How do I start my own consulting firm?
Hi,
I want to start my own consulting firm - freelancing on the side with a full-time role. Is Upwork the best way to do this? How do I get my first 10 clients?
Domain: DevOps & Cloud Architecture YOE : 8+ Years Funds Available : ₹1,00,000 Location: Pune
Looking for international clients @ $80-100/hr.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
TopTal, Gun, UpWork etc. sign up everywhere so you get a good chance at projects.
Don't keep your rates low thinking it'll get you better opportunities.
You need polished statements, rehearsed introductions and past experiences.
Idk what you'll do with those funds. Maybe get a good setup (power backups, better equipment) and background for the video calls? If you're starting afresh I'll say get a Mac Mini, a 34" screen, UPS, and a good mechanical keyboard w/ mouse.
You don't need GST Registration till you hit 20L in revenue for the FY. For taxes just add 50% of revenue to your net income and pay accordingly. Check tax website for payment schedule.
Create invoices using Zoho invoice. Free, simple and does the job well.
Amazing!
How will I get clients to trust me without having other client history? This is the only thing I am worried about. I already have my website created, so I just am going to try to get clients and add their testimonials on there to get more momentum
Hey, I have 1 yoe. I tried finding clients but it's quite hard to get the first few clients. Any tips?
What do you guys think would help my DevOps & Cloud Agency distinguish itself from other small scale firms?
I’d like to focus mostly on AWS Cloud Architecture, Migration, Implementation and Cost Optimisation.
I want to exclusively work with International Clients.
Target group. Do you want to aim and specialise for large companies? Startups? Setting up from scratch? Fixing things? Optimising costs?
Each is a different ball game. A large startup who is trying to cut costs to IPO in ~2yrs is wayy different from an enterprise or pre-seed startup.
We had tons of cost optimization work during BlinkIt Zomato merger. I'm not even a devops guy. Everyone was given something.
The pool is large, you need to find your spot and hold on to it.
I mostly want to work with established mid-large companies which need special expertise while migrating from old infra to cloud or setting up new greenfield infra in the cloud.
I also specialise in cost optimisation and setting up FULL CI/CD Pipelines for microservice deployments - with all bells and whistles!
80/100 dollar per hour is too much ..if client have so much work why they will go with remote freelancers ..they will hire contractors in their home country only .
Remote hiring of good contractors or full time engineers is quite a lengthy process and has legal implications due to benefits and setting up legal entity for management.
This is why companies pay a premium for expert freelancers.
Also, $80-100/hr is on the mid side, only because I want to gain some clients initially. Freelancing gigs are also not full-time.
StaffAug Companies regularly charge $20,000/month for DevOps Architects which is $125/hr full time!
Gusy I do have experience in devops around 4 years!! The work is minimal and my pay is good as far as compared to some out there others!! But I want to be expertised in this field!! Not getting anywhere! Any suggestion please
Explore the freelancing market. Figure out what's in demand that you can also do. Don't try to generate money quickly. Get your feet wet before trying to swim.
You're probably constrained by what you do at work. Try to setup something from absolute scratch. Self-host and managed both. Spend some $$ on cloud credits to learn, there is 1000x return on this investment waiting.
Awesome advice
Are you going to do freelancing fulltime or alongwith a fulltime job? How are you managing this?
I have been at my client / next company for 4.5 years so I can manage day-to-day in 2-3 hrs of focused work in the evening, especially since they are in US.
I have 5-6 hrs in the morning/afternoon to freelance and build my brand.
Starting consulting firm is very easy ...make arrangements for sitting and register your company and firm will be established. But firm start karle karoge kya do you have clients ?
Thats the question. I am not worried about setting up a firm - my company secretary will do that. I want to know how and where to get my first 10 clients and how to grow the business, what to charge, how to navigate the sales/marketing aspects etc.
Bro do you think people knowing this will share and create competition?
I can give you a devops SRE role are you interested min experience required 7yrs .9-3 am 1.25 lakhs will be the pay terraform, etc.
