Where do you go for advice on how to make the idea a reality? It would be a software package that links up with other – widely used across the industry – software packages that purport to use the latest open standards, so data integration shouldn’t be impossible. Even if it is, it is not 100% essential as the idea is useful enough as it is to work as a stand-alone piece of software.
I have spoken to a couple of IT-types who suggest that a working prototype wouldn’t be too hard to knock up but I’m a scientist not a programmer, and they don’t really do what I need doing. I have no idea where to take this to a) get a working prototype made, and b) see if it is really as viable as I think it is.

Any advice?

Have you worked out how you’ll “monetise” this package?
Who will buy it?
How will they buy it?
What else will they need to buy?
If it’s successful, will the other vendors in the industry be able to add this capability and cut you out?
Work back from that and then think forward about different routes/options/challenges for getting to the point where it genuinely *is* a business.
Otherwise just because it seems like a good idea, doesn’t mean it’s a viable business.

(I’ve done a few start-ups myself. They didn’t make me rich; make of that what you will ;o) )

A lot of software development companies will knock you up a prototype for cash, but you may be better off finding a technical co-founder.
YCombinator has a useful free online programme called Startup School.
Their motto is Make something people want.

Something tells me you are in Scotland?

Go and see the folks at CodeBase (offices in Edinburgh and Stirling).

Once you’ve worked out your business plan you can decide if it’s worth investing your money to get developed – or using the plan to trick a dev into doing it for a share of the business…

I’ve not set up my own business but your local growth hub / LEP should be able to help.

Google LEP or Growth Hub and your county. That should get you started.

dc2.0 has given you a great list, I’ve set up a few businesses and I’ve found common sense more useful than LEP / growth hub which is generic and unhelpful, particularly around innovative or new ideas (great if you want to be a traditional business, hairdresser, etc).

I’d work through the list from dc2.0 ask the critical people not the ones that will say oh yes of course id buy it, as they soon disappear when you ask for their money :/

If the idea stacks up then you can either
1) Put your own cash behind it as the development cost will be offset by the meellions you will make or if less sure
2) Buddy up with a cofounder, ideally with share of the business (at the outset value £0 but IP much £ so contract well) and then move on together – but with partner comes less control and less of the meellions if successful.

Good luck either way and doing the homework and going nah is always an option too 🙂

James

Have you worked out how you’ll “monetise” this package?
I guess the way forward would be to go to the developers that own the main bit of software I want to integrate with and let them buy it off me and then they offer it as a part of their software suite. I get royalties or % sales or what, I have no idea how these things works.

Who will buy it?
Initially all the oil & gas operators that – in my experience, anyway – are failing to capitalise on what current-gen software is capable of and thus wasting thousands upon thousands of man-hours, per site, every year. And I’m not joking about the amount of time spent on activities that could be 99.9% automated. It is a colossal waste of resources. After that, any company that uses a control of work (CoW) system in their day-to-day activities.

How will they buy it?
See above. They already license the main bit of software from a large, albeit fairly specialised, developer. This would be an add-on.

What else will they need to buy?
Nothing. As above they already license the main software package that it would integrate with. A bit of legwork to initially set things up – there’s a reasonable amount of data points required from each site to create a database from which to work, but after that it’s pretty much self-contained. Potential for another currently-used software company to become involved at this point to assist with data entry and user interface, but not a deal-breaker.

Go and see the folks at CodeBase

Just fired off an email to them. Thanks.

I’ll have a look at Y Combinator as well thanks.

As for funding, I’ve got a company that’ll invest ~£2.5k at the moment, I guess that should go on paying someone to put together a proof of concept.

May be worth looking at non-disclosure agreements before you talk to others.

If it’s easy to do, adds incredible value and is all about complimenting the existing s/ware why wouldn’t the existing provider just pay his own devs to add the functionality to their own product? Why would paying you an upfront and/or royalties be a better idea? Who is going to maintain / support the software add on once you have “sold it”? Do they have a track record of charging additional cost for each feature or is it sold as bundles.

However for complex software it is common for developers to build an ecosystem around it which encourages others to take risk on developing new capability for niche features. Some will even offer this as a “marketplace” allowing you to monetize it. Not sure if O&G has got as far with their open thinking…

As for funding, I’ve got a company that’ll invest ~£2.5k at the moment, I guess that should go on paying someone to put together a proof of concept.

I think you may have vastly underestimated the cost of development. 2.5k might get you as far as writing the spec and defining which tech stack is appropriate – but I doubt you will get a single line of code written. Unless this really is so trivial it can be built in a few days – in which case definitely go to the start of this post and explain why they would spend thousands on legal costs to negotiate a license with you rather than just DIY the same capability.

If it’s easy to do, adds incredible value and is all about complimenting the existing s/ware why wouldn’t the existing provider just pay his own devs to add the functionality to their own product?

I honestly haven’t got the foggiest idea why not. Maybe they’re focusing too hard on the big picture and missing this little piece of the puzzle. Regardless, they aren’t doing so and here I am.

It’s not necessarily an “add-on”. It could be, but I think the idea is strong enough to stand as an application in its own right. Maybe giving the idea to another company straight off the bat isn’t the way forward. The major software provider I’m talking about pretty much has a monopoly on this industry which is why I was thinking they’d be the ones to speak to. They say they use open data exchange standards in their application, so assuming that’s correct then integration of my application and theirs shouldn’t be horrendously difficult. Particularly given the data exchange would be almost entirely one way and the data that needs sending is very simple in principle. It’s whittling everything down to that data that’s the hard bit, and that’s what I think can be done. And as I say, even if no-one wants to play nicely it could stand on its own merits as a very useful tool and still save thousands of hours. There are plenty of basic “record and report” databases dressed up with a fancy UI, for example, sold as a particular solution and that have enjoyed widespread adoption in Oil & Gas, so I think what I’m planning has as good a shot as any.

As for development costs, yeah I have zero clue about those. This is why I’m asking who I should be speaking to. If the idea is feasible then surely there are investment schemes, grants, collaboratives, etc. that would be interested in exploring it further, but I don’t know the first thing about developing an idea.

My only advice (having left the IT industry) is whatever cost & timelines you get quoted/think it would be, double it, then add some more.

And I’m not joking about the amount of time spent on activities that could be 99.9% automated. It is a colossal waste of resources.

…and with that, the machines marched one step closer to global domination and the ultimate extinction  of mankind.

If the idea is feasible then surely there are investment schemes, grants, collaboratives, etc. that would be interested in exploring it further, but I don’t know the first thing about developing an idea.

This is the bit where you’ve got a classic chicken-and-egg or (more bluntly) you’ve got the cart before the horse. Technical feasibility is a minimal “gate” to a business, but it’s really only a small part of a successful business and that other stuff needs to be clear.

Maybe find a local start-up incubator and learn about the *process*, without necessarily disclosing too much. That’s not necessarily because they’re untrustworthy but because you may later need to file patents to give you protection/leverage negotiating with customers and other investors. Any disclosure that is NOT under NDA is considered public domain (or, even if it is under NDA and in any case leaked into the public domain) and is thereafter no longer patentable.

Sorry to sound so negative, but I’ve seen people waste a lot of time/money pursuing something because “they wanted to be right, not rich” (or, perhaps “flogged a dead horse) even if the idea was sound. Investors (even grant schemes, which is a whole minefield in itself) expect to see a business plan that shows sustainability. Real investors will want to see significant growth/return on investment.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, get a handle on the business plan before you start chasing investment. As others have said £2.5k pays for about a week if you’re relying on contractors. Unless it’s a really trivial application, you’ll need to be raising tens if not hundreds of thousands of seed funding to develop a prototype/MVP version of the product, or (if you can afford it), using your own time/assets as “sweat equity” and then going out for a proper round.

Alternatively (and much better), get a customer lined up (with NDAs and contract) and deliver to them. Investors’ money is only ever a poor proxy for customer revenue.

PM me if you like. I spent 10 years doing the above and learned a few lessons that I’m trying to relay here.

About three years ago, I stopped having a regular income from employment & now run a software house, based in Codebase Stirling. Its a swift learning curve, there is a lot of help out there when you know where to look though (there is so much I’ll do differently the next time).
Drop me a PM if you are local & would like to grab a coffee sometime.

PM sent

Thanks for the advice and insights dc2.0. I’m operating completely in the realm of “unknown unknowns” at the moment so it all helps.

Most of the points are covered above, but also consider marketing. Even if you clicked your fingers and the thing appeared tomorrow, ready to sell – how will you make people buy it? What will that cost in time, money etc. per sale? If you’re selling software, how will you support it, what will that cost?

Basically ideas are all well and good but a business is execution not ideas. So work on the execution.

Your main hurdle seems to be you can’t make the thing yourself. So you need someone that can, or money to get them. Either way you need a solid biz plan (to entice them to help or to raise investment/loan/grant – which often needs match funding). Broadly you need to know cost to make the thing, to support it, to sell it, what the market it worth (ideally lots) and what %age you can sell too (ideally lots) and % will need to buy to make a profit (ideally little). A biz plan that relies on capturing an entire market probably isn’t fundable. But to some extent that depends on scale, and regardless you’ll need the above numbers.

Oh and you said O&G so look into OGTC’s TechX incubator (and as a funding source in general).

Just in case nobody has said owt – patent your idea.

Patent it, or watch the first person you talk to walk off with it.

Patent it, or watch the first person you talk to walk off with it.

You can’t patent software in the uk/Europe. You can patent things with a software component though. Also till the point that the patent application is published you’re looking at about 12mo and about 5-10k in lawyer’s fees etc depending. And even then it doesn’t necessarily give you protection sufficient to prosecute any infringement (you’d need to be able to prove they infringed and afford to prosecute).

If someone else having the idea alone is enough to kill the business – well they’ll have it as soon as you start trying to sell.