Software Maintenance for Business Owners

So you're in charge of a software product, but you don't understand software?

That's fine. I'm in charge of my bank account and I don't understand international finance.

So, here's a car analogy.

Imagine your car runs fine, but it's having trouble starting. You apply the typical software maintenance strategy:

1. You ignore it. Damn warning light, my customers are waiting for me!

2. Eventually it refuses to start. You now have to jump start it every time. This gets really annoying, especially when you're parked outside in the rain.

3. One day (typically a weekend) the battery explodes in your face. Your car is now a "legacy" car.

4. In a panic, you buy another car. A slick man in a tacky suit sells you one with a much nicer infotainment system - however you soon discover it doesn't have enough seats (cars are complicated). So you pay the hefty repair bill to get the old one working again.

5. You are now maintaining two cars.

Here's the kicker. You probably could've pulled over, taken the car into a shop, and had a new battery installed for a fraction of the cost.

Don't you wish you'd done that at step 1?