that under the threat of losing authority and business.
Obscure warranties	Company gives distinct warranties and unlike freelancer won’t suddenly disappear.
Low quality	Before launching company full complex of testing including Stress Testing
Unclear outlook for growth and post-implementation support of the project	Company gives whole source code that is precisely documented, all documentation and instructions

    2.  SRS. Many do not even know what it is. It is very important to create SRS before the development process will be started. SRS helps to revise the completeness of the system. And only after SRS is done the terminal cost of the project can be determined. I have seen many start-uppers who rushed into the battle without realizing what they really want from the system. And after the first launch they began spending money modifying the system, because there were something missed in it. And it could be an infinite process until you’ll ran out of money. From this moment the project can be claimed as dead. The money has been spent but the result is null.

   The SRS is the main document for the developer which states the work. Many a time when the SRS elements written with SOV, but, as usual not detailed, and, thus, this causes conflict in the future when the system provides to the client.

   If you not so qualified as a customer to write SRS by yourself you can entrust this to your developer. It could be a good practice when on SRS and development of the system according to the SRS work two independent developers. 

   As a rule SRS is paid. The cost for SRS may be even up to 30% from the cost of whole project.

   The next are the principal myths in SRS writing

 

Myth	Reality
This is a waste of time. The development should be started strait of the ice.	The time spent for SRS development doesn’t extend the project’s space but reduces it. Anyway the developer should work under the some specifications. And if there is no SRS, will be made an inner document based on the consultations with the customer or, even worse, the development will be conducted by only conversations without any document. In both cases developer spends his time, that, be sure, will be added to the cost for development
Waste of money. First you pay for the SRS and then on top of that – for the development.	Consecutive development – first – the SRS and then – the system will make the work more manageable, predictable and strictly planned reducing general time and cost as a result. Besides, you have a document you can bring to another developer

         3. Cost

  News that extra money needs to be spending after project implementation sometimes startle start-uppers. The reason is the market analysis to plan promotion of the product was missed.

  I’m proud I took part in work for commercially successful projects of my customers-start-uppers. Even more I proud of - I have dissuaded those, whose imperfectly planned ideas were doomed to fail.