Ask HN: How do I start my own consulting firm?
Welcome to the dark side :)<p>Starting a services firm is all about building up a client base that can sustain you. Your big challenge is to get into the best referral circles, as the best projects come via word of mouth.<p>My suggestion is to take whatever you can get at first. Take as many coffee meetings as possible and network like crazy. You never know where your first big lead will come from.<p>Expect most potential clients to be sceptical of your ability to deliver until you have portfolio pieces that are of both a similar level of complexity to the clients&#x27; needs as well as written in similar technologies. Clients will be sceptical of anything that you wrote while still employed unfortunately.<p>For me, this meant that I had to take projects at a loss or on razor thin margins at the beginning. I was strategic about it though and this allowed me to build up the type of portfolio I needed to get my ideal contracts.<p>Online markets are very competitive. Expect to be up against 200 other bidders. It can be fruitful, but I consider it to be a full time job in itself.<p>Until you&#x27;re established, you&#x27;ll need to follow up on every potential sales channel you can think of. If you have sufficient capital to float sales people, it&#x27;s always a great thing to have, but be careful as employees will spend your money faster than you make it at first. Contractors, freelancers, and commission only sales can help you out here.<p>I found most of my first clients by announcing my availability to my network. There may be some less saturated job boards on Facebook that are localized to your specific city as well.<p>You may need to take on smaller projects than you would like at first. It will feel useless but it is actually valuable networking. Some of my 1 day projects have turned into handsome referrals :)<p>Get as much mentorship and help as you can find. There will be hard times before the operation is running smoothly.<p>If you ever want to chat about it, you can hit me up at eric@dualgravity.com