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Starting a software company in New Zealand?

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If you are starting a software company in New Zealand - Microsoft have a heap of resources available for you to get started in that will give you a serious let up in the world.

Firstly - the Microsoft NZ Partner page has a heap of resources and links that you should take a look at. This is the partner portal page which gives you a vast array of tools and information for ISV's building products with/on Microsoft technology.

In terms of getting access to these tools and resources, the first thing you need to do is to sign up as a "Registered Partner". This is the first step in getting into the Microsoft Partner program. You can do this at https://partner.microsoft.com/global/program/levels/registeredmember/. You will need to get an MSN Passport if you dont already have one. This program is the bottom rung of the certified partner program - the next step is Microsoft Certified Partner. The partner program gives you access to some great tools including channel builder which allows you to look at organizations overseas and in NZ and see what their specialities/proficiencies are and gives you an opportunity to engage with them. The registered partner program gives you limited access to channel builder.

Once you've done that you can sign up to the ISV Empower program at  https://empower-isv.one.microsoft.com/isv/programguide/Default.aspx

. For just a few hundred dollars you get an MSDN Universal subscription as well as software licenses for internal use (including 5x Windows XP licenses). There are a heap of other benefits, but this should whet your appetite. There are some requirements on you when you sign up too - which are also listed on this page. One of the main requirements is that you must commit to developing one application with support for one of the specified MS products while you are a member (i.e. within 12 months). You can only be in the program for a max of two years and you have to renew for the second year. You'll need to submit some profile information to get into this program.

In addition to these programs, you should also get a business plan together - dont make it too big - just two pages to start with. Key things off the top of my head that should be in it should be:

  • What will I sell?
  • What business problems does it solve?
  •    - what is the problem you are fixing?
  •    - how will you sell this to customers?
  • How will you charge for the product?
  •    - consider sales model (subscription, product, maintenence, etc)
  • How will you support the product?
  • When will you get cash flow positive?
  • How will you grow the company?
  • How will you allow for investors to invest?
  • What will the company look like in 12, 24 months? 5 years?
  • How will you get out?

The main reason to have a business plan is to think through these things. It will probably change each month if not weekly, but just keep writing it down - you'll be surprised how many times you'll be asked for it.

Once you've got a little way down the track you can get into kiwistartup program (https://www.agitavi.com/kiwistartup/english/) which Microsoft is a joint sponsor of. I won this award when I had my startup and it was great for getting the attention of investors as well as getting a whole lot of more personal help from business resources inside the sponsor companies - this help is worth more than the actual prize.

Once you are underway - there are a bunch of other programs that you can get into to help you at each step along the way, but this should serve as a starting point. The other programs are also available from the Microsoft NZ Partner page.

UPDATE: The NZ Price for the Empower program is NZ$810 - so it's not quite price parity.  I've also updated the link to sign up to the empower program to the NZ site :-)

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