Why I’m a horrible software consultant
I try to help entrepreneurs – I don’t just take their money
I was talking to a potential client earlier today. It made me think about one of the hardest parts of consulting – charging money.
It’s very easy to take a client’s money and build something. That’s not the way I like to do things.
I hate failure and I hate watching a doomed product get built. I like to do competitive research on an idea someone wants me to build. I bring similar existing websites or apps to their attention. I don’t want this person to put their hard earned money into building something that already exists – at the very least, I want them to know there is a competitor.
I like to brainstorm potential marketing options. I like to brainstorm ways their existing marketing plan might not work.
I like to try to get a customer to niche down their target markets. If you try to build a product for three different markets, you’ll probably end up with a few different markets who kind of like your product, but none of them love it.
These discussions usually leave me with less revenue from client work, but it always makes me feel good inside before starting a project.
I Missed the Giant Women’s March
There was a huge Women’s March in Boston today. I wish I was able to go, but I was inside sick all day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people in Boston Common before. It was a cool sight.
On the bright side, I was able to finish my drawing of spiderman and Slaughterhouse Five. It was a day of Finishing for me!
I finished Slaughterhouse Five today
Compared to the other books I have been reading, Slaughterhouse Five was a quick book that drew me in. I read the entire book in three days. It was hard to put down. It was a book I picked up after my binge book buying spree a few days ago.
It was an interesting read. There were ideas of free will, death, war, and all kinds of things. I highlighted a few quotes from the book that I’ll probably share over the next few days.
In terms of the psychology of reading, it was nice to get away from the dense 600 page Ron Chernow biography of John D. Rockefeller for a few days in order to read this quick 270 pager. This is one of the reasons you need to read multiple books at once. Read different types of books. Some lighter, some denser. Some with life lessons. Some that entertain.
The key is to always have something to read that fits your current mood. I’m in the middle of reading 7 or 8 books right now.
I Drew Spiderman!
Upside Down!
I’m still going through Drawing on the right side of the brain by Betty Edwards. To see why I mentioned in a previous post why the book has me drawing images upside down.
Here’s my drawing.
Here’s the original.
#improving