Today's work on/in the business - Fri 31 July

1. Box Hill TAFE's NEIS information session, which turned out to be one on one. It was supposed to be two people, but the other one didn't turn up. A different person did, but it was quickly established that he wasn't eligible for the program, so then there was only me. (1hr 15mins)
2. Programming (3hrs)
3. Finish reading NEIS information brochure (20mins)

Today's work on/in the business - Thurs 30 July

1. Appointment with employment people (part of the Centrelink requirements) - can look into NEIS (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) for business planning/mentoring (1hr)
2. Find details of Box Hill TAFE's NEIS interview process and book in for tomorrow (15mins)
3. Programming (2hrs)

Issues/thoughts about changing from an employee to running your own business

I am finding it really difficult to accept that I am no longer 'just a developer/designer' - that running your own business means you (possibly collectively, but each business owner bears some responsibility for all of these things) are involved in:
strategic planning for the business,
marketing,
sales,
creation of brochures and other collateral,
finance/budgeting,
taxation issues/documentation,
costing,
purchasing,
invoicing,
debt collection,
keeping up with information about competitors,
keeping up with information about your business area,
website design,
training for 'staff',
(for a software company) design, development, testing plus documentation and training, installation and ongoing support,

and I'm sure there are other things that should be added to this list that I can't think of at the moment...

On some days, this whole process has been totally overwhelming, leading to doubts about my/our ability to do this, as you would expect. I have no secret for getting through these times - just understanding that this will happen and to be ready for it. Note that anyone going down this path needs a good support network - not necessarily related to your business, but you really need people that you can talk to other than business partner(s) - this outlet is vital.

And somewhere in amongst all that you still need to spend time being yourself - outside the business - which is something that I'm struggling with myself right now. I keep telling people that the next stage of the process will allow me to slow down a bit and that my friends will then see me - and each time, there's something else that needs to be done. It also doesn't help that it's winter here and the weather hasn't exactly encouraged getting outside - but really, that's just an excuse. So tomorrow (unless it's truly blowing a gale) I WILL get out and go for a bike ride - and on Saturday I WILL see some friends!

Time spent creating our product

Firstly, for the sake of my sanity I am not going to even THINK about trying to estimate how many hours I have spent on the software so far... that could well be too disheartening. However, the basic details are:
I started the process of designing it on April 6 2009,
the design document, which was created in tandem with writing the software itself, went through 18 iterations - so far,
at least 4 other people have been involved in reviewing the design and making suggestions,
the first saleable (is that even a real word?) version of the product was available on about June 25 2009,
our website was first put up on about May 1 2009, went through a serious revamp for June 17 2009 and needs review again when the new logo is finalised and the planned additions to the website are implemented,
determining a reasonable costing model was a full time job for about 10 days - finding costings for competitor products (and checking which really were competitor products and which were not really competing for our potential customers) was the largest part of that time,
the web browser accessible version (which will be easier to sell) has been started about 2 months before it was planned for - which is great - but is still estimated to be 3 months of work,
a trainer has reviewed the online Help documentation for the software,
testing is progressing,
brochures have been created along with a PowerPoint presentation for the product,
a couple of videos are being scripted and then need recording,
the product has been presented to two Business Consultancy firms and one potential customer,
word of mouth is starting to spread the information that the product exists,
we have a (very) basic business plan and marketing plan, but both need fleshing out,
we have no real documentation processes for the business yet - receipts are being kept but not recorded, invoices are sent and cross checked when payments appear, but this needs more structure,
oh dear - some of that is the business rather than the product - but at least it gives some idea on what has been involved so far.

Today's work on/in the business - Wed 29 July

1. Take laptop while getting RWC done on car - programming (2hrs 15mins)
2. Read Whitehorse Council newspaper - particularly details on Whitehorse Business Week 2009 (unfortunately, with the exception of the design seminar and the Women in Business Expo and Luncheon, none of the events are relevant to us) (15mins)
3. Send RSVP for website design/usability seminar on Aug 6 (1omins)
4. Look through the Council's website and sign up for newsletters etc (30mins)
5. Programming this afternoon and evening (5hrs)

Of course, all times are approximate only...

(And that doesn't include time writing this, as this is not part of the business!)

Centrelink tid bit #1

Wed 29 July:

So, given how long it took to catch up last fortnight, we decided to keep ahead this time. So I've got three applications done already and I've sent Dave the details of two jobs to apply for, so that's all good.

As you may know (or not), each set of forms covers a fortnight and has to be handed in on the last day of the fortnight - or else. So if you actually work on that day and you have flexible hours, you need to estimate how long you're likely to work, as you probably haven't completed that block of work when you're handing the forms in. Sounds ok - we can do this. So we overestimate Dave's likely working hours when we hand the form in, as the woman taking the form says that if we underestimate it, that will raise a debt - which is bad. So she enters the time on the forms and advises us to ring up the following day and get the figure adjusted down. OK - that's all really clear. Now, the time we put on was 15.33 hours, assuming Dave was unlikely to work more than 5 hours on his shift. He actually worked 4hr 20m, so we need to adjust the figures down by 40 mins. So I grab our numbers, do the calculations and ring up - about 2.20pm, as we couldn't do it in the morning and I figured the phone lines would be extra busy at lunch time, so this is a time when we're likely to get through more easily. So, the phone actually gets answered on the first call - which is so far unheard of for me, so wonderful. Go through the rigmarole of talking to the computer and getting put through to an operator - again, all much quicker than previously. So I explain what needs to happen, she checks that I have all the details to prove I'm probably who I say I am, she brings up the details and I give her the old figure and the new figure, just like I expect... But wait - you see, what we hadn't been told is that the Centrelink system only takes whole hours in its figures - so the 15.33 hr had been entered on the system as 15 (ok, it rounds down to 15, so I can understand that) - but guess what, 14.67 hr rounds UP to 15 as well - so it was a total waste of time calling at all, because the figures they actually USED didn't need to change at all - only the figures we wrote on the forms were different!!

So - after politely finishing the call, I then ranted and raved for a few minutes, and sat down to write this. I swear, by the end of this process, I'll be an expert on Centrelink - truly I will - but gee, it's like pulling teeth at the moment!

Centrelink - the beginning

So... the company I worked for went into liquidation, without the funds to pay out employees - either the last month's pay or any entitlements. It turns out the directors had two choices -
liquidation:
they stop trading, lose all their investment, lose all their entitlements, creditors lose their money but employees' entitlements are covered by a government scheme (eventually), or
memorandum of understanding (or something like that):
they continue trading, creditors get one or two cents in the dollar for their debts, BUT all employee entitlements are lost
So it turns out that liquidation was the better thing for all employees, which is a (very) small consolation.

Anyway, this means that for the first time in my life, I needed to get 'the dole' - which turns out to be called Newstart Allowance in its current incarnation.

So Dave and I head to our local Centrelink on the Wednesday (company closed down on a Tuesday)... I have no paperwork or anything at that time - only the comments from the liquidator the day before that we would get a Certificate of Separation and that starting the process earlier rather than later would be good.

If there was one funny moment in this whole process, this was it: the look on the kind Centrelink guy's face when he asked me for my name and date of birth and I didn't come up on their system. So he asked me again, put it in again, then turned to me and said 'You haven't been here before'.... Yep - that's the way it is. I'm 44 years old and never been to Centrelink (in any of its incarnations) - he was totally shocked! :-)

So then we explained the situation, I cried quietly in the corner and we were on the system.

Conception (or at least the concept)

After I recovered from the shock of the company's collapse, I looked for jobs that I'm qualified for. Unfortunately, my main focus for the last 11.5 yrs is not much in demand at the moment... At least as far as development goes - there are a fair number of administration positions available and I could always do Help Desk - but it seems a waste of my abilities and experience, so I started thinking about other possibilities.

At first, the thought of our own company didn't happen - I mean, I've been a contractor before and my previous partner ran his own business, so I understand how difficult it can be - and besides, I didn't think that I really had anything to offer.

I was spending time emailing and talking to existing customers of the software who were in limbo and needed an option for support - to try and get some work and also because I knew that I truly could offer them the most cost-effective support for their existing installations. This was a very frustrating process, as many of the big corporates simply never returned my emails or calls, which is disheartening. A number of those who did talk to me were either 'considering whether they were continuing to use the software' or outright were going to stop using it. But one of the people I was talking to actually needed some work done, so I went out for a site visit and to fix his issues. As part of that conversation, a suggestion was made - and a business idea was conceived!

Where we're up to at the moment

Firstly, a bit of background, as the process has already started.

My name is Kathy and I'm 44. The small software company I spent 11 and a half years working for went into liquidation at the end of March 2009, so I needed to look for a new position. As you can imagine, after that long working for one company, I was hit fairly hard by the process and spent some time taking a long hard look at what I wanted to do to earn a living. Oh - that is, after I recovered from the shock and depression that followed the day the company shut down...

While the employees knew that sales had been dropping over time, we were all flat out doing custom development and installations, so we thought that the company would keep trading and the economy would pick up. Until the week before the liquidators came in - at that point, there were long board meetings and things, so we started to feel concerned. Then it all fell in a heap.

So one of the thoughts I had was to try and not be in that situation again - there was absolutely nothing I could have done differently to change the outcome for that company, sales was not my area - so I would like to prevent that situation from occurring again, if I can. Thus are dreams of owning and running our own business begun!

Note that the 'our' in that statement is my partner Dave, who has been an IT technical support person for about as long as I've been a programmer. So we decided that we would combine our talents and create a business that focuses on small business development (more on this later) with a side line of technical support, focusing on customers who buy the software, but not restricting the support side to those people.

This blog will be the story of our travels along that path - including the processes required regarding Centrelink along the way, which are nearly worthy of their own separate story, but not quite...

Hope you are interested in the story - I'll try and fill in some of what's already happened in a while, then keep you updated as things occur.