Going IT alone : the handbook for freelance and contract software developers : a detailed guide to self-employment for software and web developers--from identifying your target market, through to managing your time, finances, and client behavior / Leon Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Leon, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer software--Development.

Computer software.

Self-employed.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 volume) : illustrations

Edition:

1st edition

Place of Publication:

Birmingham : Packt Publishing, [2016]

System Details:

text file

Biography/History:

Brown Leon: Leon Brown is a software developer and trainer from Liverpool in England. His mantra is that he practices what he preaches and preaches what he practices. With over 20 years of experience in software development, Leon has developed software for legacy and modern platforms ranging from the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Amiga through to the Web and smartphones. Leon has a diverse range of commercial experience, including the delivery of Internet systems and training for household names, including UNICEF, the NHS, SAGE, and The University of Manchester to projects for small businesses, start-ups, and charities. His experience of working with such a diverse range of organizations has allowed him to understand how to approach the different types of situations affecting software development projects. His projects ranged from the creation of websites and apps to CRM and the use of AI for reporting and decision-making. Leon regularly writes for web industry magazine Web Designer from Imagine Publishing, in which he has written feature articles and tutorials covering web development. His most notable articles for the magazine provided detailed insight into securing websites against common methods of hacking, such as session hijacking and SQL injection. These articles gained highly positive feedback from the magazine's readers in the following issues.

Summary:

A detailed guide to self-employment for software and web developers - from identifying your target market, through to managing your time, finances, and client behavior About This Book Discover how to make money with software development skills. Learn how to develop a marketing and sales strategy and develop profitable pricing strategies for your software services and products Gain insights through real case studies and insights provided from industry experts Who This Book Is For Going the self employed route in software development offers many opportunities to develop awareness and skills to enhance your career. Whether you are a student currently studying software development or a veteran software developer already in the industry, Going IT Alone provides you with insights you need to avoid the pitfalls of self employment and to succeed with software projects that are profitable and sustainable. What You Will Learn Identify and understand your target market. Propose the value of what your service or product offers. Build a business model that identifies key entities required to make your software business work. Develop marketing a marketing strategy that targets the right customer segments and produces the sales you need to be profitable. Analyze information to make better decisions and understand your business performance. Understand people through observation and use this to your advantage in project management and negotiation. Improve accuracy of estimates for time and costs of your software projects. Understand the relationship between code and the business strategy. Identify software features from a business perspective, allowing you to prioritise must have features from those that are less important to your profitability. Avoid the trap of increasing software development time and costs from features that provide no benefit or sales increase. In Detail No matter whether you are a student or an industry veteran, self employment adds a new dimension of opportunities to ?learn and earn?, whether it be on a full-time or part-time basis. Develop the business acumen and understanding of the link between software patterns and business strategy that you need to become a successful and profitable independent software developer. Discover how to apply your software development skills to entrepreneurship. Decide whether you just want to earn or aspire to build the next Facebook. Supported by real world case studies and input from industry experts, ...

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Credits

About the Author

Acknowledgements

About the Reviewer

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introducing Freelancing

The freelance lifestyle

Is freelancing for you?

Defining your motivations

Boosting employability

Learning new skills

Taking a break

Increasing financial security

Generating a side income

Case study: New Star Soccer

Freedom

Alternative to unemployment

Fun

Don't quit the day job

Legal entities

Sole trader

Partnership

Limited company

Home or away?

The home office

Advantages

Disadvantages

The real office

Renting desk space

Co-working spaces

Cafes

Summary

Chapter 2: Positioning Yourself in the Market

Market segments

Pricing yourself appropriately

Market specific influences

The equilibrium price - segments and prices

Building quality for market segments

Meeting customer needs

Market research

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Cost to market

Cost of delivery

Calculate your profit margin

Time value

Chapter 3: Defining Your Business Model

Types of business model for software

Software Development as a Service (SDaaS)

Conclusion

Software as a Product (SaaP)

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software Supporting a Service

Business Model Canvas

Components

Value proposition

Key partnerships

Key resources

Key activities

Customer relationships

Customer segments

Distribution channels

Cost structure

Revenue streams

Canvas

Problem tools

Product life cycle

Development

Introduction

Growth

Maturity and saturation.

Decline

Five Forces Analysis

Rivalry among existing suppliers

Threat of substitute products or services

Threat of new entrants

Bargaining power of suppliers

Bargaining power of buyers

Seven Domains Assessment framework

Market domain/macro level - market attractiveness

Market domain/micro level - market sector benefits and attractiveness

Industry domain/macro level - industry attractiveness

Industry domain/micro level - sustainable advantage

Team domain - mission, aspirations, and propensity for risk

Team domain - ability to execute on the critical success factors

Connectedness up and down the value chain

The McKinsey 7S framework

Goals and shared values

Strategy

Skills

Structure

Style

Systems

Staff

Fitting everything together

The business descriptions

IXL Learning

Nextpoint

Comparison: McKinsey 7S framework

Comparison - Business Model Canvas

Comparison: conclusion

Chapter 4: Creating a Brand

A brief definition of what branding is and isn't

Know your audience

Identify perceptions required for objectives

Specializing - becoming a domain expert

Generalizing - targeting a wider audience

Case study

Kick starting perceptions

Doing a good job

Limited time offers

Competitions

Rewarding customer loyalty

Strategic partnerships

Certifications

Influencers

Reliability

Personality

Media exposure

Content marketing

Who do they think you are?

Chapter 5: Networking, Marketing, and Sales

Understanding networking

Defining a networking strategy

Writing press releases

Be specific

Integrating your agenda.

Make it easy to read

Tips for writing news stories

Enhancing the reach of your media coverage

Open project sources

Project sources

Being selective

Example 1

Example 2

The sales process

Stage 1: Establish the relationship

Stage 2: Recognizing the need

Stage 3: Proposing the Solution

Stage 4: Closing the sale

Stage 5: Delivery and evaluation

Chapter 6: An Introduction to Client Types

The ethical client

Characteristics

Progression options

The difficult client

The trusting client

Progression suggestions

The nasty client

The price-conscious client

Chapter 7: Managing Clients

Points of contact

Performing risk assessment of the project

Measuring complexity

Key performance indicators

Defining client expectations

Analyzing implications

Defining an exit strategy

Analyzing the client

Commitment

Ethics and difficulty

Financial

Learning and execution

Consistency

Negotiation

Cash flow issues

Avoiding cash flow problems

Chapter 8: Negotiation

The Winning Formula

Timeframe

Budget

Depth

Strategic Negotiation Phases

Stage 1: Evaluate Priorities &amp

Stage 2: Depth Reduction

Stage 3: Define Time scales

Stage 4: Terms of Delivery and Engagement

Stage 5: Price Identification

Chapter 9: Software Development Resources, Patterns and Strategies

Software problems: A recap

Portable code components

Pure HTML5 applications

Hybrid applications

Code translation

Rescued by object oriented programming

Maximising reusability, minimising duplication

Functional adaptability.

Clarity of solution implementation

Strategic efficiency with MVC

MVC: Models

Adaptability strategy

MVC: Views

Views in action

MVC: Controllers

Controllers in action

Strategic data management

User interface consistency with data binding

Database consistency

API-oriented system architecture

Why create an API?

Delivering data

Developing a HTTP based API

API design

API security

Testing strategy

Security considerations

Version control

Concept glossary

Chapter 10: Software Development Methodology

Social factors of software development

Features for preventing problems

Formality

Flexibility

Working hours

Code patterns

Specification management

Skills deployment

Prototyping

Planning and analysis

Time requirements

Knowledge requirements

Changing requirements

Problem definition

Culture analysis

Technology evaluation

Risk analysis

Viability analysis

Milestone identification

Timescales

Methodologies of interest

Waterfall model

Incremental model

Spiral model

Agile development

SSM: Soft Systems Methodology

Designing your methodology

Formal structure

Team communications policy

Planning

Testing

Chapter 11: Creating Quotes and Estimates

Maths to the rescue: The basics

Performance rating

Client rating

Example

Estimation

Quotes

Risk management

Counteracting risk

Calculating risk

Recovering unaccounted costs

Examples

Maintaining estimation accuracy

Average client ratings

Selective client ratings

Proportionate client ratings

Chapter 12: Project Management

Client perceptions.

Methods of communication

Meetings

Telephone

Conference calls

E-mail

Social media

Post

Allocating the right people

Who is capable of performing the task?

Who is ideal for the task?

Who is available?

What are the limiting factors?

Written agreements

Feature creep

Risk assessment

Project nature

Team politics

Expectations

Legalities

Defining a specification

Creating a specification document

Definitions

Requirements

System overview

Design

Cost plan

Feedback

Survey tools

Email

Release cycles

How often?

Feature order

The parking list

Appendix

Interview 1

Interview 2

Interview 3

Interview 4

Interview 5

Interview 6

Appendix.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781783001415

1783001410

OCLC:

968130187