Dan Waters
dwaters at usinternet.com
Wed Dec 6 18:38:22 CST 2006
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