10 Steps to Becoming a Solo Technology Consultant

Want to quit working for companies as an employee, make more money, and choose the clients you work with? It might be time to go solo - as a technology consultant. To be successful, you need to be smart about how you start. In this episode, I share the exact steps I took to become a solo technology consultant offering software architecture and a variety of other professional services. Whether you're a programmer, in QA, DevOps, do Product Management, Data Science, or any other software development technology role - a technology consultant is not a contractor. You are actually starting a business, and so you need to think like one! I hope this episode helps you avoid some of the pitfalls that software engineers and other tech professionals can fall into when they try to work for themselves. Learn about Solopreneur Jumpstart, a coaching package to bootstrap your solo consulting business  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/services/software-development-coaching/solodev-coaching-package/ Join my Patreon:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/patreon Learn about one-on-one career coaching with me: https://thrivingtechnologist.com/coaching TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles The Thriving Technologist career guide:  https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide You can also watch this episode on YouTube.  Chapter markers / timelinks: (0:00) Introduction (2:55) 10 Steps to Become a Solo Technology Consultant (3:00) 1. Design Your Services (6:38) 2. Discover The Client (8:51) 3. Price Your Services (11:16) 4. Build Client Awareness (13:37) 5. Incorporate (16:33) 6. Acquire Clients (19:01) 7. Negotiate Contracts (23:34) 8. Manage the Engagement (26:16) 9. Keep Financial Records (30:27) 10. Finish Strong and Get a Reference (34:15) Episode Groove Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com

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If working on software teams feels complicated, frustrating, and filled with politics - that's just because your eyes are open. Unfortunately, you do need to make a living! So how do you keep up with the demands of your tech job and still have a life outside of work? Hi I'm Jayme Edwards, and I've had a 26 year career in the software industry filled with thrilling victories - and maddening drama. With so many problems in our industry, the more money I made the more ridiculous people's expectations were. I’m sharing the biggest mistakes I made in my career, and the insights I learned along the way. This podcast is the audio version of the Thriving Technologist YouTube channel, where you can find new episodes every Monday. Podcast versions appear on Wednesday of the same week. Subscribe and join us! Let’s help each other grow a community of healthy software developers.