Re: Intro and question

Sorry I missed this post, but I really wanted to respond to it...

On Fri, Feb 28, 2003 at 09:57:48AM -0800, David N. Welton wrote:
> Faber Fedor <[email protected]> writes:
> 
> [ +1 on the practical discussions - I feel fortunate to be able to
> listen in on these conversations! ]
> 
> > > Cygnus was a bootstrap (well, we each put in $2K and leant the
> > > company an additional 3, plus it got free rent and a pay-over-time
> > > sparcstation (serial #2, I believe).  So yes it can be done.
> 
> > Good.  That's the kind of stuff I want/need to hear.
> 
> I think for many people doing consulting, the difficult step must
> really be going from 1 person to 2 or more.  

That is IMO, dare I say it? a paradigm shift.  One of my clients pointed
out that as soon as you hire someone, your job changes from providing
technical services to finding work for the employees/contractors.

The other thing he said that I found insightful is the first person you
hire is essentially a replacement for yourself. So you have to
have enough work to keep yourself busy, hand all that work off to the
first employee, and then find more work.

> So how to go about it?  Go in with a few other people and start off as
> more than 2?

Good question.  Any advice from the people in here who've done it (who I
will refer to as The Seniors)?

> How to find, or transition existing clients that are willing to work
> with you not as you but some sort of 'organization'?

IMO, I think any new clients will deal with the organization and
existing clients will deal with you.  

> - I want an exit strategy for 'some day down the road'.  I don't think
>   working as a lone-wolf is going to cut it when I'm older.  I guess
>   that strategy could also be "get hired by a company".

Agreed on both counts, but I want to avoid that latter count at all
costs. :-)


-- 
 
Regards,
 
Faber                     

Linux New Jersey: Open Source Solutions for New Jersey
http://www.linuxnj.com