Resell an adapted version?

[Topher]

I'm an in-house developer for a university exchange program and working for them I built a database that would keep track of our students, courses they take, professors, and can create transcripts as well as other documents.

Recently I met someone who works for a similar program and I showed him the database I created and he thought that his program would love one as well. So I did a project proposal based on an hourly fee and starting from scratch from what they need specifically. They have since said that it would be too expensive and proposed that I modify the database (since it's the same basic idea) I've already made and set a global price instead of an hourly fee.

What does the community think of this? Would it be worth it? What kind of price would be reasonable if the original project was priced at $50/hr, with a potential of 100 hours?

Any advice would be great, thanks!

[mr_vodka]

You may want to check if this would conflict with any rights of your current job. Technically the code you wrote for them while being thier employee is their property. However, that being said, if you created a new version that doesnt look and feel like thier version from scratch you may be able to do it. I would still check though as many employers will have some kind of clause in their employee contract where one can not make a similar competing product.

[Topher]

Haha, I appreciate you pointing that out, but my job is sooooooooo low key that I don't think that would be a problem at all. I could even tell my boss flat-out that I'm going to adapt what I built for them for another program and they would be okay with it. So that still leaves me with the pricing question.

[mr_vodka]

Well after you get the blessing of your boss (which I suggest that you get in writing to protect yourself) I would then sell a the unmodified version of the system for a flat price (throwing in the small things for company specific customization). Any changes in functionality and new features would be charged at a market rate.

This could range between $40-$150/hr. I would look at some competitors to price it out.

[David Jondreau]

Pricing is really a matter of what you think your time is worth versus what you purchaser will pay. You already know that your original quote was too high. What do you think they would pay you? Is that worth it to you?

Some other issues to consider...

Is this solution solid? Are there bugs that might come up that'll you'll need to address, if so, will you charge them for your time or is that included?

If the person you're selling this to meets someone else who likes it, how would you feel if he sold it to them or gave it away?

And congratulations on creating a solution that others find useful. Careful, it can be addictive. :

Edited February 29, 2008 by Guest