Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

One of the side effects of becoming a better developer is increasing productivity and quality.  You literally get more value from time spent on a task.  These improvements can come through skills or through using tools.  That is the focus of this episode.  Part of becoming a better developer is adding to the list of tools available for a task. One Trick Ponies Unfortunately, there are developers t...

A big part of advancing your career includes enhancing your resume.  There will be new skills you pick up along the way, and it helps to let others know about them.  This consists of the tools you use in your daily work.  Even those that you use occasionally can be the first step into a new job. Enhancing Your Resume, Not Spamming Key Words First and foremost, this topic is not about spamming your...

Learning for our personal purposes is not the limit of what IT workers are asked to do.  There are also situations where we need to learn the latest tools or technology advances.  Unfortunately, these are not often tasks assigned to junior staff.  However, researching new tools is an excellent way to add to our resume and general skill set.  Therefore, we should take on these assignments when they...

There are many ways to add to our skills and advance our career.  While on-the-job learning is essential, formal learning situations can move the ball forward at a faster pace.  Training and conferences fit this bill perfectly.  However, the cost of one of these options can be more than our employer (or we) are willing to take on. Plan For Training and Conferences Budgeting is critical.  This is t...

An IT career demands that we include learning new tech skills as part of our regular routine.  This requirement often leads to a lot of time spent on career development.  However, there are ways to make progress on this goal in our daily work.  Thus, allowing us to kill two birds with one stone as the saying goes. Learning New Tech Skills - Startups The best situation for drinking from the firehos...

We all have seen situations in our career where we are asked to play a role.  The role is sometimes a broader one than we are used to.  However, we can also be asked to play a role that is only a piece of what we can provide.  In either case, we need to fulfill the desired role and add value without overstepping our boundaries.  Employees are often given more freedom in this area which can make a...

A side hustle does not preclude travel.  Thus, sooner or later you will face the question of how to handle travel and related expenses.  You might not have to wait.  Your employer may send you away for your day job and you will be faced with the same challenges.  Where large companies often have highly detailed processes, procedures, and limits for travel, smaller ones often do not.  Therefore, we...

An excellent measure of long-term success is how much your customers like you.  Thus, building relationships are a critical part of your job.  You may have the skills to be able to stay busy without the "personal touch."  However, life will be simpler when you create some advocates along the way. Building Relationships Organically Your primary focus should be solving problems.  When you do this, i...

We have touched on the idea that there are explicit and implicit project deliverables in most cases.  These may be due to our customer simplifying a solution or general prerequisites and best practices.  Some common implicit project deliverables include documentation, test scripts, demonstrations and the like.  We need to take all of these into account for our estimates and risk calculation. A Com...

When we complete a project for a customer or employer, we give them a product.  Thus, there is a form of deliverable packaging that we need to consider for that hand-off.  This concept may be confusing, but it is not complicated.  You do not need to shrinkwrap a box with a USB drive in it or anything like that.  Instead, we are focused on documentation, scripts, and how you hand over the final pro...

Sooner or later, every developer is asked for project deliverables.  This may be source code, binary files, or full-blown documents.  No matter which of these is required, the best approach is to make sure these are complete.  Thus, let's look at some guidelines, suggestions, and best practices to help you nail this part of your job. Follow The Instructions First and foremost, follow directions.  ...

No matter how good you are at your job, sooner or later communicating status will be required.  A helpful hint is to avoid waiting until this becomes a requirement.  Instead, get in the habit of regularly reporting your progress and status to your boss.  Since this is a regular task, you should find the proper balance between keeping it short and providing enough detail. A Weekly Status Template F...

A software consultant brings intellectual tools with them as well as applications.  This capital comes in the form of experience and also the more concrete source code.  That includes anything you take advantage of in your personal code repository.  Although we typically are not fans of legal issues, we do need to spend the time reviewing contracts and ownership rights before we jump into that pro...

One of the common aspects of consulting that is missed is clarity about developer tools and licenses.  In particular, this obstacle is natural to overlook when you are used to being an employee.  The challenge is not just being able to access the tools; you also have to navigate what can be used for your customers.  Even more, there are applications you can use for your projects, but they are not...

The completion of a project is not necessarily the end of a customer relationship.  To the contrary, consulting project enhancements are a common way to keep that relationship alive.  When that fails, a follow-up project also has a higher likelihood of being won than a new one.  Take advantage of these options to keep your business thriving. Consulting Project Enhancements The first path to review...

Once you find a prospect your next step is turning them into a customer.  In the IT world (as well as most other lines of business) this is done through a proposal.  Therefore, writing proposals is a significant facet of growing a business.  There is no black magic involved in this process; we just need some common sense. A Process for Writing Proposals Our focus on every project should be solving...

The challenge of finding consulting projects is not one you should overlook.  However, the first is the hardest.  Once you have a couple of projects under your belt, you will find it easier to win additional work. We will cover the ways to grow existing business in another episode.  For now, let's look at some ways to find prospects that are the easiest to convert into customers. Finding Consultin...

One of the critical choices in accepting a project is whether you will bill based on a fixed or hourly basis.  The bottom line is that one approach places more risk on you as a provider.  The other puts it on the customer.  At least, that is the typical thought.  However, you can adjust a fixed bid or how the hourly rate is paid to shift risk around. Fixed or Hourly as a Project Approach I think t...

Whether you are running a side hustle or a full-blown business, at some point you will need to create consulting invoices.  Well, unless you do not care about being paid for your work.  This is a process that is often overlooked.  However, the way you invoice can help you get paid on time, impress a client, and even market your services to expand the business. Consulting Invoices Are Not Redundant...

The most common discussion I have had around consulting is setting the price on my services.  Yes, customers care about my rates.  However, the conversations tend to be focused on what the pricing should be for the person with whom I am speaking.  There is no silver bullet for this challenge.  On the other hand, it is not as difficult as many of us think. Setting The Price Based on the Market The...

There is a book on having difficult conversations.  The challenge is that we do not like having them.  They tend to be difficult.  Unfortunately, this can complicate honest communication.  It is a challenge when we are trying to be positive and be seen as one that brings good news.  It is even worse when we worry whether someone will shoot the messenger. Real News Over Good News The most common re...

As we continue to discuss consulting communication, we turn towards venting.  This topic includes negative communication as well.  To be clear, negative is not the same as disagreeing.  You can stay positive while communicating a disagreement.  We are held to a higher standard when in a consulting role and we should always remember that fact. Consulting Communication Stays Positive It may seem dif...

There are all sorts of documents that are needed for a consultant.  However, the ones that provide a form of CYA documentation may be the most vital.  This sort of communication is not only valuable in proving you did what you said, but it can also be a critical key to retracing your steps. Why Bother With CYA Documentation? A consultant is a temporary worker by definition.  With that in mind, why...

One of the hardest parts of building a consulting career is the disruptions that always occur.  This is a path that often follows the feast or famine roller coaster.  Therefore we bounce between too much work to keep up and not enough to pay the bills.  There are ways to soften the blow of these disruptions as well as those that are larger such as health or family issues.  These more substantial d...

As we look at how and when to start a consulting business (or project), it helps to consider timing.  Sometimes you can select when to start, and other times the decision is made for you.  In this episode, we look at that final push to get started on your consulting career. Circumstances Often Give That Final Push There is plenty of stories about people that were fired or laid off and forced into...