Setting up a small "consultancy" - Success stories?

[northernladuk]

It's a pretty common route for tech startups SMEs I'd say - I've worked for two who started this way (one had Lehman Bros as their customer #1 !) and were successful yet totally reliant on a single customer even as employees reached double digits and beyond. That fight for the second customer is pretty scary and not something I would really want to do myself... I've also been involved (I would have been the CTO if it had come to anything) in a nascent company that began with a single project and ambition to diversify, but could never find that second project and wound down.

Yeah I get that but IMO the OP has started on completely the wrong foot. They talk about using their RoS which to me would indicate they are messing about with individuals in contracts and not starting up a consultancy that is bidding for packages of work which is where their plan falls apart. Yes it is possible to be in a client and see opportunities to hoover up work packages and, same as you, I've seen it but in the two best cases I can think of they got stuck with one client and in both cases the work eventually dried up and both companies went under.

You make a very important point about the single company which is not a point to be overlooked but also they approach the OP has (from the limited info given) is all wrong. Before they start something like this they've got to be very clear with their business model and what they can do for a client and that appears to be missing and it's just the contractors pipe dream of getting other bodies on site which isn't consulting.

Only the OP knows and the same points have been made a few times so I think they've got the message. Up to them to re-look at what is going on at the client and work out which way this is going.

[clearedforlanding]

As much as we all bitch about agencies do not underestimate how much mundane tulip they do, that you are abstracted from.

[d000hg]

Yeah I get that but IMO the OP has started on completely the wrong foot. They talk about using their RoS which to me would indicate they are messing about with individuals in contracts

If the start point is to take a load of contracts and sub in others that sounds pretty dodgy I agree. OTOH "I have someone I could supply to fill this role" would be legit. You don't want to get large companies upset with you forcing RoS that they never really expected to be used, you can't afford any legal agro.