Below is an outline of my 'pet projects' (
don't let
the title of 'pet projects' mislead... as these are not small in scope). I have
set a deadline of 9/1/2016 to move some of these projects to a completion point or to give up on them.
Following the
list of projects is background info regarding these projects and this deadline.
All projects below are prototyped to varying degrees.
Pet Projects
Vacation Rental Management Software
I am currently earning the majority of my income from managing two vacation
rental properties. When I first started in the business in 2008, there
were no good, online tools for managing my business, so I built my own.
Since that time, the websites which offer the primary marketing channels for
homes like mine have included a system on their backend, and while it meets many
basic needs, it also lacks in many ways, especially when it comes to managing
multiple properties in one profile. I'm in the process of commercializing
my software.
Rental Management Software
I own 8 rental properties and managing and keeping up with those is a lot of
work. Most landlords use a combination of manila folders, scanned
documents, word, excel, email, and an accounting system (manual or electronic)
to manage their businesses. It's a lot to manage and many folks have some
custom needs. My goal will be to provide one online management tool that
greatly simplifies this process and centralizes information. For those
that want it, the software may also have its own accounting module (final
determination on software module is pending, see more on accounting software
below).
Payment Processing System w/ Invoicing (Virtual Terminal w
invoicing)
Paypal and PaySimple (along with several others) offer ways to send and receive
money and varying levels of invoicing. Each has nice features. I had
systems prototyped in 2005, but got sidetracked. My
goal is to build a stand alone system similar to those but addressing specific
needs of small businesses...and while that is nothing novel, I want to modularize
that system in such a way that it can be seamlessly integrated into other small business
software applications of mine and others very quickly (like the rental management packages above
and the accounting software and pet sitting software below) so that it is
contained within the same software framework and it looks and feels like a part
and parcel of the independent program.
Accounting Software
Quickbooks and Quicken own the small business accounting market. In ~2003
my needs for flexible, small business accounting software were skyrocketing, and
I found Quickbooks to be expensive (constant upgrades), cumbersome, and bloated. At that time, I wrote web based
accounting software from scratch, and I've been using that software in
various versions since 2004.
Pet Sitting Software
There are plenty of pet sitting software solutions out there. I have an
associate who has a pet sitting business and is currently using one of the web
based
industry solutions. I am planning on building a solution for them, and the
intention would be to have them market it and sell it to others once we've built
it as we'd like it. It's a competitive field, so it would take good
marketing on the site, but that's all part of capitalism.
Litigation Publication Software
This project has a very personal, and special place in my heart. This
project was inspired by a contracting vendor who I had a longstanding
relationship with who didn't
treat me well when we discovered some major flaws in their finished work years
down the road. I
invested a lot of money in a lawsuit that I had to drop due to economic
futility from their 'vigorous' defense of utter nonsense. I am really looking forward to the day
I can share the Technological Art I've created with their video taped
testimonies....this one is personal.
Art Form
I view this type of business system creation as a very complex art form, one
that very few can put together by themselves from A-Z... but one that can be
experienced by thousands and millions of others. If done properly,
my systems will provide users with pleasure, by permanently alleviating
complexity in their lives. I've been exploring creativity with my hands
since 1997 in various trades as well as computer work. When I'm done with my
designs, I'll slowly introduce them to people who may need them, and we'll see
how they are received. If they are a failure for them, that's
okay...because several of them will be used in my life on a weekly, if not
daily basis, and I'll enjoy the heck out of those that are relevant to my
businesses no matter what happens.