Making Business Ideas a Reality

Podcast with software founder discussing the digital skills gap, bringing ideas to life with software and much more.

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How can innovators with limited technical experience turn their ideas into market-ready products and services at pace and within budget?

How do small businesses leverage the strengths of a global workforce to build competitive solutions?

In the latest podcast episode I explored these points and more, including scaling business ideas with software, insights for project success and the real world value of AI, with my guest Tom Haworth.

Tom is the founder of software enabler B13, a leader in creating market-ready software with a mission to revolutionise the software development landscape.

Tom's journey is fuelled by a passion for technology and a vision to streamline software development processes, making them more efficient and accessible to businesses of all technical backgrounds.

Be sure to read the summary notes, watch or listen to the podcast and share your thoughts in comments.

What Makes a Successful Innovator?

Challenges Faced by Non-Technical Innovators

  • Every business is now a software business. Innovation and competitiveness depend on technology, but many founders lack the technical skills to deliver solutions themselves.

  • The CTO dilemma: Non-technical founders often struggle to find, vet, and partner with trustworthy CTOs. Hiring a CTO is costly (in salary or equity), and it’s hard to judge their capabilities without technical knowledge.

  • The risk of the unknown: Many in this position feel daunted by the technical process, leading to disengagement or blind trust in external teams.

Serving Smaller Businesses is Different

  • Unique Challenges: Working with startups, scale-ups, and small to medium businesses requires greater flexibility, efficiency, and risk management because budgets are tight and margins are slim.

  • No Room for Overruns: Smaller clients can’t absorb surprise costs. What’s quoted must be delivered, making accuracy and efficiency in delivery essential.

  • A Growing Opportunity: While the small business segment is challenging, it’s vast and underserved compared to the enterprise market, offering significant opportunities for those who can meet its needs.

Client Engagement Is Critical

  • The best outcomes are seen when clients have already identified a genuine problem and validated that a market exists for their solution.

  • It’s important to test market interest (using screenshots or marketing materials) before building the software, rather than waiting until after development to find out if anyone will buy.

  • Clients who actively participate in testing and feedback throughout the project get better results and more tailored solutions.

  • Those who disengage or wait until the end often find the outcome doesn’t meet their needs, as they missed opportunities to influence the product during development.

  • Staying involved, even when the process feels daunting, leads to the best results.

Bring the Problem, Not Just the Solution

  • Clients don’t need to come with a fully formed solution; instead, bringing a clear problem and collaborating with experienced technology partners leads to more innovative and successful outcomes.

  • Early engagement allows the tech team to apply their expertise to craft the best solution.

Communication and Transparency Matter

  • Translating Tech for “Non-Techies”: Successful delivery teams excel at making technical concepts accessible and relevant, enabling clients to contribute meaningfully and make informed decisions.

  • Transparency: Regular updates, clear communication of risks, and openness about progress help build trust and reduce anxiety for non-technical stakeholders.

Validate your Market Before Investing in Building

  • Product-Market Fit First: The most successful clients have already validated that a real, widespread problem exists and that there’s a market willing to pay for a solution.

  • Go-to-Market Fit: It’s not enough to have working software. Early marketing materials and even screenshots can be used to test market interest before investing heavily in development.

  • Avoid Building in a Vacuum: If you can’t generate interest with mockups or a pitch, you’re unlikely to succeed just by launching the finished product.

Adapting for the Future

How Tom’s Business uses AI

  • AI is being actively used to increase productivity, accuracy, and efficiency in both the business analysis and coding phases.

  • Business Analysts use AI to draft and refine software specifications, producing clear, comprehensive documentation (“build bibles”) that are accessible to both clients and developers.

  • Developers leverage AI to generate code faster, making software projects more cost-effective and accessible to startups and SMEs.

  • B13 is investing in bespoke AI solutions that leverage its internal data from over 100 completed projects.

  • By feeding real-world experience and proprietary data into AI models, the team aims to deliver even more tailored outcomes for clients.

Human Expertise Remains Essential

  • AI is most effective when used by experts who know how to prompt it correctly and moderate its outputs.

  • The quality of results depends on the user’s domain knowledge; AI cannot replace the need for experienced analysts or developers.

The Changing Tech Landscape and Career Advice

  • The software development landscape is evolving rapidly, with AI playing an increasingly central role.

  • Transferable skills and adaptability are crucial for career longevity; professionals must continuously adjust their goals and skillsets as technology advances.

  • Predictions that AI will fully replace developers in the near future are seen as exaggerated—human expertise and oversight remain vital.

  • While AI can automate coding tasks and assemble software modules, skilled developers are still needed to architect, integrate, and manage complex systems.

  • The future will require professionals who can combine technical know-how with higher-level design and problem-solving skills.

Career Longevity Depends on Adaptability and Skills Diversity

  • Job titles and narrow technical specializations may become less important; instead, having a broad set of adaptable, innovative skills will be key to adding value.

  • Professionals should focus on skills that can’t easily be automated or commoditized, such as ideation, communication, and translating business needs into technology solutions.

The Digital Skills Gap and Global Competition

  • The UK faces a digital skills gap, with far fewer computer science graduates compared to countries like Vietnam, which has invested heavily in tech education for decades.

  • Competing on the basis of coding alone is no longer viable; Western economies must pivot to leveraging their strengths in creativity, design, and innovation.

  • The UK has a strong culture of innovation and creativity but has struggled to bring enough students through STEM and computer science pathways.

  • Vietnam, by contrast, made a deliberate strategic investment in STEM and software education 15–20 years ago, resulting in a large, highly skilled tech workforce and a thriving software industry.

Achieve More With Limited Resources: 15 Small Budget Success Stories

Strategic marketing doesn't require enterprise-level spending. Our latest case studies reveal how 15 small brands achieved remarkable outcomes through creativity and smart resource allocation.

  • Innovative tactics that delivered exceptional ROI with minimal investment

  • Strategic approaches that helped small teams compete against industry giants

  • Data-driven techniques for maximizing impact when resources are limited

Looking for ways to stretch your marketing budget further? These 15 mini case studies show exactly how these small brands made such big waves without breaking the bank.

Project Failures and Innovation

What Separates Successful Clients from the Rest?

  • Engagement over delegation: Clients who throw themselves into the process—reading documentation, reviewing designs, and testing software—see the best results. Passive delegation (“just call me when it’s done”) rarely leads to success.

  • Comfort with discomfort: It’s natural to feel intimidated by technical projects, but stepping into the unknown and asking questions is vital.

  • Ownership of vision: Successful clients take responsibility for defining what needs to be built, ensuring their vision is accurately translated into the final product.

Guide for Non-Technical Founders Working with Tech Teams

  • Be present and proactive: Don’t be afraid to ask questions or challenge assumptions.

  • Invest time up front: The more effort you put into scoping and defining requirements, the smoother the build will be.

  • Test early and often: Use every opportunity to interact with the product as it evolves, catching issues before they become costly.

  • Seek partners, not just vendors: Look for technology providers who are transparent, educational, and committed to your long-term success—not just delivering a product and moving on.

  • Active client involvement is critical. The most successful projects are those where clients engage deeply with the process—especially in scoping, reviewing documentation, and providing feedback.

  • Removing ambiguity: Up-front definition and design (even if time-consuming) ensures everyone is aligned and expectations are clear.

  • Iterative feedback: After every two-week sprint, B13 shares the latest software version with clients, encouraging hands-on testing and rapid identification of issues or misunderstandings.

The Roots of Software Project Failure

  • Many software projects fail due to issues that arise before coding even begins—primarily poor scoping, unclear requirements, and a lack of shared understanding of what success looks like.

  • Over engineering requirements and delaying project kickoff can be just as problematic as under-defining them.

  • Disengagement from stakeholders and “ivory tower syndrome” (where clients hand off a project and expect a perfect result without involvement) are common causes of failure.

Importance of Defining Success Early

  • Clearly identifying what constitutes a successful project or product at the outset makes it easier to steer the project and course-correct before problems escalate.

  • Early alignment on goals and success criteria is critical to avoiding costly mistakes.

Advice for Non-Technical Innovators

  • Avoid rushing into software projects without fully understanding and de-risking their investment.

  • With the right partner, anyone can be guided through the technical journey and gain the confidence to make informed decisions at every step.

  • It’s essential to work with teams that prioritize transparency, education, and shared understanding throughout the project.

You can connect with Tom Haworth through his social and website connections.

That’s it for this edition, for more delivery leadership insights, subscribe to the Change Leaders Playbook podcast series on Youtube, Spotify, Apple and Audible.

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