View
474
Download
0
Category
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
GOING INDEPENDENTA Developer’s Guide to Making it Solo
Monday, November 12, 2012
FAT PENGUIN
Monday, November 12, 2012
INTRODUCTIONS
Michael Kimsal
Web since 1995, PHP since 1996, ASP, Java, etc
Solo developer since 2007 (2nd time around)
Podcaster, publisher, author, blogger, developer
Monday, November 12, 2012
CONFUSED ABOUTGETTING STARTED?
Monday, November 12, 2012
IT CAN BE SCARY!
Not sure where to begin?
Too stressful?
Not enough savings?
Too many things to do?
Monday, November 12, 2012
RELAX!
Monday, November 12, 2012
WHY ARE YOU GOING
INDEPENDENT?Extra part time income?
Be your own boss?Enjoy new things?
Freedom / flexibility?Recently laid off?
Bootstrapping other idea?
Monday, November 12, 2012
TIME FRAME?
Already independent? Near future? (<6 months)
Monday, November 12, 2012
TODAY’S TOPICS
Getting set up
Finding work
Doing the work
Getting paid
Monday, November 12, 2012
GETTING SET UP
• Organization / structure type
• Legal / financial issues
• Contracts
• What are you selling?
• Work environment
• Hardware, software, tools
Monday, November 12, 2012
TYPES OF STRUCTURE
• LLC
• C Corp
• S Corp
• Sole proprietor
• Other?
Monday, November 12, 2012
FIND A GOOD LAWYER
Monday, November 12, 2012
FIND A GOOD LAWYER
• Experience with software
• Experience with services
• Ideally, referral from someone you know already
Monday, November 12, 2012
FIND A GOOD ACCOUNTANT
Monday, November 12, 2012
FIND A GOOD ACCOUNTANT
• Experience with software
• Experience with services
• Ideally, referral from someone you know already
Monday, November 12, 2012
WHAT TYPE OF WORK?
• Services
• Hourly or fixed price?
• Products
• Software As A Service
• Desktop Applications
• Mobile Applications
Monday, November 12, 2012
CONTRACTSUsing your own
vsUsing the client’s
Monday, November 12, 2012
CONTRACTSHave clear definitionsof work to be done
and how to determine when you’re “done”
Monday, November 12, 2012
CONTRACTSConsider
accepting or offeringchanges
Monday, November 12, 2012
TOOLSgetting the job done
Monday, November 12, 2012
HARDWARELaptop
Multiple monitorsPrinters
Fax?Extra batteries
Cables / adaptersCarrier bag
Monday, November 12, 2012
SOFTWEARtwo words
spilled coffee
two more wordsspaghetti incident
Monday, November 12, 2012
SOFTWAREBASICS
InvoicingTime trackingScreen sharing
Ticketing / issue system
Monday, November 12, 2012
DEVELOPERSOFTWARE
Are you still using Notepad? :)
Monday, November 12, 2012
DEVELOPERSOFTWARE
IDEsDebuggers
Version control
Monday, November 12, 2012
DESIGNERSOFTWARE
Adobe still rulesPhotoshop
Dreamweaver
GIMP still works for some :)pixelmator for mac
Monday, November 12, 2012
SMARTPHONE?Time tracking
InvoicingPresentationsVoice calls!
Monday, November 12, 2012
PHONE/VOICE
SYSTEMSTwilio with OpenVBX
or Google Voice
one or more numbersto follow you around
openvbx is full-featured voice system
Monday, November 12, 2012
TYPE OF WORK
(image from sitepoint.com)
Monday, November 12, 2012
FINDING CLIENTS
Monday, November 12, 2012
NETWORKIN’Local events
Regional eventsChamber of Commerce
inside919User groups
Monday, November 12, 2012
RECRUITERS
Major recruiting companiesare more open today to working on short term
contract placements
Some have teams that docs on short term only
Monday, November 12, 2012
JOB BOARDSCraigslist
Authentic JobsIndeed.com
SimplyHired.com
Monster / HotJobs / Dice
Monday, November 12, 2012
WORK SITESODeskElance
etc
for most types of software dev work, you’re competing in a race to the bottom
with these marketplaces
Monday, November 12, 2012
BEING FINDABLE
Monday, November 12, 2012
MAIN SITEProfile site - main hubContact information
Links toportfolioresume
blogphone
Monday, November 12, 2012
PORTFOLIODesigned sites, samples
Code samples orlinks to projects
“github is the new resume”
Monday, November 12, 2012
SOCIAL MEDIA
LinkedInFacebookTwitter
StackOverflowetc
Monday, November 12, 2012
GETTING PAIDWhat we’re all doing this for :)
Monday, November 12, 2012
RATESWill vary by regionDon’t forget taxes!Keep competitive
Monday, November 12, 2012
RATESUS ExampleOriginal rate-15.3% SE Tax-20% Income Tax1200 billable hrs
$50/hour$42.35$33.88
$40,656
Monday, November 12, 2012
INVOICINGTerms
Monday, November 12, 2012
INVOICE LIKE CLOCKWORK!
Weekly? Bi weekly? Never get too far behind
Monday, November 12, 2012
MAKING IT EASY TO PAYPayPal, Google Checkout, merchant accounts, paper checks
Monday, November 12, 2012
COLLECTIONS!Arbitration, small claims court
Should you hire a collections firm?
Monday, November 12, 2012
REPEAT!Keeping the cycle going
Monday, November 12, 2012
INSURANCELife, health, business, disability
Monday, November 12, 2012
LIFE INSURANCE
Term life insurance
Insure people left behind - spouse, children, etc.
No dependents?
Consider skipping it...
Monday, November 12, 2012
BUSINESS INSURANCE
General liability
Errors and Omissions
Cheaper if you document your processes with contracts
Monday, November 12, 2012
HEALTH INSURANCE
Shouldn’t be the only thing holding you back
Everyone’s situation is different
Consider high-deductible, and build up savings to cover it
You will *not* have to pay deductibles immediately
Monday, November 12, 2012
MULTIPLE STREAMS OF
INCOMEMultiple clients
Multiple projectsRecurring revenue
(hosting, content sites,info products, etc)
Monday, November 12, 2012
BUILD A SUPPORT NETWORKFind like-minded people to support you
Have specific skills to bring in on short notice - be a tech backup for someone else too!
Monday, November 12, 2012
QUESTIONS?
Monday, November 12, 2012
Michael Kimsal
@mgkimsal
michaelkimsal.com
919.827.4724
THANK YOUINDIECONF “TRINUG” 20% OFF
Monday, November 12, 2012
Recommended