I have been selling software, in one form or another, for over 20 years. In 1992 I launched Bizmark Development, selling a C-language program that ran on DOS-based PCs. It replaced the timeclock at the factory. I quit the business in 2000 when I went to IBM, but every now and then someone contacts me for "the latest upgrade."
The IT Consulting Essentials, which you see to the left, was the method I developed at IBM as a consultant to software business partners. In a sentence, if you have the three elements of the third column - a pitch, a visual image or demonstration of how the product works and one or more reference stories - then you have a sellable product. The other items can stop a sale, but no one except a crazy early-adopter is likely to buy without these three.
This formula has served me well in working with start-up companies since leaving IBM in 2008. Anyone with a pitch, a demo and a reference story can launch a business. Call me if you would like to run your idea through the process.