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How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

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Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#121

Post by putnam »

mgkimsal wrote: post #114
iends wrote: post #84

One of the problems I've always had with patio11's advice is that the skills he brought to a job was something that could easily be measured, e.g. he mainly did sales funnel optimization so it was easy to see the before and after of the direct impact on the bottom line. As somebody who is a skilled backend developer the value I provide is not as measurable. How can I justify charging a large weekly rate, when almost…

> As somebody who is a skilled backend developer the value I provide is not as measurable Learn to do something which is more measurable, or figure out ways to measure some particular aspect of value you can bring. In back-end software, it will most likely be around performance or security. Doing a security audit then proposing remediation... if the company has already been hacked, they (should) understand the value…

Do you think there are 1-5 person companies doing millions annually with an ecom site?

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#122

Post by user5994461 »

kleiba wrote: post #57

To this day, I'm still not quite clear about what a consultant actually does. I mean, beyond some vague idea ("goes to some company, talks with people, gives some recommendation"). I'd really love for someone to give some example or describe in a tangible way what the work of a consultant entails, what skills one typically needs and actually employs, what a typical gig looks like from beginning to end and so on. If a…

A consultant do the exact same work that you do, except he's paid a multiple of you and doesn't get company benefits.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#123

Post by mgkimsal »

rdtsc wrote: post #61
mgkimsal wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. I've been in some situations where I've been 'hired', but the people I have to work with didn't know, or didn't want me there, or were generally antagonistic (usually they weren't consulted at all). Client may end up paying the bill, but they're getting so little value out of what I've done it's... painful. But it's often painful just to be working at some of those companies too (whether as insider or outsid…

How does it usually work out in the end? Does that hurt you in the sense that they'll blame you anyway, or help because you got more hours in. Not a consultant but would list or report what time was spent on and they'd see line items like "waited on having accounts set up by IT for 2 days"

I don't always keep detailed time logs, but would take notes on situations like that, where there were significant delays caused by something outside my control. Not showing up on an invoice, but using those notes, I'd have a meeting with someone higher up (if there was no traction from trying to work with the people on the ground).

In most cases, those situations haven't worked out well, but it seems nothing does. There's sometimes some cult of personality - "do it Dave's way", etc. To which the logical question "if Dave's way is so good, why are things broken and people are bringing in outside help to fix things?" If you can't ask that sort of question and get a good feel up front, it may be worth skipping the project (unless they pay is really good - I've usually put up with more crap than I suggest other people do because I wanted/needed the money)

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#124

Post by putnam »

ThomPete wrote: post #115

I charge between $2-3K a day. But i have 20 years experience and worked for large clients and at big companies. My best advice is the find an industry which have a lot of consultants working (so you know clients have the money) and then offer yourself as a consultant with a design, tecnical, financial etc approach. I.e be a niche player in a large industry and never grow bigger than 10 people and instead start chargi…

Your agency has 10 people? Was you the first person in your agency?

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#125

Post by [deleted] »

taway20171214 wrote: post #88
dleslie wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been in a position where a consultant was foisted upon me by management, at several different companies, near as I can tell they are paid huge sums to restate what the team already knows and has been saying needs to be done. Only they provide it with an approach and language which management can understand.

that's a management consultant, and the reason they're hired is to provide cover and credibility for both management and your technology team. i.e., "the expensive consultant said it was okay, so don't fire anyone in management, or our technology team, if it goes sideways." in other words, they're actually helping you do your job because they can compare your recommendation to other companies and teams in the industr…

[deleted]

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#126

Post by user5994461 »

miketery wrote: post #82
kleiba wrote: post #57

To this day, I'm still not quite clear about what a consultant actually does. I mean, beyond some vague idea ("goes to some company, talks with people, gives some recommendation"). I'd really love for someone to give some example or describe in a tangible way what the work of a consultant entails, what skills one typically needs and actually employs, what a typical gig looks like from beginning to end and so on. If a…

The two things I found (can be positive or negative), is that the consultant isn't tied to the familial expectation of employees at a company giving them more freedom, and they typically don't have much stake (except fees). This means that given the right consultant and party seeking services, the consultant may provide contrarian point of views that don't hold as much baggage. Probably most important is the the comp…

Consultants don't provide contrarian point of views, they provide the point of view that the client wants to hear.

If a client is uncertain about something and feels risks, you could be contrarian but otherwise no.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#127

Post by putnam »

mgkimsal wrote: post #110
ZenoArrow wrote: post #49

Consulting fees certainly make the work more attractive than it would otherwise be, and I have been tempted to go down this path before. That aside, part of me thinks that the culture around consulting is masking bigger problems. I've seen consultants being brought onto projects where the main development staff would've been better placed to do the work (more knowledge about the intricacies of a business, better awar…

> but you've got to wonder what goes through the head of business owners who would rather pay high consultant fees than invest in extra staff and training for their in-house team, which is frequently better for the long term health of a company For large companies, division managers are more concerned about short term goals, because that's usually what metrics are in place, but also potentially competitive landscape,…

Have you done consulting jobs where you never set foot in the office?

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#129

Post by ivanhoe »

zdw wrote: post #17

Step 1: Be popular/famous enough that people know your name. Step 2: Be good/accurate enough at opining in ways that make sense. Most people won't have either 1 or 2 going for them. There's one more thing - charging a lot is how to signal value, which is a a huge thing. I know a guy who used to manage an A-list rock band (everyone knows their songs) who went into consulting, and started out lowballing people, for $1k…

IMO it's a mistake to focus on his particular fees, that's what he managed to make for himself. You need to find your own realistic path. For instance I, living outside of US, will probably never be able to charge $100+ hour my clients, I'm fully aware of that. But no matter who you are, you probably still can push for a little bit more, and that's where Patrick's advices are solid. Often, it's just a matter of asking for more, as simple as that.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#130

Post by putnam »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #119
putnam wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think being a consultant is as rare as becoming an actor?

He used an exaggerated metaphor to illustrate that pragmatically, not everyone can market themselves to become well known, no matter how good they are at writing software. You then turned that into an irrelevant comparison of the difficulty of becoming an actor vs a consultant.

Thank you. Do you think that someone who is good at writing software can not learn to market themselves to become well known?
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