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Ask HN: My consulting business is overtaking my day job, lost on how to manage

4 points by EC1 ↗ HN
I'm currently working a day job as a software developer. At my current job I'm unsatisfied with the environment and I'm no longer learning new things. I have put in my notice and leave at the end of the month.<p>On the side I have 2 startups, and 4 projects I'm managing. That means meeting with clients, doing all the UI/UX for 6 projects, handling payments and invoicing, and managing 6 people full time.<p>My questions:<p>a) What software do you use to manage your projects b) What software do you use to invoice c) How do you manage people? d) What resources do you have that would be a good read in relation to project management<p>Thanks!

4 comments

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bwagy
Awesome - congratulations!

Invoicing: Xero Managing people: pick up Tom Peters, Little Big Things. Managing Projects: Getting Things Done & The Lazy Project Manager Managing Team Software: at your size you are small enough that can just talk and communicate. So something simple like BaseCamp & Weekly WIPS (work in progress meeting and bullet point list) will suffice. Then you want to evolve to something like ProWorkFlow / WorkFlowMax which provide the visibility, project management and time tracking.

Any questions email me ben@bwagy.com happy to help.

mbillie1
Trello isn't bad for managing projects - it's free as well. In terms of managing people, that's a significantly more difficult topic.
petervandijck
a) None most of the time, at times something like Asana for keeping track of todo's.

b) I keep track of sent invoices and paid invoices in a Google Docs Excel.

c) Aha, this is the big one :) First, as few meetings as possible. Second, manage by objectives & context, not tasks. Third, OKRs.

d) Not sure.

Im_Talking
You sir, need to sit down and read The E-Myth.