Julie Fenton spent ten days in hospital before she was allowed
to go home. When she was back at work, Mark Ashwood visited
her often. Soon, he'd become her close friend. That spring,
Julie stopped using Mr Booker as her accountant, and she asked
Mark to look after her company's financial records instead.
One sunny evening in late May, Julie and Mark drove to a
restaurant in one of the villages outside Bath. Mark had said
that he wanted to take Julie to dinner and talk to her about the
future of C.J.F. Software Solutions.
'I've been thinking about your problem with Jackman's,'
Mark said.
'Tell me where we went wrong,' Julie said, sipping a glass of
cold white wine.
'I think that, instead of trying to sell your software to
Jackman's, and other companies like them, you should sell
them licenses1 to use it,' Mark said. 'You could sell licences to
use the software for a period of time - perhaps a year.'
'Go on,' Julie said.
Well, first, it's cheaper for the client,' Mark continued.
'They get the full use of the product for a year for much less
than the cost of buying it. Second, if you update the product -
if you make improvements to it - the licence will allow the
client to have the new version free. They'll always have the latest
software.'
'That's great for the client, but what about my company?'
Julie asked