

Ask HN: Any franchise for starting a web development consultancy? - streakerbee

I want to start my own web development consultancy. I was wondering if there was a franchise model I could pursue to get started?
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rubiquity
I don't know of any franchises per se, but Thoughtbot, a well known Ruby on
Rails consultancy, publishes a "Playbook"[0] that outlines how they run their
consultancy. I find it to be a good guide to consult from time to time. It
covers everything from the development process to sales. It's written from the
point of view of a new Thoughtbot employee, which makes it an interesting
read.

0 - [http://playbook.thoughtbot.com/](http://playbook.thoughtbot.com/)

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notahacker
WSI (www.wsicorporate.com) is still around. But I really don't understand the
point of a franchise for a web development business. A web development
business is one or more people with a computer, some skills and the ability to
deal with customers. You don't need a consumer brand, a supply chain,
specialist equipment and training or a stylish bricks & mortar store, so I'm
really not sure what value you'd expect to get from a franchise fee.

If you need help getting customers, offer your services to other agencies for
which _they pay you_

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projectramo
Well people don't know if you are competent, if your prices are reasonable, if
you are honest, if you follow some standard business practices, if you
document your work, and so on. The point of the brand is to promise all that
to them.

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JSeymourATL
Bar None: The best authority on the broader subject of consulting in general
is Alan Weiss. Only wish I discovered and read his stuff when I started out.
Here's recommended book for you> [http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Launch-
Kick-start-Succe...](http://www.amazon.com/Million-Dollar-Launch-Kick-start-
Successful/dp/0071826343)

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paulhauggis
Why not start small?

Get one client and go from here. The hardest parts will be learning how to
manage your time, saying no to your clients, and figuring out how to take an
idea from a client and transferring it directly to code.

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streakerbee
How do you get that first client?

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ohashi
Go meet people. It's amazing how many people are out there searching for
talent. If they can't hire a full time, they often resort to contractors.
That's you.

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sogen
There are some franchises at entrepeneur.com/franchises/

you can do a search for marketing agencies.

hope that helps

