| > Setup the business processes and make the workflow stable and profitable. This should be the top priority. You personally don't want to be tied up to any client/project. You could help developers as time permits. But your priority should be about getting projects, hiring, managing cashflow keeping it profitable. Not very "engineer-ish". If you are a hardcore developer - you will (almost) hate doing this.
Assuming you can get high value projects - executing those projects while keeping the customer and the team happy - is a perpetual challenge. > Should I prioritize our online sales channels over local ones? Local ones are always better and surprisingly easier compared to online sales that are highly competitive. The only discomfort is to actually move out of your office and meet people in person. The exception is if local ones are financially infeasible. You should also do online sales - And people (top 5-10%) do earn money from online projects too, so do not let myths discourage you from going online. > Should I hire a salesperson to look for projects? After some time - Yes. You should be the first sales person for your firm. Later you will be able to define sales-team profile that you need > Should we have mentors/coaches? I believe the answer is Yes in longer term. And by this time you would have been already successful but the growth might feel stagnant (or just boring). > Switch from contract work to our products gradually. A product guy is usually always good at consulting - but moving from consulting to products is pretty difficult. And it's definitely not because of the lack of execution capability. If your goal is to do products - do just that and don't get into consulting. And it is easier to start validating, building product as an employee - compared to owning a consulting firm. |