I have a good team (two backends, one frontend, one devops, one PO / PM) that have been working together for 5 years. Due to changes in the company, we lose our jobs and we want to jointly develop projects for others. How to start without experience in acquiring customers? I don't know if it matters, but we work in Europe.
Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
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Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#2The most typical way to get started is to use personal connections you have: someone's cousin's brother-in-law is VP at some company, they put in a good word for you, that kind of thing. Or, leverage some connection you have to the previous companies you've worked in, or to former coworkers who've left to go somewhere else, and are in a position to hire contractors.
You can also respond to job listings looking for contractors, and tell the recruiter that you've got a team that could work together. Sometimes that works.
I did agency consulting for 13 years, it is a constant hustle but can be a lot of fun.
Remember to always be looking for the next contract while working on the last one: make friends at the company, connect on LinkedIn. Don't be afraid to sell yourself, in fact nobody else is going to do it for you. You need an extravert on staff, or an introvert who can fake it (that can be even better).
Unsolicited advice: specialize at all costs. The more you can say things like (just an example here) "we are the experts at building typescript applications for SMB retail SaaS companies", the more likely you are to get hired, compared to the company who says "yeah we'll do anything for money". You want the person in charge to be able to look at your track record and say "these guys are a safe bet, because they've done this exact thing before."
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#3The most typical way to get started is to use personal connections you have: someone's cousin's brother-in-law is VP at some company, they put in a good word for you, that kind of thing. Or, leverage some connection you have to the previous companies you've worked in, or to former coworkers who've left to go somewhere else, and are in a position to hire contractors. You can also respond to job listings looking for co…
> You need an extravert on staff, or an introvert who can fake it (that can be even better).
Nice, why is that? Because the faker has more control over his behaviour than the genuine, impulsive extrovert?
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#4Maybe attend some startup/tech conferences. Oftentimes, even launched startups are still looking for someone to implement their ideas.
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#5The most typical way to get started is to use personal connections you have: someone's cousin's brother-in-law is VP at some company, they put in a good word for you, that kind of thing. Or, leverage some connection you have to the previous companies you've worked in, or to former coworkers who've left to go somewhere else, and are in a position to hire contractors. You can also respond to job listings looking for co…
> You need an extravert on staff, or an introvert who can fake it (that can be even better). Nice, why is that? Because the faker has more control over his behaviour than the genuine, impulsive extrovert?
More likely to vibe with the eng staff.
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#6[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#7The most typical way to get started is to use personal connections you have: someone's cousin's brother-in-law is VP at some company, they put in a good word for you, that kind of thing. Or, leverage some connection you have to the previous companies you've worked in, or to former coworkers who've left to go somewhere else, and are in a position to hire contractors. You can also respond to job listings looking for co…
> You need an extravert on staff, or an introvert who can fake it (that can be even better). Nice, why is that? Because the faker has more control over his behaviour than the genuine, impulsive extrovert?
I just didn't want to imply that introverts can't do the job. I'm very introverted, and when called upon to network and maintain client relationships, I could do it just fine, but saw it as a burden rather than a pleasure. One advantage I guess I had was that I saw it as work, and prepared for with the same level of effort I would have for an important presentation. But I couldn't sustain that for very long without going crazy, so I'm glad we had people who liked doing it as much as I liked programming and design.
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#8[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#9I had a good experience using a team from Digital Knights[1]. Your team could apply as one the teams they use with their clients.
Re: Ask HN: How to get clients for a new, small software agency?
#10I'm on your same journey.
If it may help, I'm based in the UK and mainly in the contractor market. I've got a very good team across the stack and we specialize in cross-platform mobile apps (mainly React-Native).
In my experience having a strong tech rep with actual development background goes a long way. I find most of my clients through Linkedin and handle the sales myself, then organize the work with my team that I've built over the years.
Happy to share more detail and get to know fellow hackers' experiences.
P.s. been lurking for a long time and this is my first comment! Amazing community