Tag: startups

Top 10 Businesses To Start During COVID19 Situation

The COVID-19 pandemic is antagonizing global economies at every scale. The recovery path is likely to engulf trillions of dollars. Be it travel, tourism, eCommerce, or hospitality, it is clear that the future of global business has suffered a setback. A report from McKinsey & Company suggests that it might take up to 3 years to recover from the losses occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There would be capital losses, layoffs, and loss of prospects for the businesses. The market is more likely to take some time to get on its feet. Those with plans to venture in the future must innovate their ways and discover improvised ways to generate revenue in this crisis. While social distancing could become a harsh reality for an unforeseeable future, entrepreneurs need to mold their strategies as per a ‘New Norm’, which is social distancing.

Fortunately, some sectors are still fighting hard and doing great amidst this crisis. The IT industry having ported 95% of their operations to a work from home environment is one such example. What’s more interesting is that this pandemic has revealed the need for contactless operations in every feasible sector. Consequently, a large number of businesses, which have been operating in the traditional environment, are now either porting into a complete online ecosystem or using the same to diminish their losses.

If you are an entrepreneur looking for business ideas to start during the COVID-19 pandemic, this article will suggest ten sectors that are safe, agree with social distancing, and provide better opportunities to make legit money in an online ecosystem. By starting a feasible business, you will not just help the customers in need but also create jobs and business opportunities for people.

Why should you invest in pure online business ideas?

E-commerce having adopted the sale and delivery of essentials is a good example of survival. Many regions have allowed home deliveries of grocery, food, local courier, and medicine. Although the governments across different countries have allowed eCommerce businesses to deliver essential items, there is still a requirement for physical labor. Hence, it is not 100% safe for the people who are involved.

Not everyone, who wants to make a living in the COVID-19 crisis, can afford to invest big money in labor-intensive businesses. Despite the safety measures, all the suppliers, sellers, delivery fleet, and customers are in constant risk of infection

  • You cannot operate without an internal team of human-workforce
  • You will need a fleet of delivery partners to deliver the essential orders
  • You will have to invest in the safety of all your workforce and customers

Venturing in a partial online ecosystem such as eCommerce is not ideal for new entrepreneurs. Besides, the hyperlocal nature of on-demand delivery will limit your reach to a certain geographical boundary. Hence, investing in pure online sectors would be a more profitable, less expensive, highly collaborative, less labor-intensive, and easier business idea in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top online businesses ideas to start in the COVID-19 pandemic

We have included the top ten business ideas from eLearning, OTT streaming, and the adult entertainment industries. These sectors can function from a work from home environment and you can start a business without stepping out of your home or meeting anyone in person.

In a complete online ecosystem, most of these ideas facilitate a pure online collaboration and digital delivery of purchases made by the customers. You can procure not just the supply chain digitally but also deliver an order without the customer needing to step out of their homes.

1.     Live Online Tuitions/Coaching/Training

online training

In the aftermath of the novel coronavirus, educational institutions have shut down across the planet. As the schools and colleges are not functioning, online learning has grown exponentially. Although the school, colleges, and universities have arranged online classes, other learning establishments are struggling to keep up.

The demand for online learning is rising from a multitude of domains. Not just academic courses but also the interests of people, who are sitting at their homes, have increased in hobby training activities. For example, people are enrolling for vocational training, academic tuitions, cooking lessons, music lessons, fitness classes, and yoga training, etc. Chefs, DJs, teachers, and trainers are turning into new celebrities in this lockdown period.

Strategic entrepreneurs can tap on this need and offer live online classes with video conferencing solutions. You can set a simple business model, not only to hire subject experts to teach from their homes but also to receive your payments digitally:

  • You can build a live learning platform with live classes via video conferencing and live streaming.
  • You can hire subject experts on your platform to teach the students right from their homes.
  • Using class-scheduling features, students can enroll in live classes, schedule, and pay for it digitally.
  • You can adopt a pay-per-session model or ask monthly subscriptions of courses from the students.

Niche model: If you are a subject expert in any valuable field with decent demands, you can build a platform and teach students in the above-explained business models. For example, if you can cook well, you can give cooking lessons. Whether it’s Dalgona Coffee treat in the lockdown or Pineapple pizza memes, home-cooked food has become a massive topic of discussion in this lockdown. In short, there has been a massive surge in the consumption of cooking videos on social media during the lockdown. You can tap on this trend and start a dedicated cooking lessons site.

choose your niche

What else can you teach live?

  • Live Gym training
  • Live Yoga classes
  • Live academic tuitions
  • Competitive exams preparation
  • Hobby training
  • Painting lessons
  • Music lessons etc.

Marketplace model: You can build a marketplace site of live video classes and hire subject experts to teach from home. In this case, you will earn from the commissions that subject experts will pay you for bringing the students. You can focus either on a niche (say Yoga training, Cooking lessons, etc.) or can add classes from all kinds of domains to attract more learners.

yoga

How to build a live tutoring website from home?

You can use a ready-made script like LiveLearn to build your live tutoring site on the go. You need not code anything, as the script comes inbuilt with features that you need to run a live tutoring business:

  • Live video classes
  • As many tutor accounts
  • Dedicated tutor dashboard
  • Classes scheduling feature
  • Interactive whiteboard software
  • Inbuilt online payment gateways
  • Pay-per-session revenue model

It’s an open-source script. You simply need to install the script on a web server of your preference and use the graphical user interface to set up the website.

2.     E-Learning Marketplaces like Udemy and Coursera

Not just live classes but the demand for ready-made, self-paced courses has also surged during the lockdown. Almost all types of courses where one can enroll in the live environment are feasible in the self-paced mode either. An eLearning marketplace site holds self-paced courses from different domains created by different subject experts. It’s a feasible business model in the lockdown with everything being possible to manage right from home. From website development to tutor sign-up, course-creation, and online learning for students, you can manage everything from home digitally.

Night school Model: You can create an eLearning marketplace like Udemy for selling micro-courses on specific skills. The laser-focused courses can allow you to upload lessons on specific topics, for example, Java Servlets, photography, banner designing with Photoshop, etc. Anything that one can learn in a self-paced environment in a smaller time- frame would be a perfect fit for this model. Learners will purchase individual courses and pay for them.

Academic model: Anything that a ready-made course cannot accommodate can fit right into a more comprehensive model. Take Coursera for instance. Instead of ready-made courses, the website uses a combination of self-paced and live classes to sell subscriptions of course curriculums. For instance, it is possible to teach ‘Keyword Research’ from an individual course, but teaching the concept of entire Digital Marketing would need a continuous learning environment for longer durations. That’s where MOOCs and Distance Learning courses accommodate the needs. Learners pay on a monthly basis rather than purchasing a ready-made course at once.

How to build an eLearning marketplace from home?

You can use Coursera or Udemy clone scripts to build an eLearning marketplace. Building an entire eLearning site from scratch would be an extremely expensive and time-taking process. For example, a decent Udemy clone script like “SmartSchool Script” can build a fully functional eLearning marketplace in the Night School model for a much lesser cost and time. Tutors can create and upload courses, and learners can purchase right from there.

3.     VOD Streaming Platform like Netflix

There has been a great surge in the demands for OTT streaming in the lockdown. People are spending majority of their time in the lockdown streaming content from YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and other VOD platforms. In fact, Netflix went down a couple of times because of massive loads on its servers during this lockdown.

netflix down

Source: Via Twitter

In many of the regions, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube had to downgrade their streaming in SD quality to cope with the amplified load on their servers and ISPs.

reddit

Source: Via Reddit

Before the pandemic, VOD streaming was already in its golden era with so many OTT streaming platforms sharing the market. It seemed like new entrants in the market would hardly survive the competition from the giants. However, the new surge during lockdown is a clear indicator that the market is still open for more entrants. If the same trend holds for a few more weeks, the existing players in the market might find themselves short on content.

In short, the appetite for on-demand content is on the rise. More and more people are growing fond of it. In fact, big production houses from around the globe are releasing their movies on OTT platforms, as the theaters seem not to open any time soon. It is the right time to invest in a VOD platform and make some money. The newly found love for OTT content is going to continue long even after the pandemic would get under control.

How to build a VOD streaming platform from home?

Netflix is the best example of an ideal VOD streaming platform in the subscription revenue model. Users pay for a monthly membership and enjoy OTT content on demand. What could be a better way to build a VOD streaming platform than using a Netflix Clone Script?

You can use the StreamView -Netflix clone script to build your VOD platform right from home. It’s an open-source, ready-made script with a subscription-based revenue model. You can create custom membership plans like Netflix and sell them to generate revenue. It has a complete collection of solutions with Admin panel, website front, mobile applications, and Smarts TV Apps. Just install the script, set up the platform with media streaming servers, upload your content, and start selling memberships on the go.

4.     Live Video Games Streaming like Twitch

According to a Germany-based Internet Exchange, the overall internet traffic has grown by 39.53 % in this lockdown. Beside VOD and Live streaming, online gaming is one of the major contributors to this surge. People are not just playing online games but also watching live game streams on YouTube and Twitch. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the increase in the popularity of video games is a clear indicator that the number of people looking for related content on the streaming platforms would surely increase.

A major population is watching live video gameplays on social media from game streamers. At any time, you can see millions of viewers watching live gameplays on YouTube and Twitch.

Source: Via YouTube

Video game streaming was already in trend before the lockdown. Now, the niche seems to turn the lockdown boredom to its side. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch are doing a great job giving gamers some home entertainment via live streaming. You too can turn the trend into your favor and start a live streaming platform for video games.

A simple business model that uses tips from the users to regenerate income would be all to make decent money from video game streaming. If you have seen the Superchat feature on YouTube Live, you know that video game streamers get them a lot. YouTube takes about 30% cut from the Superchats. You can start a similar platform like YouTube Live or Twitch and generate revenue from commissions.

How to build a video game live streaming platform from home?

You can use an open-source, turnkey solution like “StreamNow – Live Streaming Software” to build your game streaming platform. StreamNow is a ready-made live streaming script that supports low-latency real-time streaming and multiple monetization channels such as tipping, premium chats, and membership subscription-like YouTube’s Join button. It’s almost a Twitch clone with even better features and customizability.

5.     Podcast and Music Streaming like SoundCloud

Even before the lockdown, music streaming was already a stable business with decent traffic and demand. However, the lockdown has changed the way in which people are listening to music these days. According to a source from Spotify, “the morning routines have changed significantly. Every day now looks like the weekend”.

apple

Source: Via BBC

While there has been a decline in streaming from cars, wearables, and web platforms, more and more people are now using their smart television and gaming consoles to stream music, as they stay in their homes. In fact, the platform has seen almost a 50% boost in traffic. However, the major business opportunity is not in the platforms like Spotify but the likes of SoundCloud:

  • SoundCloud is a community-based music streaming platform; just like YouTube Music. It allows users to upload their content, rather than labels and big names.
  • It’s also free to use and uses Ads to generate revenue. However, it also offers premium plans for those who want to avoid Ads.

As people are stuck in their homes, they are exploring streaming platforms for not just consuming content but also to upload their content. Not everyone can feature their content on proprietary platforms like Spotify and iTunes. A community-based alternative like SoundCloud gives everyone a chance to show his or her creativity.  It is making money from not just Ads but also premium subscriptions.

How to build a platform like SoundCloud and YouTube Music from home?

You can use StreamTunes -Audio streaming software to build your music-streaming platform. The script comes with a collection of WebRTC streaming, native Android, and iOS mobile apps. With advanced features and community uploads, you can create both Spotify-like and SoundCloud-like audio streaming platforms with StreamTunes. A large number of artists and creators are already using this script to make money. You too can join the league with the same ease, customizability, and speed.

6.     Adult Pay-Sites like Brazzers and RealityKings

The adult industry for some is taboo while many others look at it as a massive $92 billion industry to make big money. Amidst the lockdown and social distancing, traffic on adult websites has skyrocketed. Looking at the opportunities, even Pornhub recently offered free premium membership for a month to the users worldwide.

What Pornhub presented as its contribution to hook people on their mobile and computer screens in the lockdown was a clever marketing strategy from the brand. It acquired millions of unique registered users, out of which so many would definitely renew their membership in the rest of the lockdown.

adult tube

It is just one example. A large number of adult pay sites had already been accepting cryptocurrencies, but the surge in the number of users has encouraged even the rest of the websites to follow the trend. According to data released by Pornhub, there has been a massive increase in worldwide traffic after March 2020 compared to normal days.

In short, demand for adult content is on its all-time peak. Now is the right time to invest in the adult content industry and make some money. In the next few points, including this point, we will be talking about many other adult content business ideas that you can build right from your home. Starting your adult paysite is one of them.

insights

An adult paysite is nothing but a similar platform like Netflix, except it offers adult content streaming for a membership subscription. Examples of popular adult pay-sites are Brazzers, RealityKings, Pornhub Premium, etc. One needs to subscribe to a premium membership to unlock content from such websites. However, an adult paysite may also adopt a hybrid of revenue channels, such as-

  • Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and yearly Memberships to one site or a network of multiple pay-sites via a single subscription
  • The extra premium for value-added services such as 4K streaming, VR Porn, Download access, etc.
  • Pay-per-view for the whole website or just a few extra premium content

How to build an adult paysite from home?

You can use an adult membership site builder like xMember script to set up your website from home. Entrepreneurs also call such scripts as clone scripts of popular adult paysites. For example, Brazzers clone script and RealityKings clone script, etc.

The xMember is a ready-made script with inbuilt revenue channels and adult payment gateways integrated. You need not do anything but install the script on a web-server to set up your website, upload content, and start selling memberships. You can create multiple membership plans and add some content on the Pay-per-view model, just like the porn sites do. With a decent web hosting plan and media server, the script is capable of handling the massive surge in the traffic at any given point in the time. If you have been planning to start a premium porn site, now is the right time to use this script.

7.     Adult Tube Sites like Pornhub and Xvideos

If the traffic on premium porn sites has surged massively, the same on free porn sites, AKA adult tube sites, have grown beyond expectations. If you cannot curate premium content for your paysite, you can start an adult tube site with even more ease. This entire spike in the traffic of free porn sites means just one thing: you can in-cash this traffic as a free porn site by showing Ads. The best part is, you need not even worry about content, as the users will take care of it via community uploads.

You can follow a freemium revenue model like Pornhub, Xvideos, YouPorn, and others:

  • Free with Ads: Show content free of cost with Ads from adult Ad networks. You can also restrict the streaming quality and download access in the free version.
  • Premium: Show all content without any streaming and download restriction or Ads in return for a membership subscription.

How to build an adult tube site from home?

You can use adult tube scripts. Also called with names like Pornhub clone script or Xvideos clone scripts, these scripts can build adult tube sites in minutes without any coding. One such solution is xStreamer, which is open-source and comes with integrated video grabbing and embedding features. That means you can embed content from other tube sites as well. Users can create channels and upload content from their dashboards on the front-end. The admin can track each content right from the back-end. You can use the following ways to make money from your adult tube site:

  • Pre-roll and post-roll video ads
  • In-video text Ads
  • Banner Display Ads
  • Different premium memberships for users and channel owners

Hence, you can embed Ads from not just popular adult networks but also create and run your own Ads, just on your website, to make additional Ad-money.

8.     Webcam Modeling platform like Chaturbate

The fact that adult websites are experiencing a spike of traffic is not limited to porn websites alone. This surge is presenting an ideal environment to make money with webcam business too. In fact, starting an adult webcam site is one of the most practical and beneficial business ideas in the lockdown. You can set up your webcam site from home and build revenue channels using pure online methods. How do adult webcam sites make money?

webcam

Well, adult webcam sites onboard mainly two types of users: Adult webcam models and Adult webcam site visitors.

The models are responsible for engaging the users via their live webcam shows, while the users pay them in various kinds. It’s very similar to models performing in strip clubs. Having said that, it would be a great idea to attract strip club models to your webcam site. Since they have lost their jobs in the lockdown, they would surely work hard to make money from a pure online channel like a webcam site. Users will purchase tokens, just like in casinos, and use them to make on-site transactions such as-

  • Tip a model
  • Place a special request
  • Purchase a private session
  • Send direct messages to a model

Besides, you can add other revenue channels for models to make additional money. For example, sell model’s video clips, nudes, phone-sex, taking care of sugar daddies, and sell used panties, etc. Eventually, after calculating the monthly revenue generated by the models, you can conduct payouts respectively post deducting a percentage cut as your commission. Most of the webcam sites take 20-30 percent commissions from the models’ earnings on their sites.

How to set up a webcam website in the lockdown?

To own a webcam site, you need not go physically anywhere to build or even manage your business. You can use turnkey solutions from the market to set up your website without writing a single line of code by yourself. Just install xCams website builder on your web server, and you can set up the entire website using a graphical user interface from the back-end.

You can even customize the front-end, as the script is completely open-source. The main reason for choosing xCams over other webcam scripts is it comes with a webcam model API. You need not hire your models, as the model API will give access to hundreds on live models already enrolled with model agencies and performing from their homes. It’s a good start to go live with your website until you learn the basics of how to hire webcam models by yourself.

9.     Sell E-Books and Digital Magazines Online

The demands for e-books and digital magazines have seen an equal surge during the lockdown. As people stay in their homes, they have found their new love in eBooks. In fact, Libraries across Europe have reported a flood of online borrowing and sale of e-books during the coronavirus lockdown. As reported by BBC, Leicestershire County Council said the number of people borrowing e-books had gone up 35% and audiobooks 20% in the past two months.

Digital Magazines

Besides, selling or borrowing of eBooks and Digital Reading Resources is independent of any physical contact. Thus, one can easily tap on this trend and start selling eBooks and magazines digitally. It’s a highly versatile business model with the ability to accommodate innovative revenue channels:

  • Pay-per-sale: Sell eBooks individually and get paid for them
  • Magazine Subscription: Sell monthly subscriptions of digital magazines
  • Library subscription: Sell memberships in return to monthly access to all your books

Adult Magazines have been in the market for long before video adult content was popular. There is still a significant population that likes to read adult magazines. Especially in the lockdown, when most of the adult content niches are in great demand, offering an adult magazine site could unlock many other doors to revenue generation.

How to build an eBook or Adult Magazine site in lockdown?

You can use a script called xMagazine to build the site on the go. Although it’s a script for selling both digital and physical adult magazines and their subscriptions, it can accommodate all kinds of mainstream eBook businesses with little customization. In fact, it is also an open-source script, so customization wouldn’t be an issue. It supports both pay-per-sale and subscription revenue models.

10. Adult Content Aggregation and Affiliate Marketing

Making money running an adult aggregator site is the easiest business to start on this list. You can start affiliate marketing for tube sites, pay sites, and even webcam sites on your aggregator. All big adult websites run affiliate-marketing programs, under which they allow adult content aggregators to embed their content and drive traffic. The adult websites pay handsomely to the aggregators for every visitor they direct their way.

How to build an adult aggregator site from home?

If you have heard of sites like Tubegalore and GiantTube, you would know how you could make money in quarantine from home aggregating content from other adult sites. You can build a similar website like Tubegalore or GiantTube using a script like xAggregate.

Just after installing the script on your web-server, you will get access to over 10 million content from hundreds of adult content websites. You can embed these videos on your website and build a large database of content to attract visitors. Besides affiliate commission for driving traffic or promoting paysites, you can also embed banner Ads on your website. You can also promote adult affiliate products from eCommerce sites like Amazon, Lovehoney, etc.

Conclusion

No doubt, not all these business ideas are feasible without stepping out of your home. However, you will need some assistance from B2B businesses and services, which may range from the technology providers to business tools, payment solutions, analytics, digital collaboration, suppliers, marketing tools, and others. Fortunately, the current infrastructure in the market allows an entrepreneur to fulfill all these requirements digitally while maintaining the social distancing norms.

With every business idea, we have mentioned the best turnkey solutions in the market to build the respective websites. You should visit those links and test the solutions to learn more about them. For any assistance, we would be just a comment or email away. Feel free to drop your questions.

Build Custom Software Vs. Buying a Readymade Turnkey solution

In today’s increasingly tech savvy world, firms across all sectors are eagerly upgrading their IT systems with world class software to promote their online business. For some firms, the software solutions serve as a competitive advantage, while for others, they are just a means to the end, a facilitator for the projection of the real competitive advantage. A key question facing all these firms is whether to buy their software from the various ready-made options available online or to develop an in-house software custom built to suit all their unique needs. To be able to answer this question, we first need to understand all details related to both custom software and ready-made turnkey solutions. The following guide will help you pick the one best for your requirements.

CUSTOM SOFTWARE:-

What is custom software?

When a company builds a software for itself and gets it specially made just for its company, it is called custom software. It is developed for a single customer only and pays attention to their preferences and expectations. Choosing custom software is like getting a software made by a tailor to fit the e-commerce business or any other business perfectly. Development of such online software is a complicated and elaborate process. It is just like building a house. One needs to consider three important things while building such an online software:

  1. Requirements of the company
  2. The layout and development plan of the software
  3. Testing of the software

All these three steps are very elaborate. To list the requirements of the company is alone a huge task as one needs to be very careful and make no mistakes. The unique selling point of custom software is that it is tailor made for the company. The layout and development plan are all about putting everything together and assembling the software. The testing part is very crucial as if anything goes wrong, the software has to be built again or if there is any flaw, it has to be changed or rectified.

Why choose custom build software?

Every business is different and has some uniqueness. With custom build software, one can fulfil its specialized needs, simplify business and be different from other firms using canned software.

By using the same software as others, we limit our mindset to that software. Whereas getting a custom build online software helps to establish a vision and do something different than the crowd.

Getting a custom software is very advantageous for an e-commerce business as there are more integrations and compatibility in the work done by the company. Furthermore, the company gets a competitive advantage over other companies which are stuck using the same canned software.

Benefits of Custom Software:

  1. Increase in Efficiency – Such online software helps in enhancing the company and provides an increase in efficiency. As it is tailor made for the company, it help’s satisfy the client’s online business requirements.
  2. Flexibility – Unlike the packaged software, this software can be changed as and when the client pleases to do so. With the changing online business environment, the needs of a company also keep on changing and having a custom build software helps with this. For all intents and purposes, a custom built software can always be scaled to accommodate the changes in the business process over time.
  3. Security – As no one else has the same online software, one can feel secure that no one will hack into the system. For further protection, one can take whatever security measure deems fit which might not be the case for packaged software.

Limitations of Custom Software:

While there are many pros to selecting a custom software for one’s company, there are an equal amount of cons as well. Building a custom made online software takes up a lot of time and also costs a lot in few cases where the specifications are very different. Keeping the online software up to date is another task in itself as it takes weeks sometimes to get all the bugs out. In case some bugs remain un-noticed, they can cause critical errors. Once the company is shut or over with that section of their online business, the software is obsolete and cannot be reused. With packaged software, one knows how it works and what to do but in this case, everything is different and this creates problems in handling the software.

So just like a coin has two sides, even building custom made software might either be beneficial or may cause a huge loss in terms of time and money. 

READY-MADE TURNKEY SOFTWARE

What is a Turnkey Software?

A ready-made online software is one that is readily available for n number of problems, can be sold to any buyer and is ready for instant use. They are developed for all users in general and do not focus on any particular specification. Since such software has a rigid structure, the same software can’t be used by all. For example, an accounting firm will find ‘Tally’ more useful than some software used in a game. Just like every business targets a group of people, the same is done while making a ready-made turnkey software.

Such online software is very famous and used by almost every other firm. It is cheaper and easily available in the market. Since it is used by many people, the creators of such software are able to provide easier updates. Everyone is familiar with how the online software work and do not need to be updated on the recent technologies. The ready-made software is definitely a better option than building a custom made software for some online businesses.

In the past few years, hundreds of such turnkey software have come up that provide an automated solution for almost everything. These turnkey solutions have had a huge impact on everyone’s life as they are available for all types of online business and are affordable too. Such software have made the automation of various tasks much easier as one just needs to follow the rules and limitations of such software. Packaged software is also known as canned software, has much more benefits than building software has.

Benefits of Packaged Software:

  1. Cost – It is cheap and easily available. One can use it instantly and does not have to waste time in the set up of such online software. They are much more economical and user-friendly. Even though they are rigid, they do provide all the services that an average size firm is looking for in the software implemented within their systems
  2. Easy implementation ensures time-saving – Buying and implementing a turnkey solution doesn’t take long. You shortlist the vendor and have them incorporate the software in your enterprise’s architecture. However, building it takes much longer as you have to keep piloting it to get rid of the bugs and it is often difficult to predict exactly how long it might take.
  3. Generic needs – For basic needs like record keeping, managing sales, setting up a bonus card system and so on, software is easily available. The online software have been implemented by many and can thus, be vouched for as well.

When a business is in its budding stage and is a bit short on both time and money it should always go for ready-made software as they are much cheaper than building an online software. In a case of businesses where competitiveness of the firm is not affected by technology, choosing a canned software is a much better option as it is easier to handle and maintain.

Limitations of Turnkey Software:

Since such software is very rigid, they might not support all types of appliances. For example, window based software supports only laser jet printer and so on. Furthermore, sometimes such canned software fails to meet some specific wants of the customers and might not be the ideal choice.

This software doesn’t have very good backing up capacity. So, if the data in such software gets lost it might be a bit difficult to recover the entire thing. Also, as these are already built and no changes can be made, there are limits to the security they give a company and might not be suitable for big firms who cannot risk getting their data stolen.

CONCLUSION – Why should one choose ready-made software or building a custom made software?

Comparing the two types of online softwares on various metrics we can conclude that ready-made software is a cheaper and more hassle free solution.

Budget – Ready-made software cost significantly lesser than custom built software as they are sold by the developer to a number of online businesses allowing them to reduce charges compared to one who develops and sells a software to single business.

Comfort – Ready-made software is more easily designed and implemented. Developing custom software takes a lot of time as was described as one of its major cons. Additionally, after putting in all that effort, there is no guarantee that it’ll function as expected.

Fulfilment – Ready-made software fulfil most of the online business’ needs and thus, is as good a solution as custom built software and comes with lesser hassle and monetary requirements.

Competitive Advantage – This is one metric where custom software does better than ready-made. While the former can create a competitive advantage for a firm, the latter can’t. Ready-made software is designed keeping in mind a generic set of needs. Thus, for any online business acquiring it, it’ll fulfil most of its demands but never all. On the other hand, since custom software is built to fit the firm’s architecture it generally fulfils all its criteria. This can be a major advantage that custom built software has over ready-made. However, it is relevant only in situations where the firm is tech oriented and needs such an advantage.

The main conclusion that can be drawn here is that there is no one correct answer. Depending on the kind of online business, and the kind of requirements it has one can select between turnkey solutions and custom built ones.

If you have any doubts or concerns, feel free to drop a line or two in the comments section. I shall reply in a day or two. Keep watching this space for informative insights on custom software and ready-made turnkey software. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep yourself abreast of developments in the software industry. My best wishes are with you and your firm. Cheers! 

Author: Raghavendra Pokuri

Raghavendra Pokuri is a passionate content marketer. He previously worked as a Content Developer for a couple of startups. His interests include Behavioural Economics, E-commerce, and Blogging. When he is not pursuing his interests, he is busy cooking. He has expertise and experience in Digital Marketing. He can be reached on LinkedIn

31 Things to Know Before Building your Software Product

Software products are conspicuously present in every walk of our life. Right from setting an alarm to using Google Maps to reach our destination, software has become the soul and face of mankind. Very often, we see bigwig companies anchoring software products with effortless ease. Uber came up with a cracker of an app to ensure that commuters do not face any visible signs of disenchantment. When Amazon understood the intricacies involved in brick and mortar business, it came up with Amazon.com, the reputed B2C eCommerce marketplace. Today, technocrats and honchos such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are engaged in a battle of words as far as their opinions on Artificial Intelligence are concerned. It takes a genius to identify the gaps and voids, and indisputably, technology revolutionizes solutions which aim to bridge the gaps and voids. That being said, one must pay attention to the following 50 things before building a software product:

  1. Software Sustainability:

At the very outset, think of building a sustainable software. Building a software which lasts only for a few months or a couple of years is of not much use. Building a software from scratch is not only time consuming but only expensive. It is in the best interest of you and your firm that you build sustainable software for getting spirited returns.

  1. Identify Your Stakeholders:

Software product development is not simply about a bunch of guys whacking their heads with laptops and gadgets. Programmers and coders are just a part of a conspicuous umbrella called ‘Stakeholders’. Stakeholders are those people who have a say in your software product. In any software project, you can bank on the following stakeholders:

  • Business Analysts
  • Business Architects
  • Business Developers
  • Infrastructure
  • UI and UX designers
  • Quality Analysts
  • Testers
  • Production / Server Maintenance team
  • Clients

If there are any other stakeholders, identify them well in advance.

  1. Establish Expectations:

 If you are thinking of some unrealistic expectations such as becoming the next Tesla Motors within the next few weeks, you are undoubtedly living in denial. Unrealistic expectations will bring you, your team and your stakeholders under the weather. Clients often set unrealistic expectations. For instance, a prospective client may give you a deadline of 4 weeks for product development. You are very well aware that you require at-least 4 months.  

  1. Foster Project Ownership:

The classical debate: Project Ownership vs Functional ownership seldom loses its sheen. Project managers are expected to understand and meet shareholders expectations. Functional ownership is all about understanding, building and configuring the software product without paying any attention to the concerns of business analysts, infrastructure team and UI / UX designers. Project managers are expected to essay the role of responsible evangelists who treat every concern of each and every stakeholder with utmost assiduity.

  1. Build Trust:

Every odd day, we see tech honchos and subordinates engaged in spats. Spats escalate and result in incendiary altercations. According to a study by Neilson, nearly 77% of disputes can be attributed to lack of trust. Transparency builds trust. If you are transparent and open in your policies and work ethics, employees join your bandwagon with joust. Remember, trust takes years to build, seconds to break and forever to repair.

  1. Motivate Employees:

As a software project manager, it is your responsibility to upkeep and preserves the motivation of employees. More often than not, employees get de-motivated due to the magnitude of the code involved. Sometimes, the sheer enormity of proposed functional modules can spell doom on their motivation levels. To keep them motivated, conduct short meetings every alternate day. Discuss the project progress and document everything.

  1. Work in Groups:

Segment the work into various fragments. Divide your workforce into multiple small groups. To each and every small group, assign a fragment / functional module. This fosters a healthy competition amongst the groups. Look for KRAs (Key Result Areas). Set targets and benchmark the performance of groups.     

  1. Identify the Type of Software:

What is the type of software you intend to build? Is it an operational service? Does it have a pilot? What is your concept of robustness? Do you want to build a proof-of-concept demonstrator? It is important that you have answers to all these questions.

  1. Identify the Market:

Before building your software product, identify if there is any market for it. Find answers to the following questions:

  • Who are my target audiences?
  • What are the market trends?
  • What is my target customer buyer persona?
  • Do I know the buyer demographics?

  1. Acquaint Yourself with Requirements Elicitation Techniques:

It is absolutely edifying to understand all the possible requirements elicitation techniques. Right from conducting various types of interviews such as structured and unstructured interviews, oral and written, group and one-one interviews, other techniques such as surveys, questionnaires, task analysis, domain analysis, brainstorming etc., should be leveraged. For your information, structured interviews are also called closed interviews as every question is pre-decided. In case of unstructured interviews, one question leads to another question. Questions aren’t pre-decided.

  1. Get a Blueprint of Your Software Requirements:

Identify your software requirements. Take into consideration the various interfaces, functions, modules and security labels. If you are building a software product for your client, get all your requirements sorted out. In technical parlance, you are required to build an SRS (Software Requirements Specification) document.   

  1. Categorize Your Requirements:

Technically speaking, classify your software requirements into two categories: Functional and Non-functional. Functional requirements are those requirements which are relevant to the functionality of the software. Examples of functional requirements include administrative functions, compatibility of the product with various devices etc. On the other hand, non-functional requirements include implicit and explicit characteristics expected of the software. Examples of non-functional requirements are interoperability, security, flexibility, recoverability from disasters etc.

  1. Emphasize on User Interface Requirements:

User Interface defines and dictates user acceptability levels. User Interface is necessary for every software product. Following considerations fall under the broad umbrella of user interface requirements:

  • Content Presentation
  • Navigation
  • Responsive Layout
  • Default Settings
  • Feedback Mechanism

This list is by no-means exhaustive. Research a lot more on user interface requirements. Prepare a comprehensive list. 

  1. Validate Your Requirements:

Knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously, ambiguities and anomalies creep into SRS document. It is therefore important to validate and cross-check your solicited functional and non-functional requirements list with your client. And yes, do validate user interface requirements as well.  

  1. Do a Feasibility Study:

Once you solicit all the requirements, do a feasibility analysis. Prepare a feasibility report. This report should focus on usability, the scope of the software, maintainability, and productivity. 

  1. Draft a Plan:

Building a software product is nothing short of climbing a mountain. Set realistic expectations when it comes to fixing timelines. The plan should essentially encompass project life-cycle, various phases involved in project life-cycle, estimated budget, etc.

  1. Compatibility with Existing IT Systems:

This is something which software development teams should pay superior attention to. If your software product is not compatible with existing IT systems, do not go-ahead. It just results in a pile of mess. Complex software products often require too many installations, too many extensions, and undesirable plug-ins. Complex software products are as ineffective as obsolete software.

  1. Sort Out Your Financials:

Do you have enough money to initiate the project? Who are your go-to investors? Identify all your major stakeholders. Do you have money to efficiently deal with contingencies? To expect events would unspool like a pleasant dream is essentially embracing naiveté. 

  1. Pay Attention to Contemporary Software:

The software which you are planning to build might already exist in the market. Sometimes, the software may not exist in its entirety. Only a few components may be present. You can use those components after purchasing appropriate licenses and save precious time. In this competitive and obsessive world, time is money.

  1. Identify the Technology Stack:

The only thing constant today is change. Today’s technology is definitely going to become obsolete tomorrow. That being said, it makes a lot of sense to configure, design and build the software product by using contemporary technology stacks such as MEAN – MongoDB, Express JS, Angular JS and Node.js.  

  1. Software Size Estimation:

One of the metrics used to estimate the size of the software is KLOC – Kilo Lines of Code. As a matter of fact, lines of code depend on the coding practices. Another practical way of estimating the size of the software is identifying the number of function points. Function points vary as per the user requirements.

  1. Effort Estimation:

Effort estimation is all about estimating the number of man-hours required to program the software product. To estimate the number of man-hours required, you are required to first estimate the number of Kilo Lines of Code (KLOC). Experienced project managers are good at estimating the number of man-hours required to fulfill the task at hand.

  1. Time Estimation:

Once the size of the software and the number of man-hours is estimated, time in months is estimated. To get a holistic view of the number of months required, WBS is used. WBS stands for Work Breakthrough Structure. The essence of WBS framework lies in breaking the whole task into smaller tasks and subsequently assigning a realistic time period.  

  1. Cost Estimation:

This is somewhat different from sorting your financials. Project cost estimation has often left both experienced and amateur project managers perplexed. The following costs come under the ambit of project cost estimation:

  • Quality of software
  • Size of the software
  • Hardware
  • Training
  • Supervision
  • Testing
  • Software tools
  • Software licenses
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Communication
  • Skilled Personnel Maintenance

  1. Freelancer vs Professionals:

Freelancers are known to lend creativity to software design and development. Professionals are known to accomplish tasks at hand with utmost diligence. Taking a conscious decision of bringing a blend of freelancer and professional workforce onboard will drum up expectations and performance. Use your judgment, and do take financials into consideration before taking a decision. Very often, professionals charge you a fortune while freelancers might exact your resources. 

  1. Identification of Risks:

Crucial to software product development is risk management. More often than not, in every software product development project, there are a few risks such as the following:

  • Experienced and qualifies personnel abruptly leaving the project
  • Strategic Management executives may change
  • Mismatch of requirements
  • Misunderstanding of requirements
  • Software size underestimation
  • Improper analysis of business competition
  • Unprecedented technology changes
  • Unforeseen environmental changes

  1. Categorization of Risks:

The next big thing is to categorize all the risks based on the possible impact each risk could have on the software development project. More often than not, risks are classified into the following categories:

  • High
  • Medium
  • Low
  • Critical

  1. Monitor the Risks:

Have an Argus-eye to monitor all the risks. Identify all the possible symptoms. Cautious examination of symptoms and careful assessment of risks will help you take risk mitigation policies.

  1. Risk Response Strategies:

Regardless of the magnitude of the risk, the following four risk response strategies can be used:

  • Risk can be avoided
  • Risk can be ignored and cascaded
  • Risk can be mitigated by taking corrective actions
  • Risk can be acknowledged

Good project managers avoid risks. Great project managers acknowledge risks, take necessary corrective actions and mitigate risks. 

  1. Risk Register:

It is important to maintain a detailed document which outlines all the possible strategies, probable risk responses and proper courses of actions to be taken to mitigate risks. If the project manager changes, new project managers can go through the huge deal of information compiled in the risk register and subsequently plan risk mitigation strategies.      

  1. Test, Test, and Retest:

More often than not, software product development whips up non-performance issues. It is important to unearth all the possible fallacies and frailties well before the software product hits the markets. Do all possible types of testing such as Unit testing, integration testing, White box testing, Black box testing, Alpha testing, Beta testing etc.

Follow the aforementioned 31 things. Be patient and consistent in your efforts. Your software product will be a marvel.

We have an excellent team of software developers, growth hackers and project managers with a decade of experience. We can help you connect with them. If you have any doubts or concerns, feel free to drop a line or two in the comments section. We shall reply in a day or two. Keep watching this space for insights on Agile software development model. Subscribe to our newsletter to know more about trends in software industry. Our best wishes are with you and your software product. Cheers!

10 Websites to Learn Programming in 12 weeks

Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates might seem resolutely old fashioned, but they are high-spirited programmers. Reportedly, Mark Zuckerberg is a college drop out. However, he went on to create and build arguably the best social networking site Facebook. When every kid of his age was busy playing some games, rumor has that Bill Gates was catapulted into programming fray, called upon by his conscience to code games. Today, he is one of the smartest living legends who have seldom failed to hit the top gear of richest billionaires.

Yes, programming is fun and programmers are the real charmers of the internet. Every internet application, right from Email to Microsoft Word Document, is programmed. As a matter of fact, even the computer is programmed. Anybody with decent programming skills can build spirited and lively applications. Again, you need not move any mountains to learn programming. You just have to summon the much required patience and practice consistently to learn programming in 90 days.

The following 10 websites will lend you some impetus and will certainly fine-tune your programming skills:

Codeacademy

Many budding programming enthusiasts aren’t sure of what to learn and how to begin with programming. Codeacademy is a place to learn fundamentals and experiment with new languages. You are not required to download and install any software. You can write your code in a browser-enabled editor. The good part about this website is that it has very good interactive tutorials. If you are looking to master the nuances of web development,

Codeacademy is perhaps the best site. Apart from web development, you can learn the following technologies / languages:

– HTML 5, CSS, PHP and Python
– Structured Query Language
– JQuery
– Ruby on Rails
– AngularJS
– Node JS
– Java Script

Visit Codeacademy now and join its 25+ million users.

edX.org

To be the best, you have to learn from the best. edX.org is an educational marketplace where a plenty of computer science courses are listed. All the courses are free but to get a verified certificate, you have to pay $50 and sometimes more. Certificates are valued by many corporates and hence, it is common to witness thousands of students enrolling in certification programs. If you are eager to up the ante and enhance your programming prowess, you should try its “Micro Masters” program which encompasses a series of graduate level courses. This will be a valuable value addition to your CV and brain pockets.

Visit edX.org now.

Udacity

Udacity has the audacity to believe in the gospel that education is always a lifelong experience. It believes that education today is all fragmented and it aims at aggregating all the fragments through its loads of amazing and informative video content on Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. People often get bitten by laziness bug and soon lose enthusiasm only to repent at later stages. Udacity is simply exemplary by all standards. Its tutorials are interactive and full of quizzes. This removes boredom. Most of its videos are not lengthy. They are short, sweet and simple. Udacity also offers a downloadable certificate if you complete every milestone of the course- quizzes, tests and puzzles. I personally found the following courses delightful:

– Artificial Intelligence
– HTML 5
– Python
– Web Development
– Algorithms
– Java

Visit Udacity now.

Coursera

If you are looking for tons of assignments and extremely tight schedules, Coursera is the right platform. We often see our peers holding Coursera courses to a higher standard than most other courses on other platforms. You cannot start off instantly. You have to enroll well in advance to get access to the courses. The best part about Coursera is that it partners with as many as 138 universities and organizations. While the courses are free, you are required to pay anywhere between $30 and $100 to get a certificate in a particular program / course. This online educational marketplace offers an array of 1700+ courses.

Head on to Coursera now.

Code Conquest

Programming is a field where many budding programmers face an early exodus due to the absence of helping hands. Code Conquest helps you conquer your programming hassles by lending a helping hand. If you are eager to level up your programming skills, you should definitely try it. Its knowledge center is really cool. You can learn how to develop a website and how to start a business with your own website. Learn more Code Conquest by heading on to it.

MIT Open Courseware

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Open Courseware programs resonate well with the huge community of students. Its courses are certainly effective and all its volumes of study materials can be accessed anytime and anywhere. To complete its under graduate and graduate programs, you should have tremendous patience as the courses are profoundly informative. While all the courses are self-administered, discipline is a pre-requisite without which you cannot complete assignments and home works.

Visit MIT Open Courseware now.

The Code Player

A good programmer is not that programmer who stays in the spotlight. A good programmer is that programmer who knows how to write optimized code. That block of code which has least execution time, utilizes the least amount of CPU space and resources is perhaps the best block of code. Optimized code is divine and The Code Player keeps us posted about the best optimized codes programmed from scratch by some experts. This educational website has great presentations to keep you riveted. The good part about this website is that you get exposed to real case studies. Go through the detailed descriptions provided beneath each and every video to get your foundations strong.

Visit The Code Player now.

Team Treehouse

Team Treehouse is known for its cutting edge courses on web design, web development, and iOS development. It resembles Udacity in many ways. Its services are freemium. To be precise, once the students complete the first stage of a course, they will be invited to pay a monthly subscription fee of $25 USD. This is perfectly affordable as this educational marketplace provides access to over 650 videos and Treehouse membership forums. There is also a provision to engage in freewheeling conversations with industry experts, professional programmers and seasoned veterans. Moreover, stalwarts of Computer Science will organize best of the class workshops. For this, students have to pay a monthly subscription fee of $49 USD.

Head on to Team Treehouse now.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a true trailblazer. It started a revolution in the field of online education and continues to be a firebrand leader. Its programming courses are not structured and lack detail. However, its courses on programming basics are worth your precious time. If you want to stay on the right course, it is recommended to get yourself enrolled in its course- Approach to Coding. Once you master the right approach to coding, you can start applying the correct approach to every programming language. By the way, I developed a small game in Java Script, all thanks to Khan Academy.

Visit Khan Academy now.

Ruby Monk

Amid the barrage of new languages and technologies, Ruby seems to be the most sought after programming language. No doubt, PHP continues to be the king of the web. However, one common trend which cannot be ignored is that many offices are switching from PHP to Ruby. Ruby is used to build TCP servers. It gives you liberty to build long lasting desktop applications. Ruby Monk focuses only on Ruby and helps you master its frameworks. The best part of this website is that the creator of Ruby – Yukihiro Matsumoto will teach you Ruby. How cool can this ever get?

Visit Ruby Monk now.

If you get the measure of programming skills, coding is all fun and exciting. It just takes 24 hours of time to learn the fundamentals of any new programming language. But to display a flair for developing feature rich applications, a lot of practice is required. Compliment the above mentioned resources with a few programming books and embark on a breakthrough journey of building amazing apps and software.

If you have any concerns, doubts or issues, do not get un-nerved for we can help you overcome them. Feel free to drop a line or two by letting us know your thoughts about programming. Subscribe to our newsletter and keep watching this space for technical stuff and life hacks. Our best wishes are with you and your endeavors. On a lighter note, here is what Bill Gates said about programming progress, “Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight”.

Keep coding. Cheers!

Author: Raghavendra Pokuri

Raghavendra Pokuri is a passionate content marketer. He previously worked as a Content Developer for a couple of startups. His interests include Behavioural Economics, E-commerce, and Blogging. When he is not pursuing his interests, he is busy cooking. He has expertise and experience in Digital Marketing. He can be reached on LinkedIn