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This is a great article, but one thing it doesn't really address: how does one get started doing this while still keeping a day job? I would love to start charging for value by the week, but if I can only spend 10 hours a week on a particular contract, how do I sell that?
Excellent article. 1. I would be interested in learning more about what a programmer brings to the table in the consulting field. I mean, besides raw programming knowledge. The OP mentions Fog Creek as one of his first clients, a place that obviously is not short on programming insights. What does a consultant with programming chops bring that a non-programmer doesn't? Better ideas? Better tailored ideas? 2) Pedantic…
What does a consultant with programming chops bring that a non-programmer doesn't? The ability to write functional computer code, for one, which is a superpower . Besides that, I speak the language, engineering folks generally like working with me over working with "icky marketing types", I have a good understanding of what is easy and what isn't in terms of implementation, I can spec projects or deliver prototypes w…
But in terms of writing functional computer code...how much are you actually writing? Is this code merely to wireframe/prototype something? Or is it an actually deliverable that the company will build atop?
I guess what I'm getting at is the usual cynical trope by engineers against consulting: that consultants are hired to tell you what you already know/should've known. So given a hypothetical company of such stature as Fog Creek, what is your strategy for convincing them that you can tell them something they don't know? I'm not saying that engineers are above needing consultants, it just seems like a culture that, as you point out, can be extra-resistant to being told by a third-party what to do, in lieu of a concrete deliverable.
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> Go to conferences. ... Find conferences that relate to it and attend... later, speak at said conferences. Well, I'm screwed. I can barely speak in private or deal with people. Perhaps someone else can use your advice, though.
>>Go to conferences. ... Find conferences that relate to it and attend... later, speak at said conferences. >Well, I'm screwed. I can barely speak in private or deal with people. Maybe things are different in tech, but I don't know anyone who likes attending or speaking at conferences. Don't think of them as trips, think of them as work. Because they are.
When your job keeps you mentally and physically isolated from your coworkers, getting together with like minded people to talk shop is nice. Even more so because for some developers talking shop is one of the few conversation topics they feel comfortable with.
When your job is slugging away at decades old enterprise code, watching a talk about game development, fancy math, or improved development environments can be a breath of fresh air.
When your job has you at the bottom of ten layers of bureaucracy, telling people about something they should do, and having them listen and agree is wonderful.
Tech conferences are a joy.
I feel like every post by Patrick should be printed out and taped to the wall. So many great lessons in his writing. Thanks patio! Question of my own: if you are breaking into consultancy, how do you go about cold-calling potential clients? Say you've identified a few clients that you think you could help. What kind of email do you send them? Go the honest route and say "Hey, I'm new but I want to help your business…
I'm not totally opposed to some sort of variable payout mechanic to pricing, but the vast majority of my engagements are structured "I work X weeks at $Y per week." By the time I've sold you on the engagement, I should have been able to sell you on X$Y being an acceptable price to pay for the risk-discounted probability space of all possible outcomes to the engagement. (n.b. If you do variable payouts for anything, you need to figure out how to transfer a large percentage of the upside from the client to you for the math to work out.)
If I personally was selling you an engagement, and you said "What happens if this doesn't lead to an improvement in the business?", the very next words out of my mouth will be "It is entirely possible that this engagement will not lead to an improvement in the business. The vast of my engagements have been successes. Some of them, like the ones we talked about earlier, were incredible successes. Let's talk about ways we can be more likely to make this engagement successful. If you do not believe that this engagement is likely to be successful, we will not do this engagement." (I'd also independently decline an engagement where I thought it wasn't likely to be a win or would meaningfully damage the business in event of a failure. I typically work for companies with revenues in the eight figure range -- if they set fire to my entire paycheck, nobody goes home hungry.)
As to what you personally could offer for risk reducers, absent a history of doing exactly this thing before, I might suggest reaching back into your portfolio of other things you have done and showing off ones which demonstrated likelihood of success. In my first few consulting engagements, my main portfolio piece was "similar work which I did for my own business worked out well, as evidenced by a few years of blog posts; here's a few I like." After the first few engagements, well, BCC was no longer the most credible piece of evidence I could point to.
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> Go to conferences. ... Find conferences that relate to it and attend... later, speak at said conferences. Well, I'm screwed. I can barely speak in private or deal with people. Perhaps someone else can use your advice, though.
>>Go to conferences. ... Find conferences that relate to it and attend... later, speak at said conferences. >Well, I'm screwed. I can barely speak in private or deal with people. Maybe things are different in tech, but I don't know anyone who likes attending or speaking at conferences. Don't think of them as trips, think of them as work. Because they are.
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Talking to clients, getting buy-in for things I want to make, looking at metrics, thinking, learning about the product / space / company / etc, assorted engineering stuff that isn't programming (wireframes / specs / tests / demos / docs / etc), writing copy, etc etc. Time allocation varies greatly depending on the client and what we're working on. I've had engagements where I spent 100% of my time talking and I've ha…
Do you have engineers on payroll to whom you can outsource the bulk of the actual programming, or do you have a network of independent contractors that you keep going back to?
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On the other hand, if you can pull in $200/hr consistently (i.e. your yearly income isn't far from $400k before taxes) for at least half a decade, you can save up enough to retire early with a modest standard of living. But as has been said, consistency is harder for these things. What open source projects have you seen people make good chunks of change from just knowing how to work them? http://www.pentaho.com/ is o…
Well, I would take some issue with the idea that a typical $200/hour consultant is billing $200/hour for 40 hours a week and taking that much home (taxes not withstanding). A lot of time gets eaten up in client relations, contract negotiations, skill development, etc... none of which is typically billed for. I've seen agency types bill $200 or higher an hour and log 2000+ hours in a year, but the agency is taking a h…
I ended up here on accident, but I can vouch for this system's value. I WAS freelancing at between $75-$100/hour, but having to work very hard for every contract. On the side my partner and I were building software, selling a nice amount but nothing that was going to allow us to retire in a year. However, suddenly people starting emailing us after purchase, asking if we could build custom versions for them. Most turn…
Presumably it wasn't The Next Big To-Do App but something that gave quite a bit of value.