Comments on: Consulting sucks, but thanks for the work http://www.16thletter.com/2008/05/22/consulting-sucks-but-thanks-for-the-work/ thoughts on how the Internet intersects with work, play & life Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:51:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Jacob Aldridge http://www.16thletter.com/2008/05/22/consulting-sucks-but-thanks-for-the-work/#comment-6545 Jacob Aldridge Fri, 23 May 2008 00:50:35 +0000 http://www.16thletter.com/?p=406#comment-6545 A general answer is to set oneself a timeline - eg, I will only continue this consulting work for six months. If you can stick to this, as time goes by it will ensure you are increasingly focussed on your start-up. Lack of Money is preventing you from committing to your business; a strict timeline you hold yourself to will force that commitment. If, after that appropriate period, your start-up hasn't gone anywhere, then you weren't committed enough. Whether that's to do with you or because your start-up idea didn't fly is a topic for another post. A general answer is to set oneself a timeline - eg, I will only continue this consulting work for six months.

If you can stick to this, as time goes by it will ensure you are increasingly focussed on your start-up. Lack of Money is preventing you from committing to your business; a strict timeline you hold yourself to will force that commitment.

If, after that appropriate period, your start-up hasn’t gone anywhere, then you weren’t committed enough. Whether that’s to do with you or because your start-up idea didn’t fly is a topic for another post.

]]> By: Tony Stubblebine http://www.16thletter.com/2008/05/22/consulting-sucks-but-thanks-for-the-work/#comment-6534 Tony Stubblebine Thu, 22 May 2008 18:29:58 +0000 http://www.16thletter.com/?p=406#comment-6534 The ideal way to fund a startup with consulting is for the consulting to be directly related to the product you're building. I had the exact same feeling you have about pay-the-bills consulting before we were ready to use, but once it was ready we put a professional services consulting business around it and had instant profitability. Making the next jump to a subscription or ad supported model seems harder though. The ideal way to fund a startup with consulting is for the consulting to be directly related to the product you’re building. I had the exact same feeling you have about pay-the-bills consulting before we were ready to use, but once it was ready we put a professional services consulting business around it and had instant profitability. Making the next jump to a subscription or ad supported model seems harder though.

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