The iPhone developer “flaked” out. He couldn’t finish the application.

After installing the incomplete application on my phone, I could see first hand what was finished and what wasn’t. I saw some functionality was complete, but after talking to my friend about the capability that was most important to him, I soon realized, it was noticeably missing from the application.

Also, the User Experience was extremely poor. What my friend thought was 80% complete was actually, in my assessment, maybe 50% complete and that’s generous. The capability they longed for was missing and their user experience was non-existent. My friend needed help. I approached this problem in the following ways.

1. This iPhone application was critical to their business. Their business was social media and their users would use the iPhone to interact with their friends in real time and record things as they happened. This capability was a cornerstone of their strategic differentiator. This had to be completed.

2. I didn’t want to be responsible for code written by someone else. The lack of attention given to the user experience meant I was going to have to refactor most of the code anyway.

3. I wasn’t sold that the application should necessarily be an iPhone application. “Smartphone” users account for 40% of all cell phone usage here in a America. Of those, around a fifth of users have iPhones. And of those who own iPhones, according to Forrester research, almost 70% are those making over 70k a year. I wasn’t sold that the demographic of their business fits that category.

I offered him three options:

A. I offered to finish his iPhone application. In spite of the fact that I didn’t want to be responsible for the code, this potential client could really benefit by getting the app out into the world and observe his users beta testing how they use it. The business needs of my client come before mine.

B. I offered to build his iPhone application from scratch. My client needed something different than what he paid for and received. He needed to be taken care of and he clearly wasn’t. The process and tools my partners and I use are geared to take care of a clients needs.

C. I offered to help him analyze his mobile/technical strategy. The problem with startups/small companies is that they are always in “do” mode. They don’t often stop to “think” about what powerful options are available to them next week, next month and the impact of those choices for next year. I don’t necessarily think that the iPhone is best option for this company going forward. After a week or so, I would have the answers he could use to make a powerful decision on his own. *This was my recommended option*

I also threw something extra into my proposal. Integrity is important. When you give your word on when you’ll have something done, others will not have to wonder if you have integrity or not. You either complete it or you don’t. Not having integrity is costly for everyone. So I also offered that if he cooperated with me as a stipulation in the contract, and I didn’t deliver when I said I would, I would waive my fee.

This way, he didn’t have to worry if his partner would “flake” out. It’s written into the contract that delivery is guaranteed. “Not worrying” is low cost for everyone. My friend can concentrate on his core business and help me with the planning and design of the application and can rest easy knowing that at a certain time, the work would be complete. If you’ve ever transacted for something to be done, you know, first-hand, how low cost that is. But its also profitable for those for whom are willing to have Integrity be a strategic differentiator.

Tomorrow, I’ll provide some key learnings that small/medium businesses can take away from this case study.

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