I need a custom, cross platform application -- should I outsource?

[tibberous]

I want to start a company based around an application. I want it to be lightweight and easy to install, so I was thinking C++ -- I also want it to be cross platform.

 

Problem is I'm a PHP programmer. I know a little C++, and can do a lot of R&D, but I really have no idea how to make an application run on linux or mac... I don't even own a mac... I was going to buy a mini just for this.

 

I can outsource, but I don't have a ton of money, and know that, at least with PHP, outsourced projects seem to lack quality.

 

I'm just really torn. Part of me is saying, "if you want it done right, you'll do it yourself", the other part is saying that I can't start a company without working with people and spending money, and if I don't start look at things more like a businessman and less like a developer I'll spend all my time trying to finish a project that I won't be able to sell or market. It isn't like I have an abundance of time, I need to keep my full time job to finish this project.

 

Advice?

 

[Mchl]

Maybe take a look into Java?

[DarkWater]

Depends on what kind of application it is.  Care to share the broad idea of the app?

[tibberous]

Maybe take a look into Java?

 

Java requires the JRE and is a mess to distribute. I'd write it AIR before I'd write it in java - a language which I see adobe all but killing in a few years.

[corbin]

What kind of application is it?  In what it should be coded really depends on what kind of application it is.

 

 

(If you don't want to answer, that's cool.  It is your idea after all.)