[philiphodgen]

Might I suggest Step 0?

0.1 Start marketing. Something as prosaic as a blog, if necessary. Demonstrate your capability. (Capability does not mean technical skill. It means your empathy with another human to understand his/her pain, and show him/her that you care. You demonstrate caring by talking simply and clearly. If someone understands you, they feel good about themselves. If you are talking simply and clearly, that means you have taken the time to really give a shit about the other person).

0.2 Get a customer. For really really cheap if necessary. Train people to give you a small amount of money in return for some help.

. . . onward and upward.

I personally would not take on a partner and employees for a while. I can tell you from personal experience that it is a profound psychic burden to be responsible for other people eating and paying the rent. In addition, the HR component of having employees is pure, unadulterated shit swimming in a pool of pee. It's as if our government wants to discourage employment. California (where I am) is the worst.

[bitexploder]

Don't work for cheap unless you have to. Word of mouth matters and cheaper customers are in a totally different market segment.

It is very tempting, and easy to do as a one man shop, but it dramatically undervalues what you produce and you can end up trapped in that lower tier of work and pricing model and have a hard time escaping. (opportunity cost, etc)

patio11 has written openly about his efforts here and I think it is well worth it to review as well.

Experience: partner at a small, but growing infosec consulting shop.

[scardine]

Mandatory reading: win without pitching manifesto

I was skeptical for too long about this kind of advice and I've paid my fair share in lost opportunities. It really, really works.

http://www.winwithoutpitching.com/the-manifesto/

[RickS]

Here's the link you get after they try to harvest your email: https://www.winwithoutpitching.com/manifesto/read-it-online/...

[ced]

What's the gist of it?

[scardine]

Most beginners think the power is in the hands of the client because he has the money.

This is a framework with 12 simple principles to reclaim the high ground in the client relationship, beat back the pitch and win new business without first having to part with your thinking for free. It enables stronger practices amid the forces of commoditization.

Of course Blair Enns is a better writer than me (English is not even my native language), but there we go:

1) specialize (another common rookie mistake is to position yourself as a generalist)

2) replace presentations with conversations

3) diagnose before prescribing

4) rethink the meaning of "to sell"

5) do with words what you used to do with paper (never again spend a night writhing a detailed quote for free)

6) be selective (don't waste your time with the wrong client)

7) build expertise fast (specialization helps)

8) do not solve problems before being paid (never let the client "pick your brain")

9) address money issues early (if you are unable to talk about money you will make no money)

10) refuse to work at a loss (be ready to fire abusive clients)

11) charge more

12) hold your head high