I’m starting a new category of blog entries to capture some notes about being an independent consultant, hopefully some people will find these helpful.  By no means are these notes anything other than a snapshot of my opinion at a point in time … everything is subject to change and clarification.

Getting started

I guess I should first mention, that this is a new thing for me.  I’ve been interested in entrepreneurship and business stuff for a long time, but up until last year I’ve pretty much been an FTE (full time employee).

Awhile ago, I read Joe Webb’s The Rational Guide to IT Consulting (Rational Guides), which did a good job of outlining the basics of getting started and I would recommend it if you are looking for a book on the subject.

For the business entity, I went with an LLC – but I know people who are S-Corps and C-Corps as well.  To take care of all the paperwork, I used MyCorporation (An Intuit Company).  It would have been cheaper to do it myself (lesson #1).  Turns out, Massachusetts is one of the most expensive states to set up an LLC in (>$500 a year currently) … I guess that’s what I get for not doing this when I was in Seattle (lesson #2).

After all the paperwork was official, I then went down to the local bank and setup an account for the business – helps to keep the business stuff the business stuff (after all that’s the point of incorporating).

Then comes the hard part for someone new to an area: find an accountant and lawyer.  This work is still in progress.

Habits to form

Unless you are some rock star (ie. well known expert) or lottery winner … which I’m neither - the first habit you need to form is networking.  Oh and even after you find your first gig, don’t stop networking … keep doing it and doing it more.  Penelope Trunk has some great advice on networking.

Second habit, which sort of goes with the first, is to get good at communicating what you are good … how else will someone know they should use to for a job?  This work is also still in progress.