You also need sales people....maybe not THE MOST of technical of people, but someone who looks for jobs, gets quotes from the technical people, then reels the customers in. They are the relationship managers.<br><br>I have a friend in the early days of Linux (just after LinuxCare) that started just such a consultancy. Had a real "Virtual Office" (board room, receptionist, mailing address...you can rent them...you can rent almost anything).<br><br>It was doing fine until they ran out of pent-up demand and did not have good sales people to find more customers.<br><br>Do straight commission or small wage plus commission for the sales people. A good salesperson should make about 300k a year in commissions. And yes, they will be worth it.<br><br>md<br><br><br>Sent from Xfinity Connect Application<br><br><br>-----Original Message-----<br><br>From: ale@ale.org<br>To: leamhall@gmail.com, ale@ale.org<br>Sent: 2019-05-02 12:11:01 PM <br>Subject: Re: [ale] consulting climate?<br><br><html dir="ltr"><head></head><body style="text-align:left; direction:ltr;"><div>An overhead fee on projects to cover overhead costs. In academia, grants provide 20-80% (forced by institution mandate) to overhead. The bigger the school, the higher the overhead portion :-(</div><div><br></div><div>I'm in a co-op with my dojo. People get votes based on financial input. Currently I'm the #2 investor (SWMBO is getting nervous).</div><div><br></div><div>Lots of options on how to organize things. Virtual office is obvious. Toolchain being opensource is also obvious.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm a "people person". I hate everyone equally. :-)</div><div><br></div><div>A very long time ago, this was discussed on ALE but never moved beyond a few exchanges.</div><div><br></div><div>In order to actually make something like this work it requires a core of 3 people and the ability to meet 2-3 times weekly (video works) to hammer out details and get a charter designed. Start up time (idea to live is months, not weeks) is variable and requires some legal framework.</div><div><br></div><div>On Thu, 2019-05-02 at 11:43 -0400, Leam Hall via Ale wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex; border-left:2px #729fcf solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Recommendations: <br></div><div><br></div><div>1. We find someone who has run or been highly involved in a small consultancy to share what business skills are required. Also, "The Personal MBA" is one of the best business books I've ever read. Figuring out how to share the compensation for those doing overhead work is a thing.<br></div><div><br></div><div>2. Background and personality. Okay, I'll be honest. Many of us aren't the most socially charming. Well, YOU might be, but I have to consciously work at it. Further, while our beliefs and politics may diverge, certain business customers preclude certain activities. Something to be aware of and consider.</div><div><br></div><div>3. Someone lead. The rest of us follow. Remember; the ark was built by a passionate amateur. The Titanic was built by a committee of professionals.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, May 2, 2019 at 11:12 AM maddog via Ale <<a href="mailto:ale@ale.org">ale@ale.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex; border-left:2px #729fcf solid;padding-left:1ex">Nothing against doing long-term and remote projects, but even the best of us max out on cycles. Then we short change the "bread and butter" smaller jobs that kept us going.<br><br>Forming the co-op and creating that Rolodex(R) style contact list allows you to do both.<br><br>md<br><br><br>Sent from Xfinity Connect Application<br><br><br>-----Original Message-----<br><br>From: <a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank">ale@ale.org</a><br>To: <a href="mailto:jonhall80@comcast.net" target="_blank">jonhall80@comcast.net</a>, <a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank">ale@ale.org</a><br>Sent: 2019-05-02 11:05:07 AM <br>Subject: Re: [ale] consulting climate?<br><br><div style="text-align:left;direction:ltr"><div><a href="http://ale.org/consultants" target="_blank">ale.org/consultants</a> ?</div><div><br></div><div>I enjoyed the time I spent freelancing. Stable income is also good. If I had a decent run at a large enough project set to see several months (or more) of consultant-class fees, I would go back.</div><div><br></div><div>Remote access is the only way to go for long term projects. </div><div><br></div><div>On Thu, 2019-05-02 at 11:00 -0400, maddog via Ale wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex; border-left:2px #729fcf solid;padding-left:1ex"><pre>Heck,</pre><br><pre>I would just change the address and telephone number on your existing website and give the co-op a go.</pre><br><pre>md</pre><br><br><pre>Sent from Xfinity Connect Application</pre><br><pre>-----Original Message-----</pre><br><pre>From: </pre><a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank"><pre>ale@ale.org</pre></a><br><pre>To: </pre><a href="mailto:ale@ale.org" target="_blank"><pre>ale@ale.org</pre></a><br><pre>Sent: 2019-05-02 8:50:18 AM </pre><pre>Subject: [ale] consulting climate?</pre><br><pre>Guys,</pre><br><pre>I might find myself out of work soon, so I'm thinking of what to do next. I </pre><pre>used to run a consulting business years ago in New Orleans and enjoyed it </pre><pre>quite a bit.What's the perceived climate these days for a Linux freelancer on </pre><pre>the northeast side of town (though I wouldn't completely rule out a good did </pre><pre>in Cobb)?</pre><br><pre>_______________________________________________</pre><pre>Ale mailing list</pre><a href="mailto:Ale@ale.org" target="_blank"><pre>Ale@ale.org</pre></a><br><a href="https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale" target="_blank"><pre>https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</pre></a><br><pre>See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at</pre><a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo" target="_blank"><pre>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo</pre></a><br></blockquote><div><span><pre>-- </pre><br><pre>James P. Kinney III</pre><pre><br></pre><pre>Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you</pre><pre>gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his</pre><pre>own tail. It won't fatten the dog.</pre><pre>- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain</pre><pre><br></pre><a href="http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><pre>http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/</pre></a><pre><br></pre></span></div></div>
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<pre>_______________________________________________</pre><pre>Ale mailing list</pre><a href="mailto:Ale@ale.org"><pre>Ale@ale.org</pre></a><pre><br></pre><a href="https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale"><pre>https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</pre></a><pre><br></pre><pre>See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at</pre><a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo"><pre>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo</pre></a><pre><br></pre></blockquote><div><span><pre><pre>-- <br></pre>James P. Kinney III
Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his
own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
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