tech-company, software, consultingI’m a full time employee but I want to slowly start to making money by my own, until the day I can quit the job and work full-time for myself. I’ve wondered about a few options and I think the most obvious is to start a consulting service.
Although I know the primary role of a consultant is to provide solutions I don’t know much more than that.
Basically, I need a north on the subject, so the answers for each bullet can for sure be superficial. As I have more knowledge I will be able to ask more elaborated questions. The questions in the bullets are there to make the question not broad, as my main question is “What do I need to start a consulting service?”
I’m a Brazilian Java developer, but I believe that programming language and localization can be disregarded for this question.
The legal questions can be put aside, as it has been very well answered on other two questions.
In general, what you need is a clear plan of what your added value is (as a Java developer) to your customers, and what kind of customers are most likely to need your services. Can you formulate a 30 second pitch for yourself:
“Do you recognise the situation where […]? If so, I can help you by […]”
Also figure out what you want to be paid, if you want to take on fixed-price projects, how you want to handle overage costs on projects, and what buffers you have in case you can’t find projects for a while.
To answer your specific questions:
You would generally contact other people in the same business and build a network. Go to meetups on you area of expertise in your area, or contribute to events or open source projects. Make yourself known, and slowly you’ll start getting noticed by potential customers. This might take a while though!
Another option is to actively engage potential customers by phone, email, or social media. Again, make a short email or introduction and offer to buy them coffee or lunch, assuming that in Brazil that’s a common practise in business.
You could also advertise your services on websites specifically for finding freelancers like: http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2013/01/16/freelance-jobs/
How can you help me? What kind of references do you have? What happens if you get sick? Will you be able to make the deadlines I’ve set? How will you ensure that? Are you willing to invest time upfront to make a proposal or prototype? Are you willing to commit to a fixed price proposal? Will you be available to support the project / product for the next few years?
This really depends on your situation, but I would say no, unless you are able to set your own hours for the consulting business. As a developer, assume that your customers might want you on site during business hours, which would require an arrangement with your current employer.
Be aware that this might not be an easy step to take, but it can be very beneficial if you can get a steady stream of projects.
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