Going it alone

[redline]

Hi,

I've been a traditional contractor for about 5 years now, where traditional means lookup a role on job site or speak to agents and spend the duration of the contract in the clients office. It's been great, I've really enjoyed it but I've got a real urge to tender for larger contracts and implement their requirements (from my home/office), perhaps hiring contractors to help if need be.

My problem is that I've no idea where to find clients. There are a few sites out there that aggregate contracts and allow one to submit a tender but I'm finding them to be poor quality and, well, useless. Can anyone give me any pointers; where do I find clients?

[craig1]

I do about 50/50 contracting/consultancy and the real problem I have is that the consultancy part requires me to be far stronger in sales, marketing and PR than I've ever had to consider as a contractor.

IF you have:
- the contacts
- the sales nouse
- the marketing nouse
- the PR nouse
- a decent bit of luck
then you MIGHT get a decent career out of proper consultancy work. The fewer of those you have, the harder your job will be.

You then have to assume that you'll have less work but for more money than contracting, then you have to deduct the "free" time you give to clients for sales/marketing and, all in, you'll probably make a bit less than if you were contracting for 6-8 months a year.

It's far more satisfying a job but unless you're one of the top people in your field then you shouldn't be doing it for the money. I know far too many that have to expand into "training" and other lower rate stuff just to pay the bills.

[MrMark]

IF you have:
- the contacts
- the sales nouse
- the marketing nouse
- the PR nouse
- a decent bit of luck
then you MIGHT get a decent career out of proper consultancy work. The fewer of those you have, the harder your job will be.

Yes, sadly, even if you have a service that can provide companies with major savings and added functionality, it's very difficult to get managers to bite. A case of you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[redline]

I do about 50/50 contracting/consultancy and the real problem I have is that the consultancy part requires me to be far stronger in sales, marketing and PR than I've ever had to consider as a contractor.

Thanks Craig, contacts-wise, I have access to loads of great developers but no contact that might help me procure contracts. My question is really; where can I find and tender for work?

[mudskipper]

Don't know if this is any use
UK Public sector technology and IT tenders

[craig1]

Thanks Craig, contacts-wise, I have access to loads of great developers but no contact that might help me procure contracts. My question is really; where can I find and tender for work?

Again, that's the problem. Most of my consultancy work is word-of-mouth and subbie-ing for business friends. The rest is hard-sell stuff.

If you're going for a niche market, get your name known in that market. Shamelessly plug yourself, write well-written pieces and give them away free to those niche market journals, attend trade shows and try to get speaker slots. Do everything to build an image of an ethical, reliable professional who has things that are in demand and scarce. THEN when you go for the hard-sell, you have a much greater chance.

On the hard-sell, never go in cold without some sort of clue where you can sell your stuff. Again, if you're after niche markets it's easier, get every journal and trade rag for that market, study every article to see if there's a new service/office/problem in a company that's relevant to your skills then you have an "in". For example, company opening new office and you're an office move expert then get your pitch in the same day. Not going to go into the details as that could be a 200 page book of how to find holes you can fill with your skills!

[2BIT]

Again, that's the problem. Most of my consultancy work is word-of-mouth and subbie-ing for business friends. The rest is hard-sell stuff.

If you're going for a niche market, get your name known in that market. Shamelessly plug yourself, write well-written pieces and give them away free to those niche market journals, attend trade shows and try to get speaker slots. Do everything to build an image of an ethical, reliable professional who has things that are in demand and scarce. THEN when you go for the hard-sell, you have a much greater chance.

On the hard-sell, never go in cold without some sort of clue where you can sell your stuff. Again, if you're after niche markets it's easier, get every journal and trade rag for that market, study every article to see if there's a new service/office/problem in a company that's relevant to your skills then you have an "in". For example, company opening new office and you're an office move expert then get your pitch in the same day. Not going to go into the details as that could be a 200 page book of how to find holes you can fill with your skills!

try and find out what companies use the software you develop in and target them direct, may be easier said than done!

[redline]

Don't know if this is any use
UK Public sector technology and IT tenders

I found that when I was looking and dismissed it quickly because the first few entries looked a bit spammy. Looking again, and a bit deeper, it looks like a good place to start. Thanks for posting it.

[kaiser78]

Just putting it out there...is there really any difference between an IT contractor and IT consultant ? Cannot one really be badged as the other and vice versa ?

[3starmn]

Like you I'm trying to increase my chances of getting contracts by trying to source my own work in addition to playing the ring and wait game with agencies, so far it has been quite slow and difficult, without a good network of contacts you will be up against. The key is to build your network of contacts, get on linkedin if you're not already and make sure your profile is up to date and relevant to the work your trying to seek. Brookson organise an Enterprise Freelance Fair which try to match freelancers to businesses who need their skills, I've never been to one myself but it may be useful in getting your name out there.