Never charge by the hour, as it gives a ceiling to your potential earnings. Charge by the job/retainer/etc and then spend a lot of energy becoming more efficient.
Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
41–50 of 116 posts
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#42Be prepared to spend a lot of time building up your professional network and brand - and never stop. When times are good, you'll feel like you can stop because opportunities are all over the place. When times aren't so good, you're going to want to avoid scrambling for more work. Good luck.
That’s a very important point. Most of us will have a tendency to focus on the tech work but the real key to success is to always network and making connections. Also learn how to talk to C level execs because in the end they have control over the budgets and that’s where the money is. Also learn how to present your work. Doing a good job by itself is not worth much if nobody knows about it.
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#43Never charge by the hour, as it gives a ceiling to your potential earnings. Charge by the job/retainer/etc and then spend a lot of energy becoming more efficient.
Different billing schemes are appropriate for different projects and clients.
"Time and materials" billing is totally appropriate if the two parties trust each other and the nature of the project is open-ended or loose about the deliverable.
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#44Never charge by the hour, as it gives a ceiling to your potential earnings. Charge by the job/retainer/etc and then spend a lot of energy becoming more efficient.
But beware you take on a ton of risk, especially as complexity and size of project grows. Many clients will also divide the price by how many hours they think you’re working and still think in hourly terms...
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#45Depending 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…
>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.
I think they were speaking to the OP, who seems to not yet be a consultant, as they are considering "Becoming" one
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#46Use the right contract. I’ve been a successful consultant for many years and sell my contract templates at https://msabundle.com
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#47Take 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.
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#48Daedtech has an excellent article https://daedtech.com/software-consulting/ If you live in a major metropolitan area almost anywhere in the US, and your skillset is in tune with the market, you should be able to find some W2 or 1099 contract quite easily through local recruiters. Yeah they will take their cut, but you still should be able to negotiate close to market value. You will definitely get paid more than usin…
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.
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#49Daedtech has an excellent article https://daedtech.com/software-consulting/ If you live in a major metropolitan area almost anywhere in the US, and your skillset is in tune with the market, you should be able to find some W2 or 1099 contract quite easily through local recruiters. Yeah they will take their cut, but you still should be able to negotiate close to market value. You will definitely get paid more than usin…
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 over the highest paid salary jobs I could get anywhere else here in Austin, TX. I have to buy my own insurance, but I'm single and childless so it's not a huge deal for me.
Re: Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
#50Take 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…
It would be interesting to know more about your personal circumstances and how you set yourself up for success here. I feel like we need to start planning long before we get burnt out. For many people it's hard to avoid things like mortgages, or other situations which impose a financial burden of some sort.
I personally think 10 months off for me would be healthy right now in a lot of ways. It would be survivable financially, but in some ways it would drive a lot of anxiety for my partner and I. The support system doesn't exist for this in the US in the same way it does in other nations either.