First, it is admirable to want to start your own business. Given that you are just out of college, you probably still have the youthful enthusiasm that defines many a foray into new business ideas.
So, here are some suggestions for you to begin:
1) If you are set on just being a consulting company, you are already limiting your options for future growth. I say that because most consultants live an existance that is mostly hand-to-mouth, they have to keep on the move looking for new projects. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you should understand that you won't spend all your time programming. in fact, depending on how successfull you are at managing the business aspect of your company, you may spend very little time programming...and a lot of time selling yourself (i.e. networking)
2) It is a much better idea to build your business around a concept or idea which you can eventually hold as intellectual property. In fact, you can do this by working clauses into your contracts with your clients to keep the rights to the technology you develop for them to yourself.
3) Many of the positive suggestions listed here list books by people like Zig Zeigler and others who profess to know about selling and marketing ideas. It is a good idea to investigate them. Always be open to new ideas to expand how you are percieved and how to perceive others.
4) Brainstorm with your friend and others about market trends. While many percieve the economic situation as a downturn, I see this as an incredible opportunity for getting in on the ground floor of the next big wave in technology. These waves are necessary as innovation in one big area that is popular (the internet, optical networking, etc...) becomes stagnent and crashes the whole tech sector. It may be the case that your perceptions of what the next big thing is are better than the majority of people already in the fray simply because you have a point of view that is untainted by the skepticism running rampent these days.
5) When developing new ideas, you should think about them in a pragmatic way. Many people fall in love with certain kinds of technologies just because they think they are neat. In the real world, "neat" is not enough to cut it. Ideas that meet a percieved need are much more likely to be successfully accepted.
6) When you talk with customers, they will tell you what they want. Unfortunetly, they won't tell you what they need...When you sell, that is what you will have to target. Sell customers what they need, not what they want. You will always have a better impression with them if you do this.
7) If you decide to go for building a product, you may also consider gaining outside investment through VCs and Angels. There are excellent books about this subject in many college bookstores. The long and short of this whole topic would be to keep your ideas easily expressible. One sentence should describe your whole concept. You may also want to read some pointers by Robert Kosberg, a famous hollywood "idea pitching" agent. His site is www.moviepitch.com and it is a good source for seeing how ideas are sold. Disregard that he focusses on movie scripts, his ideas for pitching are quite sound.
8) While many will tell you to stay in your area of expertise, I would say that you should try and move outside of it. Taking a little less money to move into new industries is worth it in the long run. You can break into these by selling your talents in specific technologies that are applicable to an industry. You will have to do some major research to find these out, but it is all gruntwork, nothing impossible.
9) if you are not already very will organized, you should learn to become so! Handling the accounting, legal and insurance aspects of your company are all extremely relevent. You should either seek experts in these areas (others looking for work?) to help you out.
10) Never undervalue the value of positive, experts in areas you wish to explore. Getting these people on board or getting advice from them is invaluable. Don't ignore it. Generally, many of them will give you advice for free (like many of those who have responded to your posting here)
11) Finally, if you have not already done so, visit the sba's website ( www.sba.gov) for additional advice.
Slashdot Mirror
So, here are some suggestions for you to begin:
1) If you are set on just being a consulting company, you are already limiting your options for future growth. I say that because most consultants live an existance that is mostly hand-to-mouth, they have to keep on the move looking for new projects. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you should understand that you won't spend all your time programming. in fact, depending on how successfull you are at managing the business aspect of your company, you may spend very little time programming...and a lot of time selling yourself (i.e. networking)
2) It is a much better idea to build your business around a concept or idea which you can eventually hold as intellectual property. In fact, you can do this by working clauses into your contracts with your clients to keep the rights to the technology you develop for them to yourself.
3) Many of the positive suggestions listed here list books by people like Zig Zeigler and others who profess to know about selling and marketing ideas. It is a good idea to investigate them. Always be open to new ideas to expand how you are percieved and how to perceive others.
4) Brainstorm with your friend and others about market trends. While many percieve the economic situation as a downturn, I see this as an incredible opportunity for getting in on the ground floor of the next big wave in technology. These waves are necessary as innovation in one big area that is popular (the internet, optical networking, etc...) becomes stagnent and crashes the whole tech sector. It may be the case that your perceptions of what the next big thing is are better than the majority of people already in the fray simply because you have a point of view that is untainted by the skepticism running rampent these days.
5) When developing new ideas, you should think about them in a pragmatic way. Many people fall in love with certain kinds of technologies just because they think they are neat. In the real world, "neat" is not enough to cut it. Ideas that meet a percieved need are much more likely to be successfully accepted.
6) When you talk with customers, they will tell you what they want. Unfortunetly, they won't tell you what they need...When you sell, that is what you will have to target. Sell customers what they need, not what they want. You will always have a better impression with them if you do this.
7) If you decide to go for building a product, you may also consider gaining outside investment through VCs and Angels. There are excellent books about this subject in many college bookstores. The long and short of this whole topic would be to keep your ideas easily expressible. One sentence should describe your whole concept. You may also want to read some pointers by Robert Kosberg, a famous hollywood "idea pitching" agent. His site is www.moviepitch.com and it is a good source for seeing how ideas are sold. Disregard that he focusses on movie scripts, his ideas for pitching are quite sound. 8) While many will tell you to stay in your area of expertise, I would say that you should try and move outside of it. Taking a little less money to move into new industries is worth it in the long run. You can break into these by selling your talents in specific technologies that are applicable to an industry. You will have to do some major research to find these out, but it is all gruntwork, nothing impossible.
9) if you are not already very will organized, you should learn to become so! Handling the accounting, legal and insurance aspects of your company are all extremely relevent. You should either seek experts in these areas (others looking for work?) to help you out.
10) Never undervalue the value of positive, experts in areas you wish to explore. Getting these people on board or getting advice from them is invaluable. Don't ignore it. Generally, many of them will give you advice for free (like many of those who have responded to your posting here)
11) Finally, if you have not already done so, visit the sba's website ( www.sba.gov) for additional advice.
Good Luck!