Mike, Sorry for the long delay in responding. Been totally pre-occupied with business related activities other then dev. Not over the hump yet, but things are looking better then before.
I had wasted way too much time going in circles on OT. I've solved that problem by switching venues to a blog where I can't be shouted down by goons (http://wjarnold.blogspot.com) > Basically small business (LAN centric) database solutions, the current > incarnation is tailored for the lawn sprinkler service. I've tried very hard > to keep the basic model adaptable for other apps as well, now considering > landscapers, for example. Originally the app was written for the > 'lettershop' industry, but the Postal Service upped the costs for > certification until it was out of my reach (I'm sure Pitney Bowes et al > loved that way of eliminating competition from little guys), so I switched > to another industry. Turned out for the best because it reinforced the > notion of keeping the basic design as generic as possible. There's a price > to be paid for 'generic', but I think (hope) I've hit a happy medium. So sorry to hear that investment was seemingly largely wasted. At least you've started on a new (hopefully profitable) path. Good luck on that! -------------------------------- It wasn't a loss. Since I had passed the certification tests a few times, the process itself is functional, it's just not useful for claiming postage discounts. But for address standardization, duplicate detection, mapping, adding ZIP4 codes, the (CASS) process is very useful and I cite it as an important feature. When resources permit, I'll get back into certifying it. --------------------------------- > I still very much see small business applications as VFP-claimable territory > into the foreseeable future. In the trade show I attended last week, only 1 > business operator (of maybe 20 demos given) asked about the language the > product was written in, and I have no idea why he asked, but there are many > ways he could have been burned in the past. So was he understanding when you said VFP/Foxpro? ----------------------------- Haven't heard back yet. But this is a big decision for prospects, so I don't expect immediate answers. ----------------------------- > Nonetheless, the incident did bring out the VFP arguments again, And was he receptive to your POV? ------------------------------- I answered his question without the pitch. If he inquires further, I'll give him my rap. On VFP's future, I've reached my conclusions that (1) VFP9 remains a truly great product development system, despite all it's quirks, (2) it will remain viable for the foreseeable future, (3) VM will keep VFP applications alive no matter what MS does, and (4) when change finally is forced, there will be more and better choices then there are today. The rap to prospective customers is that our long term commitment is to provide them with database functionality represented in the product, and in this context the choice of languages is incidental. If/when the time comes to re-write, we'll handle it in due course. Mind you (all of us): VFP has no real competition today. Show me someone who has left VFP and now has something better for small business operators with a single computer or small LAN. I know, "better" is a subjective word, so I'll qualify it with saying "a sufficiently developed VFP application" can't be beat by any other language/dev system on the market today. Times being tight, small business operators are feeling the pinch even more then working people. But I see them as a sea of opportunity. I've reduced this enterprise to one remaining problem: selling. I say 'selling' and not 'marketing' because marketing is the planning/direction part, and that's done. Selling is a slice of marketing, where the rubber meets the road, but not the whole story. The business/marketing plan I've been following all along is basically: - identify a specific type of small business (e.g. SIC code) (done) - team up with a model such business, create product to their specs, thoroughly test (done) - collect information about prospects into a prospects database (done) - write telemarketing scripts, prices, procedures, etc. (done) - systematically contact each prospect, keeping records of the results, following up (in motion) - downloadable demo version of the product (ready) - online demo script (ready) - internet based remote support and maintenance system (ready) > How is your product doing? It's still going forward. My main income now is Sylvan Learning, not MBSS. I'm still needing MBSS to pick up some though as I really need an extra $1500/month. ------------------------------------------------- I'll post again when I have something useful to say. Bill _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
