[AccessD] Independent Consulting

Mark A Matte markamatte at hotmail.com
Thu Dec 7 10:35:34 CST 2006


Dan,

Great insight.  I'm no longer an Independent, but one comment especially 
caught my attention.

>9)  At first, your ability to sell and market yourself is what makes you or
>breaks you.  If you can find a mentor to help you with this, pay them!  I
>was introduced to a person who is a software salesperson, and his help has
>been invaluable.

My mentor is also a software salesperson.  I wonder if this is coincidence 
or a logical pairing of occupations.

Just a thought,

Mark A. Matte


>From: "Dan Waters" <dwaters at usinternet.com>
>Reply-To: Access Developers discussion and problem 
>solving<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
>To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem 
>solving'"<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
>Subject: Re: [AccessD] Independent Consulting
>Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 18:38:22 -0600
>
>Hi Barb,
>
>Having done this 4 years ago, these are my thoughts:
>
>1)  Charge a respectable rate.  I started out charging $50/hr, only to find
>out that potential customers would see that as me not knowing what I'm
>doing.  Next year I'm charging $120/hr without complaint.  If a customer 
>can
>easily see that they get more value than they paid you, they won't worry
>about your rate.  You might charge a fixed rate for certain projects - a
>chance for more money.  Another possibility, although a challenge to
>implement, could be to charge an ongoing or one-time percent of the value
>you have provided to them.
>
>2)  Explicitly tell potential customers how they will gain more value than
>you will charge.  Go into some detail on this - they will then feel like
>they are informed and be more comfortable with you.
>
>3)  Go a little slow - get to know your primary contacts somewhat
>personally.  This goes a long way toward trust and being able to resolve 
>the
>inevitable conflicts that arise, and they'll open up more to you.  But,
>remember that their primary loyalty will stay with their own company.
>
>4)  Always be on your customers' side.  Provide solutions and suggestions
>they didn't think of.
>
>5)  Don't start work until you've signed a contract.  I got slightly burned
>on this once.  A good contract structure is to agree on how to work
>together.  Then you can write a new Statement of Work for each project 
>which
>gets into deliverables, schedules, payments, and so forth.  This reduces 
>the
>trepidation associated with signing a contract.  If you've got a good
>history with a client, and YOU feel comfortable you can make verbal
>agreements.  Some people are quite uncomfortable with written agreements
>(they may not say so) and may avoid you just to avoid the written 
>agreement.
>
>
>6)  Consider being a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC).  This avoids the
>difficulty of being a subchapter S corp, and gives you protection like a
>corporation.  Talk to attorney about this though.
>
>7)  An Accountant? - I guess that depends on your billing rate!  I don't 
>use
>an accountant, but since I'm finally making some money this year, it hasn't
>mattered till now.
>
>8)  Set up a small web site.  This gives you a presence that other people
>can quickly find if you give them your business card.  For your site, you
>will drive people to it for more information - don't expect your web site 
>to
>generate business for you.  Be very clear and comprehensive on your site as
>to what you do.  Make it simple and easy to read - no flashy graphics - 
>it's
>a business site.  The purpose of your web site is to get people interested
>enough to CALL you - not to sell you.  Don't provide enough information 
>that
>would allow people to cross you off their list.  Your goal is to talk to
>them person to person - you sell you - not your site!
>
>9)  At first, your ability to sell and market yourself is what makes you or
>breaks you.  If you can find a mentor to help you with this, pay them!  I
>was introduced to a person who is a software salesperson, and his help has
>been invaluable.
>
>10)  I've come up against a situation where the IT folks in a customer's
>site feel competitive with me.  If this happens you can't stop it - it's
>their emotions.  Just be aware that can this occur.
>
>11) Emphasize the comprehensiveness of your experience.  Managers like
>people who can do a lot.
>
>12) Some customers may want you to take the lead on a project!  Managers
>also like people who can start the job and get it done so they can do other
>things.  If you are a good project manager then you are more valuable!  
>With
>one customer, I update and provide a gannt chart weekly, and I gently bug
>people to get things done.
>
>13) References give you credibility as an independent person!  If you can,
>find some small jobs, maybe for people you know, and get references that
>way.  It will help!
>
>
>Best of Luck!
>
>Dan Waters
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
>[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Barbara Ryan
>Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 2:45 PM
>To: Access List
>Subject: [AccessD] Independent Consulting
>
>After 20 years of working as a computer programmer/analyst (the last 7 
>years
>working exclusively with Access and Excel), I have made the decision to
>become an independent consultant.
>
>Any advice?  Suggestions on nformational resources about consulting (books,
>websites,etc.)?  How to set a billing rate? Marketing ideas?  Do I need a
>lawyer AND an accountant?  Any 'gotchas' that I should look out for?  This
>is pretty scary for me!
>
>Thanks,
>Barb Ryan
>--
>AccessD mailing list
>AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
>http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
>Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
>
>--
>AccessD mailing list
>AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
>http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
>Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com

_________________________________________________________________
Get the latest Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta version. Join now. 
http://ideas.live.com




More information about the AccessD mailing list