Business Suggestion

[jeffhoneyager]

I initially started using Fabrik because of the "packages" concept. I wanted to create a package on a development site and sell it to a number of my clients. Development was discontinued after I built the app (i.e. a CAPA system for quality control).

Suggested business model to pay for the development and documentation.

1) Charge a license fee for Fabrik - base fee &/or optional PRO fee
2) Create a directory / cart of 3rd party developer Fabrik packages (yes - you'll have to complete it)
for other to buy Fabrik packages
3) Split the revenue 70/30 with the 3rd party developer
4) Keep the costs low to encourage buyers

You would encourage & grow the developer community; building a substantial base.

I believe you would generate sizeable revenue.

 

[Sophist]

There are likely to be issues with point 1) above because of the GPL license.

I would personally suggest the following:

1. No charge for use of Fabrik for non-commercial projects. Community support by other Fabrik users. Such projects asked to contribute 5%-10% of their development time to supporting Fabrik - either helping other users or contributing to Wiki etc.

2. Commercial projects in development using paid developers voluntarily contribute 5% of their development costs - and in return get paid development support.

3. Commercial projects in development using unpaid developers (e.g. one-man band start-ups) voluntarily make a formal commitment to donate 10% of first year revenues (admittedly an honour system) - and in return get paid development support.

4. Commercial projects in production voluntarily pay 1% of revenues for ongoing support of Fabrik - and in return get priority production support if something breaks or for upgrading.

In addition:

A. Split Fabrik into 2 repos - one for core Fabrik which is supported by Fabrikar, other for non-core plugins which are community supported with expert Fabrikar USERS as moderators.

B. Create a platform on which experienced and known users can create test cases for Fabrik, and somehow integrate these tests into the PR workflow for the Github repos.

C. Create a way for users to share sub-applications - to avoid people reinventing basic functionality.

D. Create a user council to engage with the user community and allow for a structured approach to feedback and prioritisation.

Whilst I do see a small market for specialised Fabrikar plugins, because these are shipped in source code it will be difficult to prevent sharing, and it might be better to encourage a community of developers to innovate and synergise such plugins.

I do not see a market for finished end-user applications - everyone will want something slightly different and maintenance would become a real difficulty.

I believe that the above would generate substantial revenues for Media A-Team and enable Fabrik to flourish rather than slowly dwindle away.