UK Self Employed Developers
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After years of putting money into others pockets i feel like a lifestyle change and to take control of my own future. I want to try to make a go of doing programming/consultancy work for local (ish) small to medium size businesses. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a little initial advice such as: How is business? What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). Any helpful comments please. J
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After years of putting money into others pockets i feel like a lifestyle change and to take control of my own future. I want to try to make a go of doing programming/consultancy work for local (ish) small to medium size businesses. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a little initial advice such as: How is business? What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). Any helpful comments please. J
jonathan15 wrote: How is business? Quiet. Most of my work at the moment is repeat business and through contacts who recommend me. jonathan15 wrote: What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). I tried the same strategy recently but didn't meet with any good success. If people are looking for a software solution then you may get lucky, otherwise you have to try and sell them on why you can help their business. If you are a good salesmen, you may have better luck. A lot depends on what services you are going to supply. You may be able to pick up the odd IT support contract by knocking on doors and offering your services, and from their you may be able to get some development work. Price point is also important, something I don't feel I've got a handle on yet for the smaller businesses. Having some applications that can get you a foot in the door helps, so does the offer of free IT audit where you can make recommendations on what software would help their business. It is difficult to get started unless you already have contacts who can help you get to talk to the right people. Hope this helps, Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
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jonathan15 wrote: How is business? Quiet. Most of my work at the moment is repeat business and through contacts who recommend me. jonathan15 wrote: What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). I tried the same strategy recently but didn't meet with any good success. If people are looking for a software solution then you may get lucky, otherwise you have to try and sell them on why you can help their business. If you are a good salesmen, you may have better luck. A lot depends on what services you are going to supply. You may be able to pick up the odd IT support contract by knocking on doors and offering your services, and from their you may be able to get some development work. Price point is also important, something I don't feel I've got a handle on yet for the smaller businesses. Having some applications that can get you a foot in the door helps, so does the offer of free IT audit where you can make recommendations on what software would help their business. It is difficult to get started unless you already have contacts who can help you get to talk to the right people. Hope this helps, Michael CP Blog [^] Development Blog [^]
Sadly Sales & Marketing is something i recognise as being my biggest weakness having no experience of it at all. I also know that is is something i really need to work on if i am going to get anywhere, unfortunately it is also the hardest skill to pick up and good advice and help is difficult to get. As you said it is difficult to get started and i was thinking of trying to get some of my existing (employers existing) customers to consider me for future work or recomend me to others (we dont do much bespoke stuff and don't have the time for it so it would not really be poaching, In fact at times my employer deliberatly overprices so they don't get some jobs). J
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After years of putting money into others pockets i feel like a lifestyle change and to take control of my own future. I want to try to make a go of doing programming/consultancy work for local (ish) small to medium size businesses. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a little initial advice such as: How is business? What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). Any helpful comments please. J
I was thinking to myself the other day that if I was doing that type of thing that it would be good to join the local chamber of commerce and other types of organisations like that. A pr company I know gets loads of work through that type of thing. The idea is to get yourself known, go to all the meetings, tell them what you do, sow the seeds of how your work can improve their business / save them money time etc ;) and over time you will be the first person they think of when they need that kind of work. Also don't be afraid to talk to businesses in the same or similar fields. In the local market you can have a few rivals etc and the tendancy is often to be suspicious of each other. I think its better to get to know them, often they don't do exactly the same thing and they can send work your way in areas where your stronger and you can send other stuff back. On this point maybe hook up with a designer, you will always need logos, websites etc and your clients may ask you if you know anyone good. Similarly designers will know when their clients need a geek and since they don't know anything other than how a Mac works they will refer you. There is plenty of work out there as far as I can see. Good luck. :-D
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After years of putting money into others pockets i feel like a lifestyle change and to take control of my own future. I want to try to make a go of doing programming/consultancy work for local (ish) small to medium size businesses. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a little initial advice such as: How is business? What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). Any helpful comments please. J
I am speaking from the US but I'm sure there is a similar issue in the UK. An accountant is almost a must because, among other things, there are tax reporting requirements which I don't know and have no desire to learn. They also, of course, are handy to help keep your finanical books. One question that I would love to hear others experience with is the need for liability insurance. As an example of a need for this, suppose you write an app for a company and later they claim that an error in your program caused them a loss of income. My one experience with liablity insurance was that I took out a policy for a year. Cost: $3,500. Other than me sending my check and the insurance company sending me my policy, there was no communication between us during the year. At the end of the year they informed me that they would not renew my policy. What's with that??? Anyway, is this needed??? :~
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After years of putting money into others pockets i feel like a lifestyle change and to take control of my own future. I want to try to make a go of doing programming/consultancy work for local (ish) small to medium size businesses. I was just wondering if anybody could give me a little initial advice such as: How is business? What is the best way to advertise/get work? (I thought about visiting businesses on the industrial and trading parks locally with a small leaflet listing the type of work i do). Any helpful comments please. J
Thanks to all. Helpfull and usefull advice as always. Jon:-D