lukewarmfusion's Journal: How to Fail in Business Even Though You Try Really Hard

Ok, the title isn't accurate. I'm not failing...yet. Since leaving my job and starting my own company, I've landed one contract and opened a handful of doors for leads. First, the contract I got was a very small project that I lowered my rate to get. The budget was ridiculously small, but it's my first project for the new company and I wanted the income. With nothing else to do (that's never really true) I figured it would be ok. Plus, there's more work from them down the road which I'll be happy to take.

Unfortunately, the holiday season makes it hard to conduct business. So many folks are on vacation or are preoccupied. Cold-calls/emails aren't very effective, I'm seeing. Unless you have a connection, you really don't stand much chance in this business (web design, development, programming, marketing).

However, I have a few solid leads. A friend of mine called me up and told me of a great possibility...oh, and can he get a finder's fee? (The answer is yes.) A couple other possibilities on the line as well... some personal projects to get back to...

Lots of fun, lots of work, lots of stress. I think that's what this boils down to.

Re:Hmmm

[lukewarmfusion]

You do have a good point there. There are two issues with that, however...

1. I couldn't market my business while I was still employed by the other company (a soon-to-be competitor). We're working on marketing strategies right now, though.

2. Most of our business comes from referral; I'm not sure that traditional marketing attempts would be very fruitful. We're looking at sponsoring NPR, though...

Hmmm

[standsolid]

Step one: stop reading Slashdot so frequently :)

Web development is a tough business unfortunately

[Infamous Tim]

I hear ya dude! I've considered stepping out on my own to do web development work, but I've got no nose for seeking out jobs. I'd have to hire an independent rep and an artist just to get started. The only assets I have are a Powerbook and php+mysql (remarkable price tag). That won't get me very far.
Not wanting to sound out of line, but wouldn't it have been a better idea to leave your former company either a month earlier or later? A month earlier, you could have started making contacts in preperation