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Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

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Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#61

Post by hardwaresofton »

pault wrote: post #49
hardwaresofton wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read every single article on daedtech.com related to software consulting (and maybe some that aren't) -- the amount of insight contained inside those articles for free is insane. 99% of the people who think they are doing consulting (me included) are not doing consulting. If you're getting paid to write software, you're not a consultant, you're a freelancer/service provider. Let those words shake you then read all th…

Even in this thread I see a lot of people conflating consulting with working as a highly paid contractor. I accidentally fell into contracting two years ago when the company I was working for closed unexpectedly. I doubled my yearly income, but I'm still an employee in practice. I will say though, if you can make the leap to contracting with large companies, the pay is insane. I'm currently making about $60k/year ove…

I'm really curious about this -- I actually left Austin to move abroad a while ago, and do contracting (which I erroneously call consulting, though I do also consult). While I plan to return to the US I never considered returning and continuing contracting.

Based on what you're saying I'd expect that yearly base salary to be over 200k (based on what it was like in Austin years ago), would you mind sharing how you've found good and/or consistent clients which pay you at that rate? Is it mostly bigger companies? Smaller startups? Multiple contracts at a time?

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#62

Post by jamestimmins »

alexknowshtml wrote: post #40

Start here: https://doubleyourfreelancing.com/category/start-freelancing...

This is actually a phenomenal resource. Brennan Dunn provides a lot of insight into understanding what value you create and how to pitch it properly. 10/10

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#63

Post by PopeDotNinja »

edw519 wrote: post #37

Sorry to say, it looks like you're approaching this backwards. You shouldn't be looking for resources, steps, advice, pitfalls, experiences, or anything else. You should be looking for a customer whose hair is on fire. Then, and only then, should you be looking for whatever it takes to build them a fire extinguisher. Anything else is a waste of time.

> You should be looking for a customer whose hair is on fire.

Maybe when their hair is smoking. It's easier to help a client who is sufficiently motivated. It's harder to help a client who is completely panicked & out of control.

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#64

Post by dmilicic »

If you don't know where to get clients or you don't yet know how to sell yourself, then I suggest applying to one of the premium developer networks like Toptal, Gigster, CodeControl or Pilot.

I found that selling yourself directly to companies as a consultant takes a different set of skills and requires more than just being a great engineer.

However, to get into these developer networks you only have to be good at what you do and their job is then to sell you as a great developer/consultant. You only have to know how to pass technical interviews.

At least that's my recommendation for when you are just starting out.

But to get great consulting contracts you have to pick a niche where it's difficult to find people and be good at it. For example, I got a large contract by just being good at doing bluetooth connections between Android and BLE devices.

PS: I have a referral link to Toptal, but you don't have to use it and can apply via regular means: https://www.toptal.com/#work-with-the-best-programmers-today

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#65

Post by Evan_Hellmuth »

I did this less than a year ago. Two things I wish I had done off the bat:

1) Choose a specific skillset that you want to use and only accept jobs in that skillset. For me that should have been React/Node projects (even this is too general, but much better than “web programmer”). People hire consultants for instant productivity, and the type of person that has so little experience working with technologists that they expect instant competence after you tell them “yeah I used Python for a personal project” probably won’t be a great client. Ultimately you’ll want to own a business problem, possibly combined with a technological skillset, but that’s something you can think about after you’ve set up a steady stream of work.

2) Use a “premium” recruiter or agency. Gun.io, Toptal, something like that. They don’t lock you in, you’re still free to find your own work, but they will save you SO much time and they’ll find SO much work that you wouldn’t have been able to find on your own. Use them to find projects in which you can hone the specific skillset you chose and make it more specific.

After a project or two you’ll have a feel for what’s out there and you can start tweaking your rate and how you market yourself. Also, consider reading Developer Hegemony to get a (pretty cynical) feel for the business side of things. Feel free to reach out if you want to chat further (email in profile).

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#66

Post by davidscolgan »

Welcome to the wild world of consulting! I hope you enjoy your stay, it's the only way to live in my opinion.

What's helped me in my freelancing/consulting journey more than anything else has been building one on one relationships (aka, networking). The more people you know who know what you do, the more opportunities you'll have come your way. Some call it Luck Surface Area.

Join a paid online community of other consultants. Go to meetups around your city. If someone wants to learn programming take them out for coffee. Go to networking events. Give talks in public. Anything that will introduce you to other humans. Then keep track of all of them in a CRM. Follow up with people and provide as much value to them as you can. Participate in Hacker News (this post is increasing the number of people you might meet!). Put it on your Github/Twitter/Website etc.

Ways I've gotten gigs lately:

* Person from my online freelancer community I'd talk with multiple times was working on a project and they needed help, brought me on, now I'm getting more work from that client.

* Someone from college I hadn't talked to in 8 years saw my LinkedIn profile and contacted me about a project for their company.

* Someone saw a comment on HN about my work and reached out to me.

* College student wanted advice on freelancing, I took them out for coffee, 3 months later "I decided not to freelance but I found a client, do you want them?"

* Sitting in a coworking space and person I met yesterday and told about my business says, "I'm getting a full time job, want this client?"

None of these have had to really come from direct "selling" and all of them came to me which in my experience makes it way better since they already want and trust you. I don't even feel like I'm all that good at promoting myself, but I have work because I talk to people.

Happy to chat about this further if you want, my email's in my profile. Best of luck in your consulting!

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#67

Post by aunty_helen »

kzzzznot wrote: post #47
aunty_helen wrote: post #31

Take a break, honestly. A lot of people seem to be of the opinion that if you don't work your life will start to implode around you. I've just started my first consulting job via a friend I used to work with. I was 10 months unemployed, living in an exotic country, enjoying myself and building out my own projects. I only ended up taking the job because the pay was good. Whilst I've been doing my own thing I've met a…

Unfortunately for a lot of people, their lives will implode if they stop working. If they stop working, they receive no income and have to either eat into savings (if they're lucky) or would otherwise struggle to pay rent/life expenses.

And I understand that, most people that I meet have jobs. A lot doing marketing, social media, copywriting, language teaching.

I'm using my savings to bootstrap my idea currently. This side gig I've picked up is a bit of a distraction.

If I stayed at home and continued to live as I was my runway would've been 3-4 months.

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#68

Post by mongol »

barry-cotter wrote: post #25
DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #15

Depending on skills you can earn a magnificent hourly rate in comparison to full-time employment and have more freedom in the types of projects you pick. Location matters a lot though. Be ready to jump on a plane / train to discuss with potential clients. It takes a lot of grit especially if you build your own client base and wish to avoid middle-men who broker to the larger companies. For larger firms though you won…

> For larger firms though you won't get in without middleman (because of preferred supplier lists (PSL)). If that’s true for you then you’re either a freelancer, not a consultant, or you’re not charging enough/not in enough demand that they’re willing to work with you one on one. Nick Disabato has one employee and charges $15,000 and up a quarter for Draft Revise. Do you think he goes through a preferred supplier lis…

For large enough companies I don't think it matters. They might take on consultants on top executive level but from the page you quote

"Are you making over $2M from your store, but haven’t taken the time to optimize it?".

This is small potatoes for the larger companies and it is simply not worthwhile to negotiate individual contracts on the scale they operate. Unless you are on top executive level, maybe.

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#69

Post by andy_adams »

gk1 wrote: post #28
foobar1962 wrote: post #4

1) Don't quit work until you have a couple of clients lined up. Seriously, treat it like a side-gig until you make more per hour than the day job.

I quit my job and lived off savings until consulting picked up. I don’t know that I would’ve tried as hard or gotten those first few clients if I was treating it as a side-gig in the evenings.

Depends - I started freelancing with 2 kiddos and little savings, so I had to do the side-gig transition until I was sure it'd make ends meet.

You definitely need a "fire" keeping you moving, though - if you have savings & low expenses, making the leap to full-time can force you to learn fast.

Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

#70

Post by rchaud »

skizm wrote: post #55

On a related topic, what are people's thoughts on most lucrative niche / products to consult for? Salesforce, Oracle, Atlassian, etc? I feel like being a general programming / web development services consultant isn't going to get you the big bucks unless you really excel in that field, and you'll still probably need a niche. A while back I was at a company that specialized in Sun Identity Management consulting. Not…

Best way to find out is to look at the top companies in your metropolitan area, and see if there's someone in your LinkedIn network at any of those companies you could reach out to and ask.

Stuff I've seen consultants getting hired for: - Salesforce implementation - Sharepoint implementation - AWS/Azure implementation

Again, depends heavily on what issues companies in your area are facing, that they're not looking to hire FT for.

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