Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with business and development

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house?

MeatLightning — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:33:22 -0800

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house? Hi all -
I manage a mid-size e-commerce website. We currently work with an agency to build and maintain our site. We are considering hiring a dev (C# / .NET, SQL) and taking over development... or at least much of it (still may go out of house for UX, front-end dev).

Anyone have any advice, experiences, warnings, etc they can share?

Have you gone down this road? How did it go? What should we watch out for?

thanks in advance!

How do i get a job in Africa with a Multinational company

Dino Nino — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:00:08 -0800

Current MBA student , looking to work with a multinational company in Africa. Looking for an entry position in business development, marketing and sales and consultation. Fluent in French and English. I will appreciate any links, contacts or advice Thanks Dino

Need some tips on how to be a freelance developer

captainawesome — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:11:17 -0800

Now that I'm starting to do more part-time freelance software development, what kinds of things should I be considering? A few months ago, a friend of mine was approached to do some custom software development, but at the time he was unable to take on any more projects. He referred the guy to me instead and I did the job, which was well received. That led to another job, which in turn has led to a few more in the pipeline and a few other clients showing interest in hiring me. This is all good: I'm a full-time grad student, with piles of student loans, so any spare cash I can make on the side is great.

So far I've made relatively little money doing this, but if I'm going to be making any supplemental income from freelancing, I'd like to figure out what hoops I have to jump through (legalities, taxes, etc) to be legit. Googling has found me advice that all seems geared towards people trying to do small business as a career, but that's NOT what I'm shooting for right now - just doing the occasional bit on the side. Before I go spending tons of cash (which is in short supply right now) talking to a lawyer and/or CPA for an income stream that might be pretty small, I'd like to be sure that it's worth it.

Specifically,
1. Am I supposed to be starting a company for this, or can I just do business under my own name?
2. What am I supposed to be doing about taxes and the like?
3. Anybody have any idea what custom software development is worth these days? I'm a few years shy of a PhD in computer science, with 15+ years of independent and corporate software development experience, and the work I've been doing (iPhone app development) is still fairly niche, so it's got to be worth something - but I'm having a very hard time finding information on what I'm supposed to be charging people.
4. Are there things I haven't even thought of yet?

Some vague questions, I know, but if anybody's got any pointers I'd love to hear them.

3 guys, fresh out of college, looking for some financial advice on obtaining a developer for our startup

drkrdglo — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:25:54 -0800

Two college friends and myself are looking to put together a mobile application start-up. We have the business end of the startup covered, but we need to find a developer to help us out. We need some financial guidance on what to do and what not to do. Should we pay a freelance developer, or bring someone on board with us as a partner? My friends and I have finished college, have great full-time jobs, but we are still looking for something more. We share a passion for technology and innovation. In the current climate, mobile technology seems to be a huge growth area, and a huge area of opportunity for a new startup.

At the current time, we're looking at this startup as more of a serious project than anything. We're keeping our day jobs (in advertising and ecommerce) not only to continue being able to pay our student loans, but to continue learning how the industry works. Business wise -- we're set. Financially -- we can get by. We have a few thousand dollars to invest at the time being. We want to make sure we're making the right investment.

Our current dilemma is that we need a developer. We need to find out whether it's better to hire a freelance developer (which I've seen ads on Craigslist ranging from ~$60-$75/hr), or garner the interest of a fourth partner to join our team. Under the assumption of gaining a fourth partner, he/she would receive compensation, as the rest of us would --- after the applications are launched and sold.

Since this is more of a very serious project as opposed to a full blown business -- I would be more comfortable with a fourth partner, but hey, I could be totally off base about this whole thing.

In the end, we're doing this because 1) we love the industry/would love to be a part of a technological revolution 2) there's huge potential for future opportunities. In order to make our dreams a reality, we need to find a developer -- our missing link. Hopefully you guys have some insight how we can go about doing so in a financially responsible way.

(Side note: if there's a developer out there interested in this sort of endeavor -- send me a message!)

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:58:40 -0800

What's the best approach to take with the a lead software developer after being left holding the ball? About a month into a new full-time development gig (after almost a decade of contracting/freelance for me) the lead developer left for a two week vacation with assurances that we were more or less feature complete and the only thing left to do before launch would be cleaning up a few bugs.

Lies. (duh)

While on vacation we've found huge areas of functionality that were unimplemented, and others that were implemented so fragilely that they were bound to break. It's been a week of hell scrambling to get everything finished while at the same time not throwing lead-developer under the bus with the higher ups.

Lead developer has a huge amount of seniority. I'm the only other member of the team with any experience in the software industry (other developers have less than a year of professional experience). There's no formal project management at the company.

I'd like this job to work out. What approach do I take with the lead when he gets back? Do I point blank (in private) confront/talk-to him about the the lack of organization/management and what I view as a lackadaisical attitude towards developing code that actually works? Do I accept this is just his MO and work around it while covering my ass at the same time?

Any advice on ways to deal with this situation in a positive way would be appreciated. I'm used to being brought into situations like this as a contractor where I can drop in, hurt feelings, get something done, then move on to the next gig. I don't think that works in a situation you'd like to work out long term.

How to Create a Benefits Package

goalyeehah — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:02:34 -0800

How does one develop a benefits package when starting a new business? I am in the process of writing a business plan for a yoga studio and I would like to have a benefits package (health/dental/paid vacation, etc) How does one go about developing such a package. Are there pre-designed plans available.

Lastly, should benefits even be offered. I read some books awhile back that encouraged employees to work free-lance, be responsible for their own health-care, etc. and ask for what the business wants to offer as benefits to be instead added to salary.

Have you used RentACoder.com?

worker_bee — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:59:39 -0800

Looking for experiences (good and bad) that anyone has had with a service called "RentACoder.com" or any recommendations for a similar service. We found this site by accident and it looks like something that is tailor-made for a small business like us that is looking for someone to design a fairly simple desktop application and later have the same app. delivered over the web. Basically you put the project requirements up for viewing and developers around the world bid on the work based on their quals. and knowledge. You can then compare their credentials and award the "contract" to the person that you think is the best fit. It looks like a very good service as they offer things like escrow, arbitration etc. so I think it may be just what we need to get this job done at the best possible price.

I would just like to hear from anyone that might have used it in the past and get their opinions, or if anyone knows of similar services that they have used we would appreciate a few suggestions of other services to look at.

Legal requirements for an adult dating site?

treepour — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:11:55 -0800

I'm considering starting an adult internet dating service in the US. What legal implications do I need to consider? (Some mildly NSFW details follow). I'm considering creating a site for local gay/bi men BDSM enthusiasts to post/browse/search profiles, send private messages, etc. I know sites like this already exist but I'm hoping to create a small, low-overhead site that's both locally focused and low or no cost to end users.

I would, however, like for members to be able to post possibly NSFW pictures of themselves. On the one hand, I know that US recordkeeping requirements have become quite stringent. On the other, there are still a lot of personals and related sites -- not to mention craigslist -- that don't require one to submit two government-issued picture id's in order to post NSFW pictures of oneself.

Are sites in this latter category operating in a legal gray area? Or are there exceptions to the recordkeeping requirements for social networking, dating, or craigslist-like sites? Short of talking to a lawyer, are there any good resources for obtaining this sort of information in general?

Coffee Is For Closers

gfrobe — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:11:58 -0800

I'm currently doing some consulting in the business development area and could use some tips on closing deals. My pitch is good and my potential clients continue to tell me they are interested but I'm struggling to get clients who seem content to sit on the fence forever to actually commit and sign on the dotted line.

I know that closing deals is a skill set and I'd like to learn how to get better at it. I've given deadlines to a few and that has helped move things along but would like to know if any seasoned deal makers out there have some advice on what works and what doesn't. How do you walk that fine line between pressuring (and ultimately turning off) a client and not letting it drag on too long?

why use business objects?

taumeson — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 06:06:18 -0800

From a technical point of view, why use business objects during development? I understand the everyday reasons behind separating business logic from presentation logic. I even agree, for the most part. But technically, you're creating more work for yourself creating business objects, and it's often just as convoluted in the presentation layer dealing with your business objects as it would be dealing directly with the data. So, don't give me reasons involving OO, or making multi-development projects easier, or the same "it's a good idea because...." stuff I get everywhere. Give me hard reasons, or justify why it's a good idea to separate the presentation and business layers.

Moving Domain Hosts

dobbs — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 23:07:00 -0800

I've been asked to redesign a medium-sized corp (60 employees) web site. The current host is dreadful and I want to switch it to Dreamhost, who I use for all my small clients without problem. How will moving their web site/domain to a different host affect their email? [MI] I guess i'm not even sure what I'm asking... they have a networked office. When I move the site, do I then just create a pop3 account for each person, the same as I would for a small client or does the fact that they have a network affect this? Do I have to go through their IT dept? I don't mind asking stupid questions here but I think if I went to them with this question they'd think I wasn't capable of the job. Suggestions, or do I need more info before I'm able to properly ask this question?