Last week, I was teaching the Security Class for php|architect and talked not only about protecting your applications from security vulnerabilities but what to do after you've found (or have been notified of) one.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you, it's not a question of "if" you'll have a problem, but a question of when.

Depending on the type and scope of the vulnerability, this can range from "doh" to "call the lawyers and update your resume".  Either way, it can be a disaster.

And we all know there are two times to come up with a disaster recovery plan:

Before it happens OR

While it's happening... oh wait, that's not planning.

Over the past couple months, I've hit some hard and serious issues for small business. This week, I'm slowing things down a bit and hitting an important but much lighter topic...

How do you name a product?

But first, there are three main reasons to name a product.

First, it provides a simple shorthand both internally and externally. Do you think Drupal would have caught on if it was called a "Community-based Content Management System"? No, lazy developers like myself would have immediately looked for an abbreviation and come up with something like CCMS or ComConSys or something else ridiculous and other equally lazy developers - who wouldn't make their own suggestions - would mock them.

When you're just starting off a microISV (micro Independent Software Vendor), every dollar counts. Every dollar keeps you in operation that much longer. Every dollar makes it more likely to be able to earn the next dollar. Without money you can't pay the bills, you can't focus on the code and more importantly, you make bad decisions. Ian Landsman recently noted:

A few years ago when I was starting UserScape there were a bunch of other MicroISV’s starting up. There were blogs all over about it, so many people getting into it. The fact is that I don’t think any of them are still around at least not the ones I followed. Can I really be the last man standing? Where the heck is everyone?

Without sharing private information, I know of a handful that went down because they weren't charging enough, they didn't have enough customers, they didn't know their market, etc, etc... but what these all boil down to is:

No matter what kind of organization you run, two of the most important things are getting and keeping a Focus. When I went digging for a good definition to share with you, I didn't find anything that fit exactly what I was trying to say... until I looked into the defintion from Wikipedia:

In geometrical optics, a focus, also called an image point, is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge.

For our purposes, if we replace "light rays" with "effort" then it fits nicely. A Focus in any new organization is the point where all of our time and effort should lead. Unfortunately, unlike light, an organization's focus can change quite easily.

Alright, so you've been at your business for a few months or even a couple years and now it's time to grow... how do you do it?

Well, you could just hire one of your buddies. Odds are that you know him, you trust him, and you have numerous common interests and a few common goals that will help bring you together. Great idea, right?

Bzzt, wrong.