I don't agree with the idea of 3-5 years. If a business is viable it should be running within the first year.
As for finding customers... I have never found it much of a problem. I've also been in business since about 1980. Most of my clients were very long term as measured in decades. My business has changed its character a few times, from software development to consulting to high end storage var and still more to go. Also my son has set up two (2) different businesses. They took over 1/2 the Clagary market in the first year in their first business and did this the year they left high school - while in university in fact. Now he has set up another business and has not made it to his first anniversary. He already has over 25 clients and the rate he is adding clients is accelerating. His commitment in office space alone is well over $5000 per month. It takes skill and it takes hard work.. lots of it. But the key is that a successful business should show signs of success very early on. Now as for Windows. Alas, yes it is the most popular platform. People are brainwashed. What I would do is look at cross platform development. If you can tell the client it will run on anything then even if the client likes windows he still usually will like the warm fuzzy feeling that if down the track things change then he's in good hands. Also personally I stay away from Oracle and Java. I happen to like C/C++ and think it is a solid platform for any serious development. I have nothing against perl/python and other languages which are useful in the server/web environment. I am not at this time looking at Drupel/Joomla and others for the simple reason that so far I don't know why I want to use them. I really like the linux environment and for servers I really like the OpenBSD environment. At this time I have no plans on using Windows but Mac is a possibility. I do happen to know of Linux shops but they tend to be specialized and probably are not looking for programmers since they happen to be machine shops. On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 10:22:03AM -0700, Shawn wrote: > On 11-02-11 12:02 AM, TekBudda wrote: > >> Sorry, I don't do Windows and I only do web development if it is using > >> Seaside. > > > > Biot to offend Ralph but you have to realize that Windows is the > > dominant platform out there whether we like it or not & if you want to > > work in IT, that may be the bullet you have to bite. > > I had a similar thought when I read the "I don't do Windows" and the > caveat on web development. That eliminates 98% of the people who would > be hiring. So, you are either looking for a very very specific niche > type job, or you may have inadvertently limited yourself. > > > That being said I will let you know if I come across anything. Have you > > thought of trying to start your own business or something? > > I echo the start your own business idea, but with caution. Starting a > business is easy. Finding that first customer isn't. Finding long term > customers is even harder. (in this case customers = income). You still > have to pay the bills when the business is starting out. And it may > take as long as 3 to 5 years for a business to really get underway > (credibility/trust, word of mouth, growth, etc.). > > There are a few of us in CLUG that run our own businesses, so > discussions and opinions are just a question away. > > Regarding your wage comment - for $10/hour, go pump gas or some other > "low level" job. Use that to cover expenses while you hunt for a more > pertinent job or expand skillsets (you should never stop expanding your > knowledge in the IT field). > > Lastly, in our industry a *lot* of people get hired because of who they > know. In otherwords there are more opportunities available to you if > you know more people who actually work in the areas you are interested > in. Networking is key (IMO). Find where these people hang out then go > there and start making friends. :) > > Sorry I couldn't be more help. > > Shawn > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
