Tools and Techniques for Efficiently Running a Software Company or Managing a Software Team Presenter: Kevin Grossnicklaus

Contact Information Kevin Grossnicklaus Website: Linked In:

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Expectations

Why am I here? How deep are we going to get? Will this pertain to my exact business? What types of businesses might this information be most pertinent to?

ArchitectNow Story

Getting Started

First Steps Naming Incorporation State Incorporation FEIN (IRS Form SS-4) Bank Account Securing: Domain Name Twitter Handle Initial Web Presence

Identifying Partners Banking Legal Accounting Health Insurance Liability Insurance Mentors Partners

Banking Local vs. National Bankers Advantages of staying local as a small business Financing Needs? Debt financing (loans) Equity financing (investors) Simple Checking Account FEIN required Apps/Technology

Legal Identify local small business attorneys and meet with a number of them Why is legal necessary? Contracts Protection Biggest Legal Needs Employee and Contractor Agreements Trademark (and Patent?) Help Partnership Documents Master Agreements Work Orders

Accounting Identify local small business accounting firms and meet with a number of them Why is accounting necessary? Questions Ongoing Accounting Help QB Support Corporate Taxes Help in securing financing TAXES!

Health Insurance Insurance options differ greatly between a company with one employee vs a company with multiple Find a good insurance broker willing explain your options Be prepared to pay

Liability Insurance Health insurance brokers and liability insurance brokers are two different people, companies, etc. You WILL need liability insurance E&O insurance

Mentors Identify people in your peer group you look up to that have had success in similar businesses or just businesses in general Reach out to them via a lunch or happy hour and ask questions, get advice, and start to build a relationship to get further guidance

Partners Partners are companies for whom you rely on for business or to achieve the goals of your business.

Marketing Brand and Logo Don’t be afraid to invest in your identity Initial Website Community Events Speak and sponsor Make your presence felt in the market Networking Events SEO Social media Relationships

Crowdsourcing

Sales Contracts Billing Receivables Reporting

Location Home Office Physical Office Onsite at Clients

Tools and technologies

Tools Overview Phones Website Computers Collaboration Development Tools Accounting Misc: ALM Time Entry

Hosted Exchange: SherWebSherWeb Secure access to full Exchange OWA Direct Outlook access Mobile access via mobile devices Other Options: Office365 Google

Phones RingCentral Custom 800 numbers Fax System (Virtual: Send PDF’s as faxes, receive faxes as PDF’s) Automated attendant Custom voice mail and extensions for all employees IP Phones, soft phones, mobile apps (iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) Voic to WAV file via Highly configurable

Website DNS management CMS Systems WordPress DotNetNuke Orchard SiteFinity Others Templates TemplateMonster ThemeForest Others

Computers Big box vs Custom vs. Mainstream (i.e. Dell) ArchitectNow = 100% Apple Parallels AppleCare or other Insurance Considerations Backups: JustCloud Support: Dell, AppleCare Security Patches: Microsoft Antivirus: GFI Cloud Antivirus

Collaboration SLACK!

Development Tools Microsoft BizSpark Program ALM Hosted TFS via Visual Studio OnlineHosted TFS SVN via AssemblaAssembla Git via GitHub or BitBucketGitHub Other Dev Tools: Balsamiq InvisionApp BrowserStack AdobeOnline (CS) RayGun.io Jira/Confluence

Accounting Quickbooks Online Xero Considerations: Accountant Access Taxes Integration

Misc Tools Harvest Time Entry Time entry and Invoicing MailChimp or ConstantContact campaigns Insightly Full CRM and sales tracking VistaPrint Printing services

Budgeting, The Cloud, Final Thoughts Azure, Azure, Azure Spin up/down servers as needed for projects Pay for what we use 0 Servers in our Office No concern of theft Downtime is minimal with reliable internet All laptops with external monitors Printer Planned cost per new employee 10 minute setup in 4-5 systems Easily securable Each core service has a “per user” cost Only big expense (beyond payroll and benefits) is hardware based New MacBook, External Monitor, IP phone, minor additional things

Growing a business

Single Employee to Employer Payroll Outsource Tax implications Group Health Insurance High cost and strict rules 401k Strict rules for owner Safe Harbour Legal Employee Agreements Subcontractor Agreements Misc Vacations Ethics Expenses HR

Marketing and Sales Internal or External? Message and professionalism Commissions?

Office Space Furniture Lease Utilities Location CraigsList DiscountCoffee.com

Final Thoughts

Contact Information Kevin Grossnicklaus Website: Linked In:

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