Ask HN: How do you find people who need applications built?
Starting a consulting company from scratch here and wonder where people find customers who need custom software built?
1 comments
To me, the real work of a consultancy in any field, not just software, is finding good clients (by which I mean those that pay and pay reasonably well and on time). Doing the actual technical work is pretty much the easier part.
This means that a full 'rollodex' might be more valuable than broad technical competence. But in any event the way to pick up good clients is to go out and do sales and marketing and lead generation and prospect qualification.
The alternative bid-for-work market tends to be bi-modal. At the end with high paying consulting gigs, all the sales process is necessary to be invited to bid (or conversely specialized paperwork for government contracts). At the low end of the bid for work market, it's a race to the bottom.
Anyway, short of good fortune, developing clients tends to be hard work.
Good luck.
This means that a full 'rollodex' might be more valuable than broad technical competence. But in any event the way to pick up good clients is to go out and do sales and marketing and lead generation and prospect qualification.
The alternative bid-for-work market tends to be bi-modal. At the end with high paying consulting gigs, all the sales process is necessary to be invited to bid (or conversely specialized paperwork for government contracts). At the low end of the bid for work market, it's a race to the bottom.
Anyway, short of good fortune, developing clients tends to be hard work.
Good luck.