Ask HN: How do you get clients as a one-man dev shop?
Hi, i run one-man dev shop in Poland and have problem with getting clients from abroad. I do web applications in Php/Yii framework and Scala/Play framework, also front-end development. For now i was working for Polish clients, but i want to try to get clients from abroad. How could i find clients (omitting odesk/freelancer etc.)?
11 comments
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3. By omitting oDesk/Freelancing, I really think you are limiting yourself, because if you do a great job for one person (with word of mouth) they can tell somebody else and that will give you more work for a lifetime. People also tend to comeback to you, if they trust you and your work.
4. Cold-Calling/Emailing, but this might be annoying for some and you might get a bad rep for it.
Outcome may vary; i'm sure there are people with good experiences. That said, I wouldn't touch them.
#2: maybe i should start blogging, but have problem: as i always find decent post about dev, as a writer i feel i'll write something obvious for people (but it's only my perception, probably my posts could be helpful for others), i'm a bit introvert person;
#3: yeah, but as i look for gigs i see only ultra-low rates, but will try (for begining probably i should hide my pride and work more for small tasks to get a reputation there);
#4: cold emailing is in progres but no luck so far, companies still tend to look for people on-site;
The first thing is to work on shifting your mindset from being a dev shop. Your question here is of a business nature and I think that might be worth thinking about.
FEW businesses have technical problems. Most have business problems they want solved through a collection of policy, process and technology. As much as every business is becoming a software business, you have to stop seeing your value only in your technical skills, because they alone are only a part of any solution.
The real value is being a bridge between business and technology. A hybrid who can understand business and technology. There's no shortage of business consultants, and developers don't always get the whole picture. What is always in high demand is the few who get both, being able to put together technology with business in a way that magnifies and grows the competitive advantage of a customer, not reinterpreting how a business should be run.
This in turn means you have to find and have the conversations, be it on your blog or in your portfolio that shows your ability to understand and solve business problems.
Last, but not least, your opinion of odesk or elance is not ideal. Yes, it sucks to compete with developers in other countries. Learning how to compete doesn't mean you'll be there forever, but it's a necessary skill. Learning to differentiate yourself as a complete end to end solution provider is what most desirable don't do well, Craigslist, odesk or elance can help you with very quickly.
If you're curious, the majority of my long term customers are in another city or country, I have never met most, and the projects I'm trusted to work on are often central to their business.