Daniel Battaglia has been working solo for a few months on his startup, Parkingmadeeasy.com.au; a site that connects drivers looking for parking and people with a driveway to share; but says he wouldn’t recommend going it alone.

He says the hardest thing is finding someone who you can work closely with.

“You really need to get to know people,” says Battaglia. “If you’re not aligned it doesn’t work. You want the same vision, the same goals.”

While Battaglia says building a startup has been tough, being part of the community at Fishburners has helped: “I can’t thank Fisburners enough.” It’s the times when you need advice, support or inspiration that really make it worth it, he says.

The benefit of going alone, says Battaglia, is that you learn to do everything yourself, from project management through to your accounts.

How to hire an offshore developer

Battaglia has found some contractors overseas to do the tech work, so that he can focus on growing the business.

“It can be tough, but it’s doable. You need to be specific about what you need.”

“Locally, you give them (freelancers) a vision and they can work alone. With people overseas you need to tell them exactly what you need.”

Battaglia recommends setting a simple task for a prospective tech hire; give them a “fifty or sixty dollar, three hour job.”

That might be getting them to move or resize the maps on your site, or maybe setting up membership or payment functionality; something Battaglia says he has done recently.

Parking controversy: dealing with the media

Parking can be surprisingly controversial, as Battaglia has discovered. His profile got a significant boost earlier this year, thanks to irritated WA politician, Max Hipkins, the Mayor of Nedlands.

Battaglia ended up doing interviews with TV, radio and print all over Australia. He’s been interviewed by the ABC News, the Sydney Morning Herald and Channel 10.

His advice to others is “if you’re planning to try and get media, make sure you’re prepared.” You can never predict ending up in a controversy (see the FLT story on GoCatch founder Andrew Campbell), so it pays to be ready to know how to handle the media.

Persistence pays: community comes slowly

With around 900 parking spaces now listed on the site, and 300 drivers registered, the hard work is starting to pay off. It’s still not making enough to pay a wage, says Battaglia, but it is growing, a result that comes from “being persistent”.

“It’s like that building – it didn’t just appear there, it was built one brick at a time. This is one customer at a time.”

Getting a marketplace working requires recruiting two types of customers (a buyer and a seller) which is a challenge in itself. Battaglia says he is still testing pricing structures, to get things right.