Independent Consulting For Beginners

I need advice.

The economic "recovery" is allegedly in full swing but I still see tons of empty office buildings around town and demand for cubicle-dwelling IT staff is still lackluster. Plus, for reasons I don't want to go into, long commutes and away-from-home contracts are something I have to cut down on. The recovery is not in cubicle-land and maybe never will be, at least in the US. I have decided to abandon the world of DilBert cubicles and PHB's and strike out on my own to be part of W's "ownership <cough> society". But I have no idea how to approach small and medium companies for miscellaneous IT services. Do I just get on the phone and say something such as:

"Hi, my name is Foo Bar and I am wondering if I can speak to somebody in charge of computer related decisions?"

If they do put me through, what do I say next?

Frankly, I am scared to death of cold-calling. But I must face it to make the transition. Even if it does not work out, I still need such skills to move into project management and other less tech-intensive liaison positions if I do go back into cubicle-land because that is where the growth will be. One way or another I must force myself to be more people-oriented. Hiding behind tech ability is not enough anymore because BrainsAsaCheapCommodity.

I have also been reading Dale Carnegie's HowToWinFriendsAndInfluencePeople in order to transition from the dying knowledge economy to the new persuasion economy. Among other things, it suggests that you readily let other people take credit for your suggestions. This is anti-geek in that we tend to crave such credit, even more than money. After all, one of the reasons people produce OpenSource software is for the credit, not necessarily to be liked. How does one change their personality to give away what we as geeks cherish most in exchange for personal relationship benefit, something that generally does not arouse us much? We want to be rewarded for building better mouse traps, not collecting friends/clients. But the new economy is not going to do that anymore (unless you are one of the last of the 80-hour-per-week alpha-geeks).

What is "persuasion economy" and where did you get that phrase? A paradigm (new, in transition) that we should know about? Google does not know.

In short, "people based" instead of technology-based. Somewhat related: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.02/brain.html

It's been said that if you don't know who your first couple of clients will be, you are not ready to get into consulting. If you don't already have a network of contacts who know your value, it's going to be very difficult to get work as an independent consultant.

Somebody has to start somewhere to get into such a biz. Are you suggesting that there is no gradual way to get in? Giving away free or discount services?

Most job boards have postings for "contractors" or "contract-to-hire" positions. Many contract agencies will represent you to clients and markup your rates. They also handle your tax withholdings and various filing requirements. As you start moving towards shorter engagements, if you are successful, you will begin building a contract network. That network will pull you into the people-oriented work you desire. Unfortunately, you will almost surely spend more, rather than less, time in cubicle-land while you build the experience and network that people will eventually pay you to offer them.

CategoryEmployment