Richard Evers, Editor

I relied on a few decades of accumulated experience and research to write this article. While confident that it is well researched and presented, life changes far too quickly to guarantee that all of the information in this article is valid. Make sure to verify everything you learn before you attempt to do anything with it. It’s always a risk to start a business. Why make it potentially worse by relying on free advice? Verify, verify then verify again before you act on anything you read in this article.

Types of Companies

Two types of companies are traditionally formed by software developers: startup, and technical consulting/custom programming.

Startup

A startup is usually formed by two or more founders who are young, exceptionally talented, highly motivated, and able to live a minimal existence while working 24/7 for extended periods.

This type of business has a greater chance of failure than success. Founders should be friends who really love to develop software. Additionally, they should remember that small businesses are like marriages in that friendship, compatibility and the ability to look past shortcomings are central. With a startup, this trait is more pronounced because the founders will pretty much live together throughout the early stages of development.

It is difficult to create exceptional code when there are interruptions. While I was self-employed developing commercial software, I did my best work while tucked away in a basement "office" at my home. In this environment it was possible to work extended hours without interruption while still being able to escape from time to time for food, drink, company, bathing and sleep. Leasing office space is a trap that many startups fall victim to. If the company is small, has minimal revenue flow or reserves, and is growing quickly then moving into an office could lead to trouble. Productivity could drop, interruptions might increase, and fixed costs may eat up money that could be needed to survive. Please remember that less is always more for a startup.

Technical Consulting / Custom Programming

This type of business is usually formed by one or more founders who have too many responsibilities to create a startup, or lack the dedication or ability to work extended hours developing software.

I have worked as a consultant in past purely because it met my financial obligations while allowing me to develop code on a full time basis.

In the early stages, you pretty much have to take whatever work you can find to get revenue flowing. For me, I focused on developing custom code and providing technical assistance within the legal, educational, government and print publishing fields.

To be a consultant means to be available for your customers whenever they need you, to travel to their office when needed and perform miracles that their staff cannot handle. To consult also means to invoice, wait for payment, hound your clients for payment, remit taxes to your government, keep clean books, and meet payroll obligations. It also means always trying to find new work because your clients will invariably change over time.

If you’re lucky like I eventually was, then you can get long-term work developing code for commercial and custom projects. If you work things right, you retain ownership of the code you develop while the end-client gets a product that can be used or sold. It’s a win-win situation through and through.

The biggest problem with this type of company is that you’ll have a difficult time fully focusing on developing code for yourself. You’ll always have to keep revenue flowing to meet your obligations, and will be hard-pressed to stop to develop code like a startup.

With that stated, you’ll have a greater chance of reaching your development dreams while working as a self-employed consultant than working for someone else.

Funding

Under funding is one of the leading causes of business failure. One way to avoid being hampered by under funding is to remain in a minimal state at all times. If you are in the early stages of a startup and don’t have any real financial obligations, do your best to work and live where you don’t have to pay rent. Even better, see if someone else (such as your parents) will also pay for your food, drink, Internet access, electricity and anything else you need. Keeping costs and interruptions low while keeping your focus high will help you realize your goals faster and easier.

If you can’t operate in a minimal state then you’ll need to raise funds. You could start with family and friends to get some seed capital, but you’ll probably need to go through a seed funding firm, an angel investor, a bank, a credit card company, your government or a venture capitalist (VC) firm if you need more.

A seed funding firm, or incubator, is one that will invest relatively small amounts of money in new startups to help them get off the ground. They care more about the founders than the idea because they know that while ideas usually change at the early stages, solid founders will increase the chances for any startup. Approaching a seed funding firm can be straightforward. Search for "seed funding" in your area on the Internet to get a handle of what’s available. Research each firm before you deal with any of them. Once you feel confident about a seed funding firm, follow their instructions on how to contact them. Because they invest at such an early stage, do not expect to get much money, expect them to take a healthy portion of your company, and expect many of them to try to get you to work out of their office using their resources. Be highly selective on how many compromises you will make to get a small amount of money.

An angel investor is someone who is wealthy and willing to invest in potentially profitable ventures. It’s usually best to be introduced to an angel by someone you know rather than try approaching them directly. An angel will invest by buying common or preferred shares in your company. Aside from the money, angels are usually an amazing source of business advice and contacts. Treat your angel with respect and you may find that it will be easier to reach your goals. Note that angel investors do not always jive with their moniker. Some angels will set contract terms that are anything but favorable to your company, and can make your life miserable if they want to. They may also delay their decision to invest because the risk is so great. They are also not bound by the same rules that VCs follow so they may buy shares directly from founders if asked. Like all investors, an angel will want to know what your exit strategy is: do you intend to sell your company or take it public? Do not plan on retaining control of your company for long once you take outside investment because they will want to realize a solid return on investment and will only get it through sale or a public offering.

Banks rarely loan money to new businesses unless they can place a lien against physical assets such as a home, a car something else with value that they can sell if the loan goes sour. Banks do not recognize software as an asset. Often times, they will not set up a credit line on a contract because they know that a contract will become a liability if the person, or people, working on the contract are unable to complete the work. I lost a $50,000 short-term development contract once because I had to set up a matching credit line per the contract and the bank refused to set up the line. I provided the loan officer with the contract and accounting records, only to find that they would not budge. Do not expect much from a bank in the early stages unless your family or friends will help you to secure a loan.

Using a credit card to fund your business can be dangerous in that the interest rates and payment demands can quicklycripple your business. To compound the potential misery, credit card companies will try to put you personally on the hook to pay back any outstanding balance. Steer clear of relying on credit cards to fund your business unless you know you can pay off all outstanding balances in short order.

Governments like to encourage technological advancements and make grants and loans available to help them along. They also set up programs to help sync private investors with businesses, and provide professional services to businesses. Unfortunately, it is difficult to sync with their programs, difficult to prepare and submit proposals, and difficult to get accepted. The entire process can be painfully slow if not a total waste of time and effort. If you really want to get money from your government and don’t mind waiting, then bid in on a few government contracts. If you win and can actually handle the workload, then you can work for your money providing you can survive until the government starts paying for the work.

I’ve had a few rough experiences doing work for government agencies. On one contract, I handled all development work while another company handled project management and acted as liaison with the government. The project quickly became problematic when our government contact repeatedly demanded design changes and withheld funds to get them. I worked 18 hour days for a year to complete the project to their satisfaction only to be ignored at the end when charges for the extra work were submitted. If you accept work on a government project, make sure that all design details and features are clearly spelled out in the contract along with incremental sign-off periods at each stage of development. Additionally, make sure a rate is clearly shown for all work that falls outside of the agreed upon definition, and also spell out payment terms for the duration of the contract.

A venture capital firm should be your last resort for funding. Never approach a VC directly - you have to approach them indirectly through someone who has dealt with them before. Be highly selective when you approach a VC because you’ll want to deal with a successful VC. VCs talk to each other, and VCs will consider your company tarnished if another VC turns you down. A VC will be more interested in your company if they believe that another VC is interested in funding you but has not yet provided you with a term sheet. VCs have a herd mentality when it comes to funding.

VCs do not like to make small investments and like to be assured that they will get a high rate of return on their investment. If they invest money in your company, they will take a high percentage of common or preferred shares, may expand the share offering to dilute the ownership position of other investors, may lock down the founders so they remain cash poor for as long as possible to keep their interest high, will take a strong role on the board, and will push for rapid growth. They expect to get a high rate of return on their investment by either floating a public issue or by selling out to a company with deep pockets.

Your initial contact with a VC firm may be with an associate who really wants to find a good deal. If things go well the associate may provide you with a term sheet and will make you feel like you have a deal. You don’t. A term sheet is not a contract and it may never lead to a contract. Unfortunately, once you have a term sheet then other VCs will stop dealing with you. Keep refining your software while you are trying to raise funds even after you get a term sheet. If the VC gets cold feet and doesn’t follow through with a contract then you’ll be in a better position to get funding from another VC.

Up until a few years ago, VCs would expect to invest several million dollars in a startup. Today, the cost of running a startup is so low and the chance of selling a startup before VC funding is so high that VCs are often hard-pressed to invest their funds. Many startups are in a position to refuse large VC cash infusions and minimize VC demands. In days gone by, hardware, software, marketing, sales, fulfillment, distribution and communications were all expensive and people had to work closely together. Hardware is now more powerful and inexpensive, most types of software can be had at a low cost if not for free, marketing can be accomplished at little to no cost over the Internet, secure sales can be handled over the Internet, software can be distributed over the Internet, and inexpensive and free communications are available over the Internet. This trend is making it possible for many companies to operate for extended periods without the need of VC funding, and also makes it more likely that a startup can progress far enough to sell for a high price to a company with deep pockets without the need of VC funding.

Many startups choose to sell out rather than secure multi-levels of VC funding before going public. This is due to a change of attitude within high-tech companies with deep pockets, and security laws as they relate to public companies and private investments.

This last point has proven problematic to many companies hoping to go public. In the USA in particular, companies can borrow money from family and friends, but have to be extremely careful about trading stock for money. If this happens, your company may find that they have violated a security law when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission audits the company’s books prior to issuing your Initial Public Offering (IPO).

This is because the SEC is trying to protect average people from investing their hard-earned funds with unscrupulous companies and people. If you sell shares in your company to someone who is not an "accredited investor" per rule 501 in the Securities Act of 1933, then you have violated security law and will have a difficult time floating a public issue. Here are the definitions of an "accredited investor."

• Any natural person whose individual net worth, or joint net worth with that person's spouse, at the time of his purchase exceeds $1,000,000;
• Any natural person who had an individual income in excess of $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with that person's spouse in excess of $300,000 in each of those years and has a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year;

As you can see, you will have difficulty taking your company public if you fail to follow SEC rules. Trading stock for money from a family member or friend who doesn’t qualify as an accredited investor will cause you grief. Additionally, the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 altered the Securities Act of 1933 sufficiently to make compliance on a year by year basis difficult and extremely costly. While the intent was legitimate, it has made the process of startups going public far more difficult than necessary and has made it far more difficult and costly to keep public companies operational. In turn, many startups are purchased at early stages rather than fully mature and go public or be sold. This is a shame because founders rarely get full worth for their company.

Increasing Your Chance of Success

Forming and operating a new company is exceptionally difficult, made worse when you’re doing most everything by yourself. Make the experience less daunting by starting your business with another like-minded friend who can share the burden, keep your spirits up when they start to flag, and take up the slack when you need it. Most successful high-tech companies, such as Research In Motion (RIM), Apple Inc., and Microsoft Corporation, had two or more founders. Do the same and you’ll have a far better chance of success.

If you want to raise funds, and if your company is a startup rather than a consulting firm, then consider moving to a city that already has a slew of startups. You’ll find that it’s easier to come across like-minded people, and that securing funding is far easier, especially when you get to know founders of other startup companies.

The top locations in the USA to form a startup includes

1. San Francisco Bay area, California
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. Seattle and Tacoma, Washington
4. New York City, New York
5. Washington, District of Columbia
6. San Diego, California
7. Austin, Texas
8. Portland, Oregon
9. Chicago, Illinois
10. Los Angeles, California
11. Denver and Boulder, Colorado
12. Orange County, California
13. Atlanta, Georgia
14. The state of New Jersey
15. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
16. Dallas and Forth Worth, Texas
17. Phoenix, Arizona
18. Baltimore, Maryland

Note that the San Francisco Bay area has as much startup activity as Boston, Seattle, Tacoma, New York City, Washington, San Diego and Austin combined. Total startup activity in the state of California is close to total activity in all other states in the USA. If you seriously want to form a startup in the USA, then you’ll most likely need to operate out of one of the top cities in the list above.

Canadians have fewer options. While Canada is the second largest country in the world, the population is less than the state of California and is largely concentrated in a few cities that are within 160 kilometers of the USA border.

The top Canadian cities to form a startup include:

• Waterloo, Kitchener & Cambridge, Ontario
• Greater Toronto Area and surrounding region, Ontario
• Ottawa & Kanata, Ontario
• Montreal, Quebec
• Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia
• Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta

Just like in the USA, you’ll find startups popping up throughout Canada. You’ll also find that more startups form in heavily populated areas that have the resources needed for startups to flourish. Waterloo, for example, is home to the University of Waterloo, a high ranking university for computer studies. Another university in town, Wilfrid Laurier University, has a solid reputation for business and finance. Conestoga College, which operates primarily in Kitchener, with campuses in Waterloo, Guelph, Stratford and Cambridge, has been ranked as the top college in Ontario for nine years straight.

Waterloo is also home to RIM. The primary campus is situated next to the University of Waterloo and close to Laurier. There are hundreds of established high-tech companies in the region, and even more fledgling companies. You’ll find similar activity in other major cities across the country. Many founders of Canadian startups also tend to locate in the startup capitals of the USA.

If you want to form a startup, you’ll find it easier to come across like-minded souls when you’re self-employed or in university or college. When you work for a high-tech company, you’ll probably work with many talented people. Many dream about forming a startup but will never get around to doing it. Earning a decent salary in a decent job in a decent company with decent co-workers dampens the burning desire to live a minimal, difficult existence by forming a startup. In leaving your job, you also leave your salary, benefits, perks and co-workers behind. Most people who want to form a startup but don’t want to leave their salaried job will work at night and on weekends on their special projects. Unfortunately, this rarely works because when you get home at night, you’re beat and usually have better things to do than try to regain focus on code that you broke focus on the night before. When the weekend arrives, you may be able to regain and hold focus for the duration, but that ends with the weekend. Focus will be lost when you hit the sheets on Sunday night till after dinner on Monday night. The pattern will repeat after a few hours. I’ve gone this route several times since starting to work for other companies and it always results in mediocre code that never gets professionally finished. Something always comes up to take control of your life before the current project is really finished. If you do "finish" it, something will happen to make it next to impossible to regain focus on a regular basis to enhance your "finished" product. All in all, life makes it close to impossible to go from a wannabe startup founder to the real thing. Life gets in the way if you let it. So while you’re young and able to live a minimal existence, seriously consider doing it.

Another way to increase your chances of success is to develop products with wide appeal. While it may be worthwhile to specialize in a tightly focused vertical market, it can also be disastrous. By nature, vertical markets are small and can be subject to disruptions that can hurt or destroy your chances. While it’s more difficult to develop a stellar application with wide appeal in a market with plenty of competition, your chances for success are still greater than in a vertical market. Blaze a wide path, do it right and keep evolving your product. By the time competition forms, you’ll be in a solid position to stave them off.

The key in taking on a large market is to develop a product that you know will have mass appeal. You must know who your target audience is before you develop your product. Like most developers, I have created a few products that I felt had great appeal without really knowing the market I was developing for. The result for me was always failure. Know your market, know who will use your product and know how they will use it before you start to build it.

A key ingredient to startup success is to keep an open mind. While it’s critical to have a clear idea of what your startup will do, be open to change. Few successful startups remain true to their initial ideas. Microsoft, for example, developed compilers and interpreters, RIM was a consulting company, and Adobe’s initial focus was PostScript. Great companies are open to change.

Another ingredient to success is talent. Few programmers are exceptional where most are not. Be selective and only choose the best. I’ve worked with many programmers and most were mediocre, some were good and a few were exceptional. The exceptional ones stood out because of their love of programming, their ability to do anything they set their minds to, and their pure focus that lasted until they were done. The best of the best could code in their heads and type in the results non-stop for extended periods. Choose the best to improve your chances for success.

Another critical ingredient for success is making the right choice for language and platform. Choosing a language because you’re comfortable with it doesn’t make it the right language. The same with platform if you’re developing a platform-specific product. Choose a language and platform that will give your product the best chance for long-term success. In past I’ve been pulled into projects where language and platform had already been chosen because of familiarity more than logic. When a poor choice had been made, problems usually developed that resulted in a lesser product. When starting a project, make sure that your best developers are involved in choosing language and platform. If a language choice is made purely because of programming ease, then revisit your choice. Your end users should never have to pay for your ease. If a platform is chosen because it’s available or cheap, revisit. Look for potential bottlenecks and other issues that could limit long-term use. Making the right decisions early will improve your chances for long-term success.

Another smart thing to do is release your product as soon as possible. Stabilize it with a solid group of core functionality and then release. After release, get user feedback, enhance functionality, stabilize and release. Repeat ad infinitum. Delays translate into lost opportunities. Releasing unstable products will result in lost potential. Quickly releasing a stable and useful product will improve your chances greatly.

Earlier I mentioned how important it is to exist in a minimal state for as long as possible. This really is so important that I have to harp on it a bit more.

If you feel that operating out of an office is necessary, revisit your decision carefully and consider all of the fixed expenses that could hurt you if you start to run out of cash. Think of the office lease and taxes, telephone system lease, ISP fees, hydro, heating, water, parking and staff. Add in the up-front costs of furniture and fixtures, and potentially reduced productivity of workers, and you can see why operating out of office space may not be the best thing for your company in the early stages. As a small business owner a few times over, I’ve worked from home and from office. Home was usually best. Setting up an office also means setting up class divisions between managers and workers, office politics and waste. While having an office can be good for an ongoing business with a decent revenue flow, it can also be a death knell if problems develop with the founders or staff, or if revenue dries up. Once something untoward happens, fixed expenses can destroy your company. Founders who work out of their homes, or work together in one home, have a better chance of survival if something goes wrong, and have a better chance of remaining friends if they remain focused on their product above all else.

Several years ago, a ridiculous fight developed between one founder and the rest of the founding team in a company I was with. In direct and indirect ways this fight destroyed the company. Most companies can survive a founder fight where others can’t. If a fight breaks out, try to resolve the conflict as quickly as possible before too much damage has been inflicted on the company and the founders.

Taking on the burden of hiring additional staff is also something that you should reconsider if you haven’t got a healthy revenue flow and bank balance to justify it. If cash runs low, you’ll find that it’s horrible to trim staff to stay afloat. In one company I helped form, the founders went off payroll for a few months while keeping staff on payroll. A better solution would have been to remain in a minimal state for as long as possible to gain strength and accumulate funds before taking on any unnecessary fixed expenses. If you need help, consider bringing them on under contract for specific work or for a specific period. It’s far easier to cancel contracts than fire workers.

Carefully review what you will need to get to the next stage of where your company should be, and then raise sufficient funds to make it happen. Make sure to raise more funds than absolutely necessary because delays are central to software development, and expenses always exceed what you will expect. After securing your funding, determine what your company will need to take things to the next stage and start looking for funding again. This will be a cyclical process because securing funding always takes more time and is more problematic than expected. Always keep developing software while waiting for funding to come through, no matter how much of a sure thing it appears to be. Investors tend to delay until they absolutely have to pay. If you keep evolving your software and company regardless of funding, your company will be worth more and you will be closer to reaching your goals. This, more than anything else, will convince investors that funding your company is a worthy risk.

On the flip side, avoid raising far too much cash because it will cause your investor to apply more pressure than necessary to get a return on investment. If you have an exit plan for your company then you already know where you expect to make your money from. Investment funds are to be used to grow your company. Do not expect to use them to grow your personal bank account. Leave that to your exit plan.

Another problematic issue can be investors. Demands will rise with investment levels. Carefully weigh all demands before deciding whether to negotiate or give in. No matter the decision, avoid alienating your investors because they have the power to make your life good or horrible. If you respect your investor, then find ways to leverage off of their skills, experience and resources. At the same time, do not fall into the trap of agreeing to everything they demand. Some investors will try to manage your company, and may also lock founders into a poverty situation where they cannot sell their shares or transition to new work. Manage your investors well or they will manage you.

Once your startup is formed and operational, you’ll find that one of your founders will need to play a role in securing funding. This is a rotten but necessary fact of life with startups. Someone has to handle the day-to-day stuff that is generally hated by all, and deal with clients and investors to ensure success for your startup. Carefully choose who the "lucky" founder will be, and then support them at every stage. In the early stages, it’s common for founders to get upset when they feel that another founder is not doing enough from a technical perspective. Conversely, the founder who has been stuck dealing with investors and the outside world may initially feel cheated by being pulled away from the fun. Support the unlucky founder at every step to enhance your collective chances for success.

Some Final Thoughts

Operating your own business can be wonderful, horrible or something in between depending on the moment. Most of the time, you’ll find that it’s something in between. Keep the following points in mind to maximize your chance of success.

• Stay focused on your product

Losing focus can hurt your business in a big way. Your product is central to your success so you have to remain clearly focused on creating a great product, getting your product to market and evolving your product at every turn. Do not fall victim to reengineering your product in the early stages. You can do it later after your company gains strength. Make your product work well, stabilize, test it thoroughly, make it available to your clients, enhance functionality, stabilize and repeat. Losing focus by doing anything that violates this cycle will hurt your business.

• Watch your bottom line

Develop a deep understanding of your business so that it doesn’t fall from your grasp. You have to know how money is being spent, how money will be spent, how quickly money is being spent, how much money your business has, and where new money will come from. You have to know who is taking care of business and if they really are taking care of business. It’s far too easy to let mundane obligations slide when interesting things are happening. Remain in touch with your business to ensure that you capitalize on your potential, stay current with all obligations and never run out of money.

• Respect your clients and utilize their feedback

End users will provide valuable feedback if you ask them. They will do things with your product that you would never expect anyone to do, and they will find problems that would otherwise remain hidden from view. They’ll send you their wish lists of things they would like your software to do, and may find ways to hack your software to do things that you didn’t design it to do. If you provide your end users with a stable product, they’ll beta test it and provide feedback. Everyone wants to feel special and end users are no exception. Encourage them to provide feedback, and let them know that you appreciate it. Your product will be better, your user base will grow, and your chance of success will multiply.

• Make products that people want, not what you want

This is a trap that is far too easy to fall into. Avoid it. Learn as much as possible about the needs of your target audience and create a product that is perfect for them.

• Always remain in touch with your market

Get out into the field from time to time and spend time with your users. Get constant feedback and review it carefully. You need to remain one with your users at all times.

• Provide quality service

Users will have problems with your product and will ask for help. Provide the best service as quickly as possible every time and learn from it to make your product better. You may find that revenue can be earned through service that goes far and beyond standard support. Learn from your users at every turn to grow your company.

• Never grow your company for the sake of growth

This mistake occurs far too often and can lead to severe problems when revenue dips or when funds run low. Always think twice before committing to any corporate growth that will not result in increased revenue or productivity.

• Be honest and open with your investors

Play it straight with your investors and they will be there for you when you really need it. If you try to cover up problems, they can’t help you and will probably get upset.

• Get everything in writing

A rotten fact of life in business is that bad things happen from time to time. Make sure that agreements are clearly spelled out and signed by all parties. If a promise is made, follow up to firm up, and hold them to it. Only sign contracts that have been carefully reviewed. A common practice is to put a few red herrings in contracts to divert attention from areas that could be potentially problematic. Lawyers who represent small businesses rarely spend enough time reviewing contracts so take notes while you review contracts and discuss your findings with your lawyer. Contracts are usually written in a way that discourages people from reading them. Do not let this discourage you because it could hurt you in the future. Also make sure to check for prior art and patents when developing your product. It would be a shame if you came out with a winning product only to be shut down by a patent dispute.

• Raise money through investments, not loans

Paying back and maintaining loans can cripple a small company where investments do not have to be paid back in a traditional sense. It’s far too easy to waste borrowed money and the loan payments can become fixed expenses that will hurt your company when revenue dips or when cash runs low. Operate in a minimal state and stay afloat with investments.

• Trust but always verify

Closely monitor all financial activity in your company at all times. Funds can go missing in far too many nefarious ways. Always remember that small expenses can also add up to disaster under the right conditions.

• Be tight-fisted

Don’t be cheap, just careful with funds. For example, if travel is required, fly coach, stay at less expensive hotels and eat at less expensive restaurants. Be careful with funds where you can but do not become cheap for the sake of cheap.

• Do not hire friends or family

If you have to hire staff, always hire the best. Problems will develop if you employ family or friends.

• Beware of troublemakers

Someone wants something that someone else has and will do anything to get it. This could be a title, responsibilities, power, money, whatever. Always weed out troublemakers before they can do much damage. Better yet, avoid hiring people until you can no longer avoid it, then only hire the best people possible.

• Keep it fun!

It’s way too easy to factor out fun from work. Don’t let this happen. People need to enjoy work to do their best work. Celebrate special events when they occur, encourage laughter and enjoy life together after hours. It doesn’t cost much to make work enjoyable.

In Closing

Starting and running a business can be wonderful, but it can also be horrible. Consider the good and bad sides of being self employed before making your decision. If you decide to start a business, get professional advice and verify everything that you have learned in this article before acting on it. Starting and growing a business can have a huge impact on your life and the lives of others. Make sure to do it right from the start by researching everything before you trust it, and rely on professionals where you lack experience.

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