Need advise from Germany and europe about a business

ricardo · Post by **ricardo** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 5:35 pm

Hi,

I receive in the past days one offer from

MEDIAPHOR
Software Entertainment AG
Paderborn
Germany

To licence my multimedia software to europe maket in a boxed version.

As fas as i can see, the company seems to be serious one.

If anybody has any information about it i will be gratefull because im thinking in sign a contract with them.

BTW, if someone know which % could be acceptable for this kind of contract.
They told me that the publishers should give me about 10~15% of the customer price and there will be some guaranteed sales (3,500 in germany, 3,000 in UK, etc)

Is that reasonable for boxed versions?

Thanks in advance

GedB · Post by **GedB** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 6:09 pm

Google found a few news items about other companies that have signed up with them. For example:

http://www.homemedianetworks.com/articl ... rticleID=7

That was back in 2001.

Might be worth contacting some of these people to see what there experiences are like.

Codemonger · Post by **Codemonger** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:27 pm

My advise would be to go with them if you have not yet published any software yet ... and ask for an advance if they can guarantee some sales. The percentage of 10-15% is OK, although it may seem little, they are packaging and marketing the software ... SO sit back relax and collect some money.

Just make sure you have a non-exclusive contract and it's only for a year or two. If they want to be the exclusive distributor then you should ask for higher royalties etc.. But don't get too greedy if this is your first contract

Karbon · Post by **Karbon** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 12:29 am

I'm curious, what multimedia software?

blueznl · Post by **blueznl** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:04 am

percentage seems ok, take it, even if it's exclusive, make sure there is a time limit, no hidden cost (!) structure that would first subtracted from income, and figure out on what base price the percentage is based

(sonsumer price? production cost? wholesale price?)

i personally would accept that percentage, but if i were you i'd add something that would guarantee you a minimal price per sold unit

a very bad thing that happened in the past (fortunately, the party in this case is no longer in business, but it serves as a fair warning)

i've seen constructions where two companies distributed software, company one paying royalties to the author, but selling it awfully low to company two (the low on which the percentage was baesd)

now company two sold it wholesale and to end users at a much better price...

and you guessed it, company one and two were owned by the same party

(in case you wondered: no, i'm not a programmer by origin, i started as a telecom field engineer, moved into project management (including software development) and have been involved with some start ups and reorganisations... with some heavy financial stuff involved it did make me somewhat cynic on the nature of mankind when money is involved... i've seen people waste millions (dollars, not lire) to cover up mistakes, while solving or admitting those mistakes would only have cost a fraction)

dmoc · Post by **dmoc** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 10:38 am

Alternatively...

... take it as a good sign and market your sw yourself! There are payment services that take 50%, which looks good compared to 10..15% and various "viral" market schemes, eg, demo's, ebooks, cross-linking sites, etc (all valid *non-spam* methods). I admit to having little experience in this area but then how much do *you believe* in your goods? There again, personally speaking (is there any other way to speak

), after bad business experience I would take the route that does not dilute my time, ie, you may just want to code, not get involved in business issues which, believe me, eventually suck away all your time, energy, enthusiasm, will-to-live, beer-drinking time, etc, etc,... well you get my drift.

freedimension · Post by **freedimension** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 4:14 pm

If they cheat on you, I would offer my services as BeatUp-Man.

Karbon · Post by **Karbon** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 5:26 pm

dmoc wrote:Alternatively... ... take it as a good sign and market your sw yourself! There are payment services that take 50%, which looks good compared to 10..15% and various "viral" market schemes, eg, demo's, ebooks, cross-linking sites, etc (all valid *non-spam* methods). I admit to having little experience in this area but then how much do *you believe* in your goods? There again, personally speaking (is there any other way to speak ), after bad business experience I would take the route that does not dilute my time, ie, you may just want to code, not get involved in business issues which, believe me, eventually suck away all your time, energy, enthusiasm, will-to-live, beer-drinking time, etc, etc,... well you get my drift.

It all depends on how much time you want to dedicate to marketing. Marketing can (and probably will) take a lot more time than actual development. If you're just interested in sitting back and collecting some money every month then I'd go with a publisher. If you want another full time job then market it yourself... It's really hard to market software - a lot more so than I ever imagined!

Codemonger · Post by **Codemonger** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 5:50 pm

I agree with Karbon, marketing is not only time consuming it costs money, even in today's internet market. If you do not have the venture capital to push your product then do the next best thing and let someone else spend their money pushing your product while you take a cut. Life couldn't be better ...

ricardo · Post by **ricardo** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:56 pm

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I think i will sign.

About Marketing myself... yes, its good but hard.

Marketing in europe is impossible because im far away.
Now im marketing on internet and most of my time is there... 10% coding, 90% markentig, but its the only way to increase sales!

Thanks again.

Karbon · Post by **Karbon** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:10 pm

%99 marketing - %1 coding!

Where are you? Are you talking to any US companies? Email me some details about the software and I can give you a few companies that I've done business with here that are pretty decent..

Good luck!

benny · Post by **benny** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:42 pm

Hi,

according to their internet-presentation the company looks rather good - check http://www.mediaphor.de. In addition, their products are available and advertised in local shops and german computer-magazines (like Zone Alarm for example).
However, I don't have any personal experience with them.

Nevertheless, wish you good luck and success for your software.