
Ask HN: How to start your own software/ML/Web consultancy company? - rishiloyola
I am 22 years old. I have good knowledge of systems, web development, and backend development. One of my friends is good at ML and AI. We are thinking to start our own consultancy company to help other companies to build their products. Any advice I can get from HN community? How to get the first client? How to make new connections for our business?
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externalreality
So here is what I have learned over the years from working for, dealing with,
starting my own, and studying consultancy companies. It really quite simple.

Every successful consultancy company I know had several things in common.

1) The founders weren't concerned about money. The could afford to spend time
bootstrapping the business because they had some source of fallback that most
people don't have. For example, their parents/brother/sister may have been
very well off and they knew that even if they "blow it all" it wouldn't mean
starvation.

2) A guaranteed client. Most startup consultancies I have encountered had a
guaranteed client. That is, a client that is already willing to work with them
and throw contracts their way giving the company time to bootstrap itself
while paying a few salaries.

3) Sales. Your consultancy is not different than any other consultancy. The
only difference is nobody trusts you (see 4) and most prospects will likely go
to a more established consultancy. You are going to be spending most of your
time doing sales. Don't get discouraged, get some cheap email campaign
software, get some cheap lead generation software and keep doing sales. Going
to conferences and networking doesn't work in the boutique software
consultancy game. It just doesn't.

4) No body trust you. You have to build the most professional web site you can
afford and make yourself look trust worthy. Don't build something you can't
afford but you need something.

5) (Warning: unethical) Most boutique software companies I know have some
unethical gimmick. Basically if you are a white male you can hire cheap labor
from India, China, South America, eastern europe and market yourself as the
white western world's interface to cheap 3rd world software development
expertise. You can hate me for saying that so bluntly, but google it and see
how many consultancies ACTUALLY DO THAT. I know of software consultancies
(several) that completely bootstrapped themselves this way thriving off of the
cheap labor of the 3rd world for years to undercut competitors. This is such a
popular technique that new startups are actually giving away months of there
cheap labor for free in order to compete with other cheap labor selling
consultancies whose prices they can't match and whose name is more well
established. Please don't get hung up on the fact that I mentioned this point
- its a reality.

6) Don't listen to others who tell you that you can't do it just because they
can't.

7) See point 3. If you are not willing to do sales more than you do software
than you should just stop right now. If you don't have enough money to pay for
a sales then you have to do it yourself.

8) Don't think you have a software consultancy if you've just settled on being
an independent contractor. You don't, and you are will likely just be a cog in
the engine that I've described in points 1 - 7.

Hint: Nobody uses ML (I'm assuming you mean ML like in Standard ML or the
like). Don't get hung up on a particular language or framework. You will just
be limiting yourself to a very small segment of the market if you choose some
niche language.

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marktangotango
Why is 5 unethical? I know people who perform a similar function managing and
coordinating with offshore teams and employees at fortune 100s. Being able to
get stuff done with global teams is a very valuable skill not many have.

