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Software entrepreneurship has a different set of developing strategies than other business start-ups. The development of software, a digital “soft” good, involves different business models, product strategy, people management, and development plan compared to the traditional manufacturing and service industries. For example in the software business, making one or ten million copies of a product cost about the same. Furthermore, the productivity difference between a good and bad employee is ten to twentyfold. As well, software projects tolerate 80 percent lateness and ongoing design changes on a regular basis.〔Cusumano, Michael A. The Business of Software. New York: Free Press, 2004〕 Software entrepreneurship involve infinitely broad range of businesses; from helping people plan daily events to controlling a space shuttle. There are mainly three kinds of software businesses: products, services and content business such as Wikipedia. == Products Versus Services == The first thing software entrepreneurs should understand is the difference and the interrelationship between products and services business. The software product business is about selling licensed packages to customers. These products help solve a user pain and have potential for growth and profits. One advantage of starting up in this direction is the ability to attract stock market investors and venture capitalists for funding. This business also enjoys enormous economies of scale in selling multiple copies of the same software. The downside of creating products is that software sales are subject to fluctuations. Sales will drop drastically in economic recessions. The service business involves creating applications for clients that tailor to their business needs. This includes the maintenance of software products they have purchased before. One advantage of service business is that long-term customer contracts can allow the company to survive rough economic times. The downside is that the business needs to attract enough clients to keep developers and consultants busy. Software companies can also develop a hybrid solution involving a mixture of products and services. In this case, solutions are sold to clients that require extensive customization. Approximately 20 to 50 percent of coding is required for each individual client. Customers purchasing this type of IT solution usually do not switch vendors for long periods of time.〔Cusumano, Michael A. The Business of Software. New York: Free Press, 2004〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Software entrepreneurship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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