Hello,<p>My parents attempted running a holiday-booking venture that didn't go anywhere. In the process, they had a fairly advanced web app built with things like custom refund policies and self-service registration for the hotels.<p>This web app cost a lot and it would be nice to get back some of that money, so how would you go about recovering the cost?<p>Any failed business sale forums I don't know about?
Bespoke software is a bit like building a one-off car. Some chunks, like the basic framework (e.g. Rails ~= car engine) are commodity, but the bits that are custom aren't really worth more than scrap metal to other people unless their requirements are very similar.<p>And even then, if the people who were working on it aren't part of the sale, the new owners are going to face a chunk of cost just getting familiar enough with the project to alter it in the right direction. Most people will be better off starting from scratch.<p>Unless what's been developed is a fairly complete and self-contained solution to a common problem, I think it's hard to see it being worth much at all.
The first thing to do is figure out if they have the legal right to sell it. If it was developed by a contractor the odds are very high that it is not a "work for hire" and the contractor owns the copyright, unless there was a copyright assignment in the contract. Saying in the contract that it is a work for hire is not sufficient.<p>(I am assuming this was in the US)<p>Google "computer software and work for hire" for more info. Sorry for giving no links, but I'm tapping this out on my iPhone while waiting for a take out pizza to become ready.
Not an expert in this aspect at all, but you could always try a site like flippa.com...<p>From what I gather its just a place to bid on websites, apps, domains, etc.
Finding a large software player in that market (or a similar one) is a good way to find a buyer.<p>-Find out who sells the big management systems. They often have projects that may extend into your market. It's cheaper for a big company to buy existing code that can be rebranded than to start from scratch, especially if you're willing to be flexible.<p>-Find consulting shops that work in that space with larger hotel chains. They might be able to sell this in and give you a success fee.<p>-Find a "founder" with sales/marketing experience willing to take this on as a real project. Lots of non-technical people in the space have connections, but no capital/product. You're basically bootstrapping their company with technology investment.<p>-See if there are 'resellers' or marketing reps that sell similar systems in the space. They might be willing to help you find a company that can market & support the product for you.<p>-Be flexible on how you get paid. For example, provide the code to market for 24 months for a percentage of gross sales. That would mitigate the buyer's risk, while still providing you with upside potential.<p>My experience in buying sites is that without customers, it's basically a huge risk, so prices are very low.
For a point of view from the buyer's side, you may want to check out these articles/interviews from Rob Walling regarding his purchase of HitTail.<p>You'll see what a buyer is looking for when they are looking to buy a site which is mainly that there are customers. If you have none, like other people have commented, it will be very difficult to sell the code for anything unless you just happen to find someone who is looking to build the same thing and could use your code as a shortcut.<p>Notice how all his due diligence questions are related to customers. There's nothing about the code.<p>I can't remember where I heard it, but I think in the Foolish Adventure he says the seller said she invested $1 million dollars into the site. Rob was able to talk her down to $40 or $50k because, in his view, he was only paying for the established customer base and Google page rank. Anything more than that and he would have been better off building himself.<p>If you don't have any customers, unfortunately, you're just going to have to accept that you're not going to recoup the investment. It's a sunk cost.<p><a href="http://foolishadventure.com/audio/online-business-for-the-rest-of-us-rob-walling/" rel="nofollow">http://foolishadventure.com/audio/online-business-for-the-re...</a><p><a href="http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2012/02/28/the-inside-story-of-a-small-startup-acquisition-part-3/" rel="nofollow">http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2012/02/28/the-inside-story-of-...</a><p><a href="http://techzinglive.com/page/921/165-tz-interview-rob-walling-hittal" rel="nofollow">http://techzinglive.com/page/921/165-tz-interview-rob-wallin...</a>
"Holiday booking" (tour booking, <insert stuff here> booking...) is a pretty common need. You can trawl sites like peopleperhour.com and such to sell it to people looking for this type of site; and/or adapt it to people with similar needs.
Unfortunately, there are thousands of sites for booking out there, although honestly, most of them just use Expedia's rebadging API. I don't think the software is worth anything. If the site has any level of traffic, though, selling the site can bring something in (although by someone who will just throw out the software and drop Expedia in to take advantage of the traffic) and there are sites for selling sites/projects/businesses.
With difficulty. From around 2006-2009 I ran a hotel reservation business in six languages across China with 3,000 individual relationships, map integration, digital fax integration, custom call-center, etc. Didn't sell any of the software: didn't even try. Did, however, look at investors to take it to another market. Ultimately though, I just moved on. Despite the time spent, I look at it as cheap experience.
Can you outline the app a bit more? I'm struggling to understand the target market.<p>What can the app do exactly?<p>Where was it sourcing its hotels / flights / hire car data etc?
The justin.tv/twitch/socialcam founders sold their first startup's site (kiko - the first AJAX calendar) on ebay once it failed. The ending bid was over $250,000. Not sure if ebay is the best place for this but it is an interesting story. Flippa, as mentioned by someone else, also fills this role.
Consider the buyer persona (other independents in the hospitality industry in emerging markets). Find forums, meetups, trade associations for those people. Point of strategy, focus on the value, features, & benefits of this app to potential buyers, versus discussing what you're trying to get out it.
<a href="http://sideprojectors.com" rel="nofollow">http://sideprojectors.com</a><p>(I maintain the site. So let me know if you have questions!)