‘As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks.’
(This was the winning quote from Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp in Redmond WA )

‘What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter.’
(Lykes Lines Shipping)

‘E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business.’
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

‘This project is so important we can’t let things that are more important interfere with it.’
(Advertising/ Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

‘Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule.’
(Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)

‘No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We’ve been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I’ll let you know when it’s time to tell them.’
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/ 3M Corp)

Quote from the Boss: ‘Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.’
(Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said,’That would be better for me.’
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

‘We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees.’
(Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

No huge scoping documents, documentation, peer reviews, industry research, tight visuals or anything! No large teams of usability experts or developers – just two hardworking bootstrappers (working remotely from each other) with a loose idea, a few pencil sketches, and understanding partners who let us work all hours to turn the idea into what is now the ProWorkflow project management solution. A world class tool managing huge amounts of customer info globally.

We’re now a tight team managing critical info daily for thousands of people worldwide. They depend on us to deliver results daily and we do. They expect the solution to work reliably daily and it does. We deliver the goods and have done for years.

Below are some of the original design sketches sent to Alan to work on. We just communicated lots, built the app and then started to build a business!

Now we have:

• Thousands of users globally
• 629,022 projects created
• 2,620,234 tasks created
• 9,349,890 hours tracked
• $301,762,038 has been invoiced through ProWorkflow
  (Note: these are from live accounts and don’t include trials)
• An awesome team in 2x offices
• A pile of servers
• An iPhone App (One of the top in our industry)
• Time Tracking Widget
• Integration with Xero, QuickBooks and Kashflow
• 3x plans for different account sizes
• Support, Help site, Videos, Blog etc
• A professional and robust API
• Most backend systems we have built and automated (including multicurrency recurring account billing)

This post should also be a little encouragement to people that you can build a world class solution and business from nothing. We did this with no debt or funding – only sweat equity! Just some smarts and hard work.
.

Collaboration Concept:

The basic idea behind ProWorkflow is that Staff, Clients, and Contractors can login to one place, see their work and all work on the same page. Essentially all working on the same project together.

The ProWorkflow tool makes sure all the permissions are under control so people only see what they need to see and can only access what they need to access.

We manage project in 2 screens when most other solutions take up to 10+ screens to do the same thing! Here’s a few of my early sketches to figure our our core process/permissions model.

The first Visuals!

Below are some of the very first ProWorkflow visuals as supplied to Alan (Cofounder) to develop.

Job (Project) Page:

This is the original ‘Projects Page’. Pretty loose visual, but it’s quite funny seeing that we used to have the navigation on the right. It’s all a heap more professional and powerful now.

Job (Project) Details:

In the original version you would expand the Job to see the details. Nowadays we click through to a new ‘Project Details Page’. This old version was pretty basic.

Timesheet Page:

This is still pretty much the same concept so I think it must be time to rethink this page using some new technology available.

Contacts Page:

This has been extended somewhat…

Notes Page:

Pretty simple really. Not much to say here…

Calendar Page:
And my all time favourite development visual – the ‘Calendar page’. Brilliant! The developer (Alan) must have loved me for sending this brief. I think developers must have great patience at times to put up with designers like me  ;-).  Sheeesh!

I’ll see what else we can find in the cupboard from the ‘early days’ that can be blogged. Possibly real screenshots of version 1.0?

I do realise that not everyone hangs on everything I have to say, but for those out these who leap out of bed in the morning just to hear my thoughts on things, here’s your very own “Julian101 iPhone app!”

Keep me in your pocket! Show me to your friends (and followers)! And let me keep you updated with my latest ramblings! I’ll be sharing thoughts on business, design, creativity and to be honest, whatever comes to mind!

Download Now!

http://www.alibinetwork.com

We provide alibis and excuses for our clients. Whether it is spending a night out with a special friend, taking a day off from work, sending a discreet gift, avoiding your neighbour’s birthday party or planning a surprise for the loved ones. 
Now it is all possible… And it is all discreet.  We put you in control and let you choose between local and out of town alibis with the option to have alibis validated by live operators.

http://somethingstore.com/

SomethingStore is a fun new website that operates simply: We will send you something, an item selected randomly among many things from our inventory, for $10 (free shipping in the US) and you will find out what your something is when you receive it. What will yours be?

http://www.throx.com

Picture this. You’ve completed the weekly wash and as you’re pairing up socks for the drawer, you discover one or more have mysteriously disappeared. Sound familiar? Well, worry no more because a clever entrepreneur from San Francisco has devised a creative solution to this irritating phenomenon.

Writer-director Edwin Heaven is the inventor of THROX, the first socks to come in threes, so when you lose one you still have a pair. The Cure For The Missing Sock!

From this:

“Quicken Online Can’t Believe Mint Is Doing So Well; Sends Threatening Letter”

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/19/quicken-online-cant-believe-mint-is-doing-so-well-sends-threatening-letter/

“Intuit, the company behind the well-known Quicken suite of money management software that includes Quicken Online, can’t believe how well its competitor Mint is doing. In fact, they were so bewildered by Mint’s claims of gaining 3,000 new users a day and jumping from 600,000 to 850,000 users in a matter of months that they decided to send a threatening letter demanding an explanation for this apparently inconceivable feat.”

to this…

“Intuit To Acquire (Former TechCrunch50 Winner) Mint For $170 Million”

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/13/intuit-to-acquire-former-techcrunch50-winner-mint-for-170-million/

“Intuit will acquire the free online personal finance service Mint, we’ve confirmed from a source close to the deal, for around $170 million. Silicon Alley Insider first reported a rumour on this. The deal should be announced in the next few days.”

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About the author:
Julian Stone, CEO – Project Management Software visionary for:
ProActive Software, ProWorkflow, ProWorkflow Blog & Julian101
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It’s not just that he took out a big ad in the paper, but the sheer brute honesty and positive spin that I admire. I hope someone can see past his previous business ‘flaws’ and that he stays straight.

This was in the Toronto Financial Post in Feb, 2001.

————-
About the author:
Julian Stone, CEO – Project Management Software visionary for:
ProActive Software, ProWorkflow, ProWorkflow Blog & Julian101
————-

“A little while ago Julian asked me a question that ended up in this blog – not that I am one to blog. You will see from the PWF website I am on the high side of fifty and not “techie” in the “Twitter” sense of the word. However at a functional level I was using email regularly in the early 90’s and I get nostalgic about DOS (in the operating system sense).

Anyhow out of the blue or maybe after a session of me wondering out loud about the utility of channels like Twitter, the following question from Julian hit my inbox.”

From: Julian ProActive [mailto:HIDDEN]
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:29 PM
To: John
Subject: re: Software

Out of curiosity, how are you liking/finding the software world of today (business/marketing-wise) versus say 5-10 years ago? Just wondered what you thought of the new culture…

Web2, SaaS, Marketing (can of worms), 100’s of competitors, etc…

Any thoughts on the industry?

You’ve got huge experience in Manufacturing and software as well as other areas and have seen changes in models over the years. I was just wondering what you thought of the online world today?

That is just the sort of question I get a lot my interactions with the worlds 20 and 30 somethings and they often make me think hard, probably harder than is good for me. My answer:

From: John Walley [mailto:HIDDEN]
Sent: Wednesday, 4 February 2009 6:18 a.m.
To: Julian ProActive
Subject: RE: Software

The world is the way the world is, at some level it has not changed – at least in my observation – that much.  Basic principles remain and probably always will. 

Finding customers, keeping customers, charging the right price that balances the needs of both sides and doing in a way that keeps the wheels on has always been the challenge – it is a bit like your Web 2 yes or no discussions – beauty/difference is in the eye of the beholder.

What has changed is access speed and turn round times have dropped dramatically – that places more pressure on individuals but somewhere in there is individual creativity, welding that to the new tools is the trick, but the tools always need the craftsman. 

For the craftsman the challenge is to learn how the new tools best fit the craft.

As a result of this email Julian asked me to do a guest blog on Julian 101 “thoughts from ProWorkflow’s old chairman” well you can see some above; the only thing I would add would be for those of you who don’t have an older person on the team get one, you will make each other think harder and that has to be good for you, your company, your customers and the mutual dependency that of necessity binds you all together.

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About the author: 
John Walley – Chairman: ProActive Software
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Refer people and companies to the ProWorkflow solution and when they sign up as an ongoing customer, we’ll thank you with an affiliate payment! Easy!

Note: The affiliate program only pays out for Subscription accounts at this time (ie: not code sales)

WHATS THE COMMISSION STRUCTURE?

ProWorkflow subscription accounts sell for $10, $20 or $30 per user per month depending on the plan chosen.

We have 3x plans ($10, 20, 30 per user p/m). But ultimately there is a monthly price for an account based on the number of staff users.

So for example, a typical sale could be $160 per month.
The Affiliate program pays out the first month’s value of the signup as a one-off affiliate payment. This payment is paid out after the 3rd month the customer is with us.

Example: Customer signs up on the 15th Jan 09 for a $160 per month account

ProWorkflow receives from the customer:
    $160 on June 15, 2009
    $160 on July 15, 2009
    $160 on August 15, 2009

The Affiliate program will pay out $160 (first month) to the affiliate when 3rd month’s invoice is billed, ie: after the 15th August.

How does it work? Where are the banners?
When signed up, login to the Affiliate area and click on the ‘Creative’ tab. There are banner ads and text links to place on your website. Simply copy the appropriate code, place it on your site and the ads will appear. People that click the ad and sign up for a subscription account are tracked and will appear in your reports.

Note: Affiliate payments are only applicable for sales that occur within 180 days of clicking on your website ad.

WHERE IS THE REPORTING?

You will have access to a login area for affiliates where you have access to comprehensive reports about your referred traffic and affiliate sales.

HOW DO I GET PAID?

We are using the MyAp system for the affiliate program. This is one of the leading solutions for affiliate management. As part of our contract with MyAp, we will approve payments and transactions, but MyAp will post cheques out to affiliates when due. These will be sent out on the timeframe shown above.

WHAT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS?

If you come across any issues or have questions, please contact us through our contact form.

From day one, we set out  to build a global business founded on our low inertia business model.  We’ve never just been NZ focussed, it is as easy to reach Los Angeles, London or Levin so why not?

We’ve worked hard to setup automation for trials, sales, support, billing, licensing, client account maintenance and support; leaving our staff free to really talk to customers.  The model has run in profit from day one and the organic growth has allowed us to invest revenue back into the business to support top class infrastructure to support our SaaS application.

“Remember that in SaaS, the app is to SaaS what the hamburger is to MacDonalds – people forget that. The app is a small part. To go global the BUSINESS MODEL and INFRASTRUCTURE and SYSTEMS need to scale… The actual application is the least of your worries. Automation and infrastructure leave people to do what they do best, interact with people to solve problems.”

Supplementing our top team, the backend system called “ProCodeManager, which has seen nearly as much development as ProWorkflow is the ‘Engine’ behind the business and provides us with information on every bit of activity in the business, including dashboards for all user activity, follow up, account management, and financial performance.  PCM also highlights issues, ie: mail backing up, server errors etc. So it helps keep us all  on the ball!

The company has no debt, no cash needs beyond sustainable growth, market salaries, corporate governance, no need for funding, sufficient cash in bank to consider dividends, a 7 figure revenue and a growing happy user base.  We can see the growth and customers tell us PWF really helps in their business – a great place to be,  The PWF solution is essentially  ‘recession-friendly’ as it allows customers to  focus on efficiencies. Saving money in hard times is a handy substitute for revenue growth. Furthermore big business is breaking into small businesses in the USA (and all over), creating a much larger market of SME’s (our target market).

As about 75% of our revenue is charged in USD from offshore customers and the US Dollar has finally returned to a realistic cross rate that has been a shot in the arm for us, we really would like to see the New Zealand government taking more note in policy of our wild currency fluctuations.  It would help us plan better.

In our view the key metric for business is revenue per employee, we are driving for a target of US350k per person, at this level we are relatively immune to what the world does in terms of economic activity.  We are exposed to some risk through broadband connectivity so the better and faster our connections to the world the better for us.

Expenses are relatively fixed and we should be able to drive about 300-500k of revenue per staff member.

With hard work and determined effort  we have made page 1 on Google for the term “Project Management Software” and are now finding an increasing number of referral based sales as we’ve been around a few years now. We’ve been aligning our marketing spend to our product releases and the tidiness of PCM and will tweak it more as our organic growth increases.

We released Xero and QuickBooks integration last year, a Time Tracking Widget in Q3 08 and have just finished the ProWorkflow API.  We have a growing number of developers lining up to get into the API, either to integrate with their intranets or to build cool apps! We plan to build an app library for the ProWorkflow solution this year.

The ProWorkflow affiliate program is about to be launched late Feb and our plan is to drive this hard. We want to reward those who refer sales to us.

As our biggest user base is in the US, and the US has been dropping around 500,000 jobs each month, we have of course noticed some slowdown over recent months.  But once customers move past the shock of revenue falls, efficiency soon gets on the radar – so growth, for us, is back.  For us 2009 is about pushing out to new customers, keeping on keeping on with our efforts to supply good products, build on top class infrastructure from a low inertia operation.

So yes, we are in great shape. Slim, trim and rocking!  We will continue to work hard to support our customers and help then find efficiencies – a real substitute for revenue growth until the global economy bounces back

And my advice on company survival does not change in hard times or at any time.   Grow sales faster than costs, automate process, focus people on the stuff only people can do, have a real value (savings or revenue growth) proposition for your customers, if you can, be international from New Zealand.

Remember, if you have to SELL a product, you’re doing something wrong. Instead, you should be FACILITATING a purchase. Think about that for a bit…

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About the author:
Julian Stone, CEO – Project Management Software visionary for:
ProActive Software, ProWorkflow, ProWorkflow Blog & Julian101
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Whether it’s hard customers, lack of sales, server trouble, cash flow or staff, being in business is all about knocking over obstacles and pushing forward when there’s many reasons not to. The reward comes down the track – not on day 1.

Read the post!

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About the author:
Julian Stone, CEO – Project Management Software visionary for:
ProActive Software, ProWorkflow, ProWorkflow Blog & Julian101
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