Questions

I have the developer/design talent available. We already have our first contract and have some leads for the next. We are based in NYC and are slowly putting together a portfolio. How do I land contracts for the next few projects in the meantime. I was thinking of approaching more established shops and offering to take contracts that are marginal to them 15-25k (or more for huge shops - think pivotal labs) while meaningful to us. Is that reasonable and how would you broach that? I don't mind giving a finders fee. Any feedback on my ideas as well as any other strategies are appreciated.

It's always good to establish a partner ecosystem to be able to tap the market for potential business opportunities. The ecosystem could be a blend of the established shops, marketing process organizations, sales enablers et al. In any of the scenarios, you'd be required to establish your credibility and earn trust. To you it may look like just a marginal project, but for the established shops you're actually asking them to hinge their brand value on your team. Because, for anything that may go wrong it's them at the forefront with customer.

Secondly, all those marginal projects could only be helpful if you're catering them under your banner and not working as a sub-contractors. You may end up making money via subcontracting, but may not end up building an organization. Tomorrow, it would be easier for someone to jeopardize your position by just doing the same at lower price than yours. Remember, the market out there is too flat and you definitely aren't based out of a low-cost region.

I would advise you to plan your business, design your business model, utilize contemporary technology to build your go-to-market process, adopt appropriate tactics, and deliver the tactics through pragmatic strategy. In my more than a decade experience I've seen businesses either taking a wrong turn or not turning at the bend early on. Don't fall in the trap called money, but raise your business around values.

Do feel free to reach out to me for any specific input that you may be looking at. I am just a buzz away. All the best!!


Answered 9 years ago

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