[AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases

Kath Pelletti kp at sdsonline.net
Wed Jun 27 07:49:09 CDT 2007


...that's a good point about VPN. I use with with my clients as well which means that for a couple of them there's almost no face to face, which isn't good. On the other hand it beats wasting time sitting in traffic - but it is important to actually drop in from time to time.

Kath
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dan Waters 
  To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 9:51 PM
  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases


  Chris - you're right.  If you are seen as the manager of developers you will
  get more respect than if you are seen as the programmer.  

  I do everything, but I've learned to interact with my customers in the
  role(s) of project manager, customer service, contract writer, explainer of
  value, process designer, etc.  If I talk about programming, the response
  gets a little glassy-eyed.

  I've never worked much on-site.  2 of 3 customers have given me VPN access.
  With one of those I have remote desktop access, which means I can test on
  their server from my home office.  There is a slight risk here in that it
  reduces my interaction with them, so I look for other ways to keep in touch
  regularly.  

  Dan


  -----Original Message-----
  From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
  [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Christopher
  Hawkins
  Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 5:58 AM
  To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases

  Well, yeah.  One of the main reasons I stopped coding on-site (aside from
  wanting to build a team instead of being a solo operator) is that when you
  do the coding off-site and just deliver the finished solution, you're able
  to maintain at least a little mystique regarding what went into the work.
  When you work onsite, the client has a much easier time developing a sense
  of contempt for what you do.  After all, you're only typing.  Why aren't you
  done yet? What are you doing?  Why are you doing it like that?  And so on.  

  Plus, you can't easily bring your dev team into play when you're working
  on-site - why is he here?  Why can't you do this?  What are we paying you
  for if he's doing the work?  Why do we need you?  I don't want to pay for
  two people to do the same task.

  Now, I only go on-site for meetings and for implementations.  It works out
  much better. I still write about 40% of the total code my firm produces, but
  I do more project management than anything else these days.  I'm the guy on
  the front lines, interacting with the client and making sure that things get
  done.

  You can't really get to that place when you work on-site.

  -C-

  ----------------------------------------

  From: "Dan Waters" <dwaters at usinternet.com>
  Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 7:41 PM
  To: "'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'"
  <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases 

  Mystique?! Respect?!

  If Me.Confused = True Then
  GoTo www.dictionary.com
  Else
  Me.ReallyIsConfused = True
  GoTo www.dictionary.com
  End If

  varReturn1 = Developer NotIn(Mystique)
  varReturn2 = Developer NotIn(Respect)

  ;-)
  Dan

  -----Original Message-----
  From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
  [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Christopher
  Hawkins
  Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 7:55 PM
  To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com
  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases

  That sounds both smart AND dangerous.

  Smart, because you're securing a guaranteed income and being on-site gives
  you a lot of opportunities to up-sell. Dangerous, for numerous reasons.
  What if Client A has an emergency on a day when you're at Client B? How are
  you ever going to grow your business beyond yourself if you're doing what
  amounts to staff augmentation? And doesn't doing the work on-site remove
  much of the mystique/respect that you normally get as a hired expert?

  It could work brilliantly or it could turn out to be a PITA. I suppose all
  you can do is give it a try and see!

  -C-

  ----------------------------------------

  From: "Kath Pelletti" 
  Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 5:05 PM
  To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving"

  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases 

  It is tricky.......They *need* you to stay in business for the next set of
  changes that will inevitably come but how do you afford to stay in business
  if you have a quiet period? I have 3 or 4 main clients at any one time who
  provide most of my income and then other small stuff.

  A friend of mine (contract programmer) suggested to me the other day that I
  consider selling a day to each of my main clients. It wouldn't have to be a
  whole day but it might be, or it could be one day a fortnight .......so they
  agree to pay 1 days salary for the entire year. It's a pretty ambitious idea
  but he feels that the clients would see it as an opportunity to keep their
  system more dynamic / you could offer to be on-site for all/many of their
  'days' and they would have a secure agreement. It feels like a big ask but
  I'm going to sound it out to one client (also a friend) and get some
  feedback. Then I'd have the security of the pay check whilst working for
  myself......ain't that the holy grail?

  Kath
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Christopher Hawkins 
  To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 1:34 AM
  Subject: Re: [AccessD] The Business Side Of Databases

  I'm another one who needs to do a better job of selling ongoing business,
  Kath. It seems like a chicken-and-the-egg type of problem though - once you
  write (or re-write) a complete system, if you've done your job correctly the
  client probably won't *need* any maintenance. So what do you sell? It's
  tricky.

  -C-

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