Growing One’s Consulting Business
Oh my. This article is simply fantastic. I think I’ve been pretty public that I’m in the ‘project billing’ camp in the ever-waging-war between that and billing by the hour, and a number of points in this piece outline why.
Many people feel that client work isn’t the most glamorous thing in the world, that you’re still not actually working for yourself unless you’re building your own apps and eating your own dog food. I highly disagree and find client work to be extremely satisfying. I find projects to be both extremely challenging as well as a solid reality check. It’s far too easy to get swept up into our own bubble of bleeding edge technologies, leaving the vast majority of the world in our dust. While it’s important to carry the torch in terms of embracing the new Web, I think it’s equally important to test our theories and implementations with people who are not like us. It’s hard to do that when you’re building widgets that primarily bring you further into your own circle.
