Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?
I recently put in my notice at work with nothing lined up. Do any of you operate full time as a consultant? I'd love to hear about how you got started and what resources, pitfalls, experiences you came across along the way.
115 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 175 ms ] threadhttps://jacquesmattheij.com/categories/consulting/
best of luck!
Seriously, treat it like a side-gig until you make more per hour than the day job.
I was lucky to get a long term project two weeks after handing my notice (the notice period in most European countries is 1 month) and from then on I had a steady stream of work.
Not feeling burned down I would never make a jump without any gigs lined up and thinking about it now makes me feel quite uneasy. Still, health is top priority so if you have savings or someone willing to support you then go for it.
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.
So I just wanted to reiterate for anyone really struggling in their day job, looking to quit: if it gets too unbearable, there are MANY options.
I'm tempted to give a spin to Linkedin premium features, or just exit the niche and sell myself as a regular coder.
If you’re a freelancer the bar is fairly low, if you’re a consultant you should really be bringing more to the table.
Read the secrets of consulting by Gerry Weinberg.
Network with other consultants, they’ll become a major source of new work for you.
I found my first jobs on UpWork, where Robotics is quite niche field. Being a niche field there are not many jobs available (I'd estimate there are 2-3 a month that fit my skill set) but also there are not so many freelancers doing Robotics.
Starting on any freelancers platform you need to start building reputation, which can mean you will need to sell yourself well or do the first project for peanuts (my first one was converting some Python to C# that took me 8 days and I earned 10$). In the second project I earned about 2k$ and in further ones I was already earning more per hour then in my previous job.
My advice is anecdotal but if someone advertises "a simple project for ..." then they don't treat it very seriously and won't be willing to pay for quality. The clients willing to pay more for your services will also respect your time more and are usually much easier to communicate with.
Avoid fixed price contracts if you can unless you know exactly how to do the project and can predict any pitfalls. Charging by the hour/day/week/month is in my opinion least risky and if you encounter huge issues you are still paid to fix them.
Speaking of issues. Firstly make sure that you know the requirements clearly, before starting development make sure you understand all stakeholders. As you are developing the project communicate frequently with the client about any doubts to the client and make sure you are on the same page. If you see anything off - communicate this! The requirements will never be perfect and if you put yourself in the user's shoes you will be able to identify things your client missed and this way you will be bringing an extra value by solving problems before they even arise.
Sorry for the wall of text, hopefully you will find any of this useful. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or e-mail me (I hope my e-mail is in my profile).
Good luck!
For instance, food scientists
Do you think your education matters? Do people want to see a masters/PhD or is gaining more experience the important thing for landings these sorts of jobs.
Thanks!
I have a master's degree and don't know if it affects anyone's decision about hiring me for a contract. My feeling is that the companies I work with now value my experience much more than my degree but personally I learned so much studying Mechatronics/Robotics that I'd highly recommend doing it if you are not experienced in Robotics and want to start working in the field.
For me my niche is making already built PoC projects ready for production and scaling those. So I target small startups typically with 1 to 5 developers with a PoC built, some traction and a good funding round so they can bring me in with my experience to stabilize/deploy/scale their product and build proper development, testing and deployment practices.
I've been doing that for years, first as an employee, then combined consulting with employee work and since 2015 switched to full time consulting. I have built up a network of investors and people in the local startup scene and whenever my current contracts are almost finished I start pinging those contacts for more companies that fit the criteria.
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 using something like Upwork.
I’ve been building up a curated list of local third party recruiters for years. I always engage with them when they reach out to me.
Even though they call the above “consulting”, it’s actually closer to just freelancing.
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 the writing on daedtech.com to learn why and see if you disagree (you won't).
That's by definition:
consult verb (used with object): to get information or advice from a person, book, etc. with special knowledge on a particular subject
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/consult
How people use (in this case misuse) the term leads to confusion and the linked article (and the other related ones) starts with this fact as the baseline (we're in agreement) and goes into how/why software shops are doing it wrong/mislabeling themselves, and how you can stop doing that. It seems to be exactly what OP is looking for.
That definition just proves his point. Or am I missing something?
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?
The easiest way to signal that you don't want a staff-aug gig is to say "no" when you're offered a staff-aug gig. Advanced: counterpropose with a project proposal.
People overthink this stuff, I think.
The one important thing to know is that it's important to be "available"; even if you're not going to pick up the staff-aug gigs, it's probably best to entertain them (and, even more advanced: refer them out to other people), because you can only say "no" 1-2 times before people will stop asking you for anything.
I don't believe "expert consulting", as apart from "freelancing" or "contracting", is a real thing in our industry.
Many in this topic wrote about being a real consultant rather then a contractor in software industry. By that they mean, as I see, providing advice, recommendation to clients.
I know you are very experienced in this area, so you mean one cannot be a pure consultant in software?
For larger firms though you won't get in without middleman (because of preferred supplier lists (PSL)). The bigger players pay you usually competitive rates (unless the middleman is fucking with you which is rare but happens), but you won't own the relationship with the client (the middleman does). Work for smaller firms and you run a higher risk of losing money, not getting paid or getting shafted simply because they think they can.
Ask a lawyer to help you draft contract templates which reflect how you envision any business relationship and then make your clients that you work for directly sign that (rather than expecting them to talk to their own lawyer which the won't do if they never considered bringing in a freelancer).
Find other freelancers in your region to speak to and get a feel for what they charge and how they go about acquiring new clients.
Biggest question when pitching to middlemen is "do you have any freelance/consulting" experience. If no this will be a read flag. So be creative to get your foot in the door.
Ensure you stay on their radar: Send your professional profile to every middle-man in the country and keep updating them with the latest version and your current availability.
Always say yes to any opportunity when asked for an interview (even you're busy right now with something else, or it is slightly off-topic for you). It's a chance to network and to practice your pitch (practicing the skills of interviewing and marketing your skills/brand is even more important than knowing your technical stuff, the latter should be taken for granted).
Gerald M. Weinberg's "The Secrets of Consulting" is excellent for anyone starting out in consulting or for those who consider hiring them (in any case your world might never be quite the same after reading this book):
https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Consulting-Giving-Getting-Suc...
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 list? By the same token, when patio11 was a one man consulting firm charging $10-30K for a week’s onsite consulting you think he went though a recruiter?
https://draft.nu/revise/
> Draft Revise engagements are serious, long-term, design-driven, and consultative. We are not a chop-shop contractor, and we do everything in our power to be worth your time and your business's money. Before you send this application, we ask that you be prepared to commit to upfront fees at or above USD $15,000 for our first quarter of work together. The final fee we quote for you will be based on the value we're capable of providing for your business.
I think they were speaking to the OP, who seems to not yet be a consultant, as they are considering "Becoming" one
"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.
Sounds like a Dickensian nightmare to me. I would have thought some of the best placed people to suggest improvements are the people who build the pins, second only to people who use the pins every day.
Stay classy HBR.
If they're in a position where they need to be improvising in order to make pins correctly or efficiently, that's a bad sign.
The next time somebody hired my, I simply said I'd prefer to work on a freelance basis. They were OK with it, however, because of my lack of experience with freelancing, I accepted a rate that was much too low. So that may be an easy way into becoming a consultant: just say you want to be a consultant...
I figured that out when I became I'll - nothing serious, but I realized I need to ask for more money to compensate for downtimes and risks that employees don't have (also, saving for my own retirement).
After that, I also registered with some freelance sites, like Jobserve and Gulp (latter might be a German thing, but they offered nice statistics for average salaries).
Because I struggle with occasional burnout or simply hating my job, I din't even do much of the network building or friend recommendations. But recruiters keep calling, just as long your CV has the right keywords. Even long gaps of "unemployment" don't seem to matter that much.
However, for the same reason, these days I would almost recommend against sending out your CV or registering with recruiting agencies. Now my profile is out there, and I can not retract it very easily. So I keep getting those calls, even though I don't really want them anymore. I'd say if you can get by without sending out your CV, it would be better.
I haven't really cut ties completely - maybe if I told those recruiters that I definitely don't want to be called ever again, they would comply. But I wouldn't count on it - in general, they just ignore "wishes" in the CV, like preferences for locations to work in.
I was also that way probably not necessarily getting the best jobs (in terms of interestingness, the pay was always OK). It was more "crap, my bank account is running low, I better accept this contract", rather than strategically working towards work I would like. A bit of a "golden handcuffs" problem, I guess - you have to say no to good offers to be available for the ones you actually want.
This may have been more serious for me than it sounds - by being stuck in dreadful Java Enterprise projects, job frustration would mount again, causing me to quit for months, causing me to eventually accept the next best offer, for the cycle to repeat. Maybe with a more proactive way of acquiring contracts, the frustration cycle could have been avoided altogether. (Not sure, though).
Nevertheless, overall I think consulting is great in principle. You earn more money, see more different companies and projects, and the hiring process is not that fucked up. Usually they give you an initial contract for a month, to see if you work out. So they don't have to evaluate you for weeks and weeks to see if you are a good fit. If you are not, they simply don't extend your contract.
Good luck.
are you solving a problem/challenge for them? you are not a consultant, you are a contractor, freelancer or agency.
are you telling them - and help implement the mindset and processes - on how they can solve a problem/challenge? you are a consultant.
or to paraphrase jerry weinberg: a consultant gives advise when asked.
if you are the second, read "secrets of consulting" by weinberg (and "are your lights on").
then, what is your product? what do you want to advise on? and find out why this would be so valuable to pay you 10k, 25k, 50k, ...
then, get a client, anyway you can and make sure you deliver 20x to 100x times the value than what you cost (note: make sure your client can and will execute what you advised, otherwise you did not deliver any value). make the client your reference case, market the reference case, go a month on a vacation, your next two clients will be waiting when you come back.
my consulting company: https://www.f19n.com/
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And so on.
( that'll be $1,000 :-) )
Short version: become a "visible expert" in your field (blog posts, ebook, meetup talks), and then connect with people who might need your service.
[1] https://blog.flurdy.com/2015/10/contracting-101.html
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 lot of 'digital nomads.' They all do interesting things and the stories of how they got there are all different. And if they don't like it anymore, they can stop at any time.
In short, there's other options than diving from a job that's burnt you out straight into a consulting gig.
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.
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.
I was living with my girlfriend, got laid off from a startup but was burnt out a good 6 months before. Financial struggles of that company just made it worse. My previous job had been pretty demoralizing too. I needed a change.
28 yrs old, I got on a plane to Spain with my girlfriend who rented her house out to cover her mortgage. She didn't enjoy it and needed to work to survive financially as I couldn't support both of us not working the whole time. So she left for Aus and now works a desk job there.
I've been living off savings and money from the sale of my car and bike. The lifestyle is pretty different as technically I live out of a suitcase but the experience is great.
In 4 months, my visa will expire and I will move or go home. If I don't work I will eventually run out of money. I could live off ~1000Eur a month but I like to socialize so it's closer to 1400.
There's a lot of people who do it in a more sustainable fashion and on a permanent basis. A couple I know from Cali live here and are renting out their house. He works remotely and she's started teaching English since being here.
Give it some thought, it's a lot of fun and adventure.
7 years ago, I was burnt out from my job and wanted a change, so I quit and picked up everything and moved to Asia with my girlfriend (now wife).
Luckily, I had some savings, so I didn't have to work for a month or two. But, I didn't want to eat through it all, so I got a contracting development job and I stayed there for a year and a half.
My rent for a really nice apartment in a great part of town was around $200 USD/month. Food was insanely cheap and good.
It's easy to get lost in that lifestyle though. It's fun, but it's difficult to save money or build a career. There are many distractions and almost all the other expats that I met were only interested in drinking/partying.
I was glad to finally come home, but happy I had the experience.
"Breaking the time barrier"[2] is also a good book I wish to have found earlier.
[1] https://www.winwithoutpitching.com/the-manifesto/
[2] https://www.freshbooks.com/fbstaticprod-uploads/public-websi...
Here’s my take on it, along with an unvarnished recap of my first year as a consultant:
https://www.gkogan.co/blog/how-i-learned-to-get-consulting-l...
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.
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.
"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.
Which means it depends a lot on your ability to find clients, and get rid of the bad ones.
Bad client meaning the one costing you money, for example by not paying the invoices, or always wanting free stuff.
So ask yourself, How do I get good at marketing and sales? How can I sell the project bu subcontract the developers?