Own company - a year long race

Around alone startups. Some already tired of reading about them. Others continue to study startup after start-up with genuine interest, because they themselves dream to start and express themselves. Successful stories inspire, because in them you can always find similarities with those who decide to make the world a better place.

We modestly identify ourselves as such enthusiasts, and here is our story. Much familiar, but no less interesting and instructive.
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On the way to the “same” idea

In October 2012, Dima and I (my companion) decided to stop working on our own project. It was the second project in a year. Again something went wrong. After a bit of discussion, we realized that the cause of the failures lay on the surface. All our undertakings were built on the desire to create something of their own and cut the jackpot. We were looking for an idea that could "shoot", and after a few months of design, layout and design cool to her. It's time to change the approach.

Eyes must burn. You need to forget about the money and do what you really like. Everybody knows this, but for some reason, many people confuse interest in the project with interest in the potential earnings from the project. At first glance, everything is obvious, but in fact the difference is not so easy to catch.

Having drawn conclusions, we have compiled a list of ideas for a new project. And then it dawned on me.



For 5 years I had to work a lot with services for support services. In total, I processed about 15,000 user requests and knew about support firsthand. I really enjoyed helping people.

For the last two or three years, being the manager of a fairly popular online service, I have been training new support staff. It was at this time that I noticed how fragile all the communication channels with customers are: a separate support center with online chat and tickets, separate pages on social networks and a separate service for receiving and processing feedback. The search began for the ideal service for the support service, which would unite all channels of communication with customers into a single system.

At that time, we used Kayako. Began to look closely to Zendesk, Desk.com, HelpScout, and many others. At best, solutions allowed working with several of the channels, but we could not find a suitable service. Therefore, we added all support providers to the feedback processing service (UseResponse, analogue of Copiny) and asked them to regularly check new customer ideas. In fact, the staff had to work on two fronts, but there was no other way out.

With social networks went quite a sad story. We, like in many other companies, were followed by a separate SMM manager who was quite far from support. Add all the same support to all social services. pages we did not dare and stopped at the option in which the SMM-manager informs us about the questions coming through the social. network. The effectiveness of this solution, of course, left much to be desired.

Even then, after failing searches, I thought that it would be nice to create a full-fledged service for multi-channel support service. At that time, this idea was not taken seriously, because I understood perfectly how complex such a project was. Now, remembering this idea, I came to a complete delight.

Dima inspired no less than mine. He has long been engaged in marketing in the social. networks and knew how often users ask questions directly, not wanting to write letters to support. If they still notice that in social. networks they respond faster, then stop them to handle this way is very difficult.

It was a breath of fresh air. None of the previous ideas were able to captivate us so much. We found a dream service, the creation of which could throw all their strength. That is how - quickly and naturally - the idea of Omnidesca was born. It turned out to find the “very” idea is not difficult.

Strength test of desires and ambitions

All this time I continued to work on the main job. Earnings were more than decent, therefore, according to our calculations with Dima, we could easily pull the project for our own money. It seemed that the best time to start could not even come up.

Intervened harsh reality. Lately, with an unpleasant periodicity, I had differences of opinion with the owner of the online service in which I worked as a manager. After 4 years of productive collaboration, we began to interfere with each other. At one point, I admitted to myself how much I was tired of trying to find a common language, and decided to put an end.

This step did not weakly undermine the financial component of the new project, but gave me the opportunity to give all the best 100%. Dima was glad the news, for him my full concentration was more important. It remained only to solve the money question.

While we were considering where to get the required amount, I received a tempting offer from another company. They offered to lead the new project and promised an excellent salary. I hung up for a few days. There was a good chance to rejoin the ranks of a successful working class. At the end of much thought, I decided it was time to stop looking for “convenient” options. I wanted to be among those who drink champagne.

Disappointed, Dima sighed with relief, and we with the double perseverance began the necessary preparations. It was December 2012. First of all, they took up the office. At the second attempt, a suitable option was found. We have already seen ourselves working sweatfully in a new place. It was not there.

It turned out that I urgently need to go to the operation (gallstones). To say that the news has spoiled our mood - to say nothing. I was not afraid of the operation itself, but the lack of knowledge of how quickly I could recover in order to take up work was frightening. I had to freeze all the cases until the moment I was discharged from the hospital.

During my recovery after the operation, the office center administrator continually called Dima and asked why we did not appear in the office. Apparently, he was worried that he would have to terminate the contract concluded for a year. I spent days thinking about what to do next. There were a lot of doubts and fears. I had to accept the fact that I no longer drink champagne. But to completely give up was not part of my plans either. As a result, I settled on the fact that, upon returning to service, you need to implement your plans at all costs.

The most valuable lesson for this period is that there is no ideal time for undertakings . If you are waiting for the right time to do your favorite thing, then, most likely, you will never start. Need to start here and now.

Super team for the week without much effort

The end of January 2013 - I'm back in business. As part of the design was done quite a bit, but in my head I had a clear picture of what should be the result. We decided not to hesitate and take up the search for developers. Could not only determine the number - two or three. Declined toward three to speed up the development process.

The fortune-tellers of us have always been useless, so the idea arose to meet with an experienced developer who could give advice on the team structure and prepare a test task for candidates. The choice fell on Seryozha, with whom I was well acquainted with the previous project, where I worked as a manager.

We met and discussed the project so that Serezha could estimate the scope of work. He advised to limit to two developers. After a short conversation, it became clear that he was not averse to joining our team, although we did not consider this option at the beginning. Moreover, realizing that we have a limited budget, he agreed to lower wages. True, we have agreed with him about the percentage of profits when the project will be self-sufficient.



Inspired by the first success, we began to search for a second developer. Placed a job with a test task. Responses began to arrive on the same day. Checking the first test task, they were pleasantly surprised. We conducted an interview and ... took Allen to the team. From the first attempt, and the girl. This we did not expect. Apparently, fortune turned to us.

The case remained for small. For the complete set, two maker-ups were needed. They were the least worried about them, as there were a couple of people in attendance with whom we worked from time to time. Special persuasion is not required. The guys quickly agreed to become part of our project.

So in record time we formed a team of 6 people: Dima (administration, finance and marketing), Serezha (development), Alena (development), two Vladov (layout) and me (general project management, interface design, design and copywriting ).

Timing assessment magic

Everyone knows that the timing of the project must be multiplied by 2 to obtain real numbers. This is no longer a secret. Therefore, good experts consider themselves capable of adequately assessing the scope of work and setting deadlines with the necessary margin.

Previous work experience suggested that sticking to predetermined dates would not be easy. But there the situation was completely different, because the project was developing successfully, and there was always enough money. In our case, it was necessary to be very careful about time and, accordingly, money. Therefore, we were determined to make every effort to avoid any "rubber".

At first, I was engaged only in this, that I was preparing the design of the service. For the final assessment of the time it was necessary as air. As soon as I finished, we got together with the developers and rated each of the pages.



The data were put on a separate list, with the help of which they calculated the time needed to complete the project. Estimated amount of work by the developers themselves, and with a margin. I did not want to impose my opinion on them and practically did not intervene, since the task was to give an estimate as close as possible to reality.

At that time, work has already lasted for several months. According to the list, it took 4-5 more months. Such terms were quite acceptable. Did we fit into them as a result? No, absolutely not. Spent twice as much time.

The moral is simple - if you know the "secret", it changes nothing. There are a lot of moments that can not be considered in advance, so you should prepare for the fact that the dates will be "rubbed off" .

The most important thing in such situations is to maintain clarity of mind and not to give vent to emotions. No need to look for the guilty and cut the head right and left. Each has its own share of responsibility. When starting a large project, you should clearly realize that you are getting involved in a serious business, which means that something will definitely not go according to plan.

Show me the money

As I have already noted, it was originally planned to provide the project exclusively for its money. After the situation has changed, we are faced with a choice - to attract investors, get into debt or take a loan.

It was not easy to choose. We read a lot on this topic, talked with successful and not very businessmen. By and large, opinions were divided: some said that without investment anywhere, others argued that investment would only harm.

The arguments of both sides were useful to listen to, but in the end we remained confused. Therefore, they listened to themselves and agreed that it was worth refusing investments. We thought (and we think) that it is possible to find a really good investor, but it is very difficult. In most cases, a less pleasant picture is obtained.

We do not want to impose our point of view on anyone. We are confident that almost everyone has thoughts about attracting investment. We refused them for the following reasons.

1. Investors, investing their own money in projects, in any case, can not easily "smoke aside." They are involved in decision making, and their participation is far from always pleasant and fruitful.
2. Investors' advice, first of all, is aimed at turning the project into a car for the return of investments. By agreeing with them, you gradually alienate yourself from a company that ceases to serve your goals.
3. With impressive investments, many startups start to spend money thoughtlessly. Lost focus. Decisions on costs are much easier. Even failure is not perceived as ill. There is no so important vital interest.
4. At the first serious puncture, investors can simply stop financing the project, declaring your insolvency as a manager. Such things do not add motivation and are capable of seriously undermining your self-reliance.

As a result, we decided to limit ourselves with our own funds and get into debt. Is it risky? Of course, there is plenty of blood interest.

At the very beginning, planning to finish the project for 6-8 months, we thought that we should draw up a budget with a large margin - for a year. And rightly so. We didn’t manage to cope with the terms, as you already know, but thanks to this budget, everything went smoothly with money. We spent as much as planned.

When drawing up the budget, they took into account everything that could be: salaries, office rent, taxes, the cost of computers and components, server rent, Basecamp cost, etc. Plus, they tried to indicate costs with a margin. As a result, we did not climb beyond the scope even with the appearance of unforeseen expenses.

In terms of cost savings, the fact that you didn’t have to pay for yourself helped a lot. Of course, working on pure enthusiasm is quite difficult. The first months I could not get used to the situation when I was laid out in full, but did not receive a penny. But after some time was involved. The realization that I was doing my favorite work and working for the future allowed me to take a different look at my own “gratuitous” work.

By the way, the owner of a startup is very important to be an integral part of the team. And it's not about saving. If you have only the idea itself, and you do not know how (to code, develop interfaces, promote projects or write sales texts), then you should not even begin. Just wanting to be a boss is not enough for success. You definitely need to understand the intricacies of online business in general. Otherwise, you simply can not bring the project to mind and manage it in the future.

As for financing, there are options for every taste. We chose the path that was closer to us in spirit. It is only important to understand that you should not get hung up on this. Focus on your product, and in any case you can get the money.

First finish straight

Now our project - Omnidesk - is in the alpha testing stage. He is about to see the light, and the whole team is overly pleased with this.

It was not at all easy to follow this path. As the owner, I had to struggle with a lot of fears and problems that I will write about in the future. But most importantly - we managed to make our plans. So with a great desire and you get it. Believe in your strength.

Once again. Remember, there are no perfect conditions, so stop waiting for them. It is better to try and screw up with a startup than to think about it with a smart look, working as an “uncle” .