I’m going to talk a little bit about a nightmare I found myself in as a non-technical founder and what you can do to avoid it.
I was a young professional with a small family and a 9-5 job in corporate America. I had big dreams of starting my own business. I was a glutton for punishment and I couldn’t get this idea out of my head.
I needed a web application but at the time I didn’t even understand the difference between a web app and a website. Maybe you can relate? I didn’t understand a lot of things.
My idea was to be the Groupon of products for parents. This was about a year before Groupon became well known, so it actually wasn’t bad timing.
I had a 2-year-old at home and another one on the way and I noticed there are a lot of junk products on the market. I figured I could leverage reviews and giveaways to help other parents find the great stuff.
I reached out to some local web developers and they were quoting a minimum of 25k. Talk about sticker shock! I had only 10k to my name and I didn’t want to risk it all, but I kept searching. Eventually, I found an onshore company that used offshore resources. They quoted 5k and I signed on the dotted line for my first website, my first golden shovel.
I sent them the requirements and I quickly realized how literal they interpret and execute everything I said. The communication barrier is real! With the differences in timezone, misunderstandings would take days to correct. But I pressed on.
Finally, months later, I had what seemed like a working app. Sure, it cost me twice as much, coming in at a cool 10k, my entire savings, but it worked! At least appeared to work. Up to this point, they wouldn’t let me see any of the code. I guess they were worried I’d just cut and run.
What I saw taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. I could not believe it. I was ruined! I’d spent all my savings and I was out of business before I’d even launched.
The code was bad. I’m talking, spaghetti code with a side of logic noodle knots. They had hacked the WordPress core files making my site impossible to update automatically. Worst of all, they had left many security loopholes. As I looked through the code, even with my non-technical eye, I could see opportunities for a hacker to exploit or dump customer lists and emails (these days you can be sued for less than that).
I spent the next year, plugging up the holes of that ship. I’ve since spent 11 more years learning how to complete technical projects successfully, on budget, and on time.
I’ve written a guide to help you avoid this nightmare. This free gift is the best of what I’ve learned.
I’m not holding anything back. Why? Because I haven’t written a book yet. 🙂
Download our free Guide to Tech Projects for Non-technical Founders.
If you need hands on help with your project, Buink has years of experience managing and completing technical projects on time, under budget, and with a high level of quality. Contact Buink today.
