Would people pay for budgeting software?

[cbmeeks]

I am a full-time programmer and I have written a program to help me manage my personal budget.

Excel is nice but too general for our needs.

I am seriously thinking about cleaning up the code a bit and actually selling my program.

What do you people think?

What would be a reasonable cost? You can get Microsoft Money for $10 but I think it is way too over-kill for general budgeting.

My software is simple. I like simple. :-)

Thanks!

cb

[sweeps]

Hmm, Jesse, what do you think?

[poundwise]

Sure! People pay for budgeting software or services like Mvelopes everyday. Maybe you could develop it and release it as shareware or even as freeware asking for donations if the person likes and uses the program (donation-ware).

[cbmeeks]

Yeah, I figured there are some out there. I don't like the idea of paying a monthly fee to better manage my money. I would rather buy a program and use it forever (like Word or Photoshop).

If I had to pay a monthly fee to use Word I would drop it like a bad habbit. :-)

hmmmm...

I guess I could just release it and see what happens.

[wwjdmsl]

Simple is awesome ! Personally, I have utilized excel workbook with multiple sheets for Income, Investments, Debt, Budget, etc..I think if you are doing it with the intent of a monthly service, I would not go over 9.99/mo. and definitely agree with poundwise on the initial release being shareware/freeware to see how popular adoption will be as well as the ability to get suggestions/report bugs, etc....good luck !

[cbmeeks]

Thanks.

I wonder how many people DO spend a monthly fee to keep their budget on the web?

HMMMMM....

lol

[Haku]

I very much would pay someone for a good budgeting software. In fact, I use one right now, and have been using it for years. (It's called PocketMoney for the Palm in case anyone is wondering.)

There are plenty of budgeting systems or software that let's you "get by", but it's hard to find just the right one that works exactly the way you want it to. And for that, I am willing to pay.

Couldn't you make intop a shareware with a time limit? Make it available for general download?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what are you coding with?

[cbmeeks]

Originally Posted by Haku

I very much would pay someone for a good budgeting software. In fact, I use one right now, and have been using it for years. (It's called PocketMoney for the Palm in case anyone is wondering.)

There are plenty of budgeting systems or software that let's you "get by", but it's hard to find just the right one that works exactly the way you want it to. And for that, I am willing to pay.

Couldn't you make intop a shareware with a time limit? Make it available for general download?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what are you coding with?

I might do that. I still need to clean up some stuff (ie, removing my family name, etc from program).

I have coded it in VB.Net (2005).

It's also Database driven.

[debtdude]

Ah, vb.net - I'm a coder myself in .net .

I have a software product that sells on the inet for a one-time price. I have a lot of points for you to consider.

My advice.

Marketing:
Do you have a product that is better than anything on the market?
Can you show your product is different than existing software packages?
Read "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin.

Support:
If it's a one-time price, you best not offer phone support. Email only. Can you afford the TIME to give to support emails? Can you handle the grief you'll get from some of these people?

Pricing:
A "lower priced solution" is NEVER a good reason to think you can compete in an existing market. Other companies charge what they charge because they have to take care of support, billing issues, marketing, and other areas that require funding.

I'm at home here. If you want to email me, send me an email via this site and I'll give you more free advice from my experience!

I don't want to dissuade you - I just want to know what you'll be getting into.

[jmjj215]

I've found a lot of satisfaction in selling my personal budgeting solution. I echo what the above poster said as well.

A few things to remember:

1) it is very satisfying to help people find something that helps them.
2) it is much more time consuming than you think
3) you need to have a unique selling proposition
4) you need to know how you're going to market it
5) test pricing to find out what is optimal
6) support is widely underestimated
7) document document document so as to mitigate #6
8) be patient

That being said, there are a bazillion money management softwares out there, so #3 is by far the most important.

[cbmeeks]

Thanks guys, but I'm certainly no rookie. I've supported 100 people on a insurance management system I wrote. :-)

Your points are good ones. I was more curious if there was an interest.

I'm going to hold off for a bit due to some other projects that I am trying to wrap up. Maybe one of them will get me some cash. :-D

cbmeeks

[debtdude]

Originally Posted by cbmeeks

Thanks guys, but I'm certainly no rookie. I've supported 100 people on a insurance management system I wrote. :-)
cbmeeks

One of my app's (the free version of it) has over 100,000 users. Glad you're not a rookie, I'm just saying you don't want to be in a position where the sales take off and your support email address is full and you are swamped with family stuff - it happens - been there, done that, burned the midnight oil till the wife was ready to take a hammer to my computer.

Definitely document. You'll need to do this:
1.) On-screen tooltip text for the obvious stuff.
2.) Help file that is easily accessible throughout the application for the "how do I" and "how to" questions.
3.) A FAQ's.

As you release new versions of the software - build up the FAQ's and help files. You'll also want to build an offline support faq's for answering common questions. Yes, even though stuff is in your FAQ's and help, you'll still get common questions both in and out of the scope of those. This makes for a quick cut/paste into your support emails.

[veronak]

I would, I currently use MSN Money and I like it. Good luck