Lessons from six years as a solo consultant
I've been there and done that for better and worse. It sounds like the author wants to create their own agency which is a different game than being a solo consultant. If you really want to be a solo consultant...<p>Lessons from 20+ years as a solo consultant:<p>- Customers rarely know what they want.<p>- Customers always change what they want.<p>- Change control in fixed bid work is vastly more important than how smart or productive you are.<p>- It takes an extraordinary amount of effort to find customers.<p>- One gets customers by searching, networking, having other good customers and mastering useful technologies.<p>- What matters long term is consistently making money every month.<p>If you truly want to be a solo consultant:<p>- Maintain good relationships with your customers.<p>- Bill hourly and get paid no later than monthly.<p>- Be willing to work with consulting agencies and accept their markup on your rate.<p>- Always be learning and using new technologies.<p>- Always be looking for the next opportunity.