smayfield

To do the work that I want to do, or know needs doing, but could never get approved by my management. SOMETIMES it's tedious work that just has to get to do move the project forward, and SOMETIMES it's going to result in significant, measurable benefits to the company. Either way, it's a great way to get to know a developer before officially hiring them.

Also consider "small scale automation". Maybe you can't automate a process or even part of a process and maintain the level of quality you're looking for, but take a look at the individual tools you're using and whether or not you're using them efficiently when performing specific steps. Is switching back and forth between apps too slow? Are there keyboard shortcuts you should become familiar with? Are there plug-ins/extensions that can automate something simple (in the .Net space, something that might help an app translation process is a refactoring macro that will "extract selected string to resource file".

And as others have said... if you're product is better, raise your price. Just be ready to explain WHY you're better to your customers. :)

Avoiding the "will it solve the perceived problem" aspect that many of these reviews focused on, it doesn't really scream "good business model" to me. It's not particularly novel (it's an anonymous re-mailer with phone numbers instead of email addresses). It's not solving a problem that can't be solved many other ways already (internal school district systems, email lists, teacher blogs, written notes on the whiteboard). One of its primary sales points (protects teachers by restricting direct contact info) is only a tiny aspect of a more general problem (inappropriate communication/contact between students/teachers). Its primary sales point offers protection from a legal liability (possessing information that could be abused) but doesn't secure that information effectively (phone numbers aren't treated by most people as "strictly private information" and therefore are easily obtained from many sources). I don't see how it will be monetized effectively as neither students nor teachers are likely to pay for it (my opinion only) and it would be difficult to offer ads given that the user interface that both parties interact with is basically a text message. Technologically, it's not exactly a hard concept to duplicate now that you've presented the idea, and therefore you have a risk of competitors without the benefit of a significant "first to market" advantage. Texting is popular because it's simple. I'm not sure how much you can enhance the service beyond hiding the number. That leaves me wondering where your growth and customer loyalty will come from.

If you're still reading :) It's an interesting idea, it's a nice design, it's focused on a single problem, and congrats on shipping it! I'm not saying these things to discourage you, but I think you should be sure that you have considered issues like these.

Good luck!