> I want to try to get into Software Consultancy. > Most potential clients I've talked to want me to create a somewhat simple website for them in 2-3 weeks… I

> I want to try to get into Software Consultancy. > Most potential clients I've talked to want me to create a somewhat simple website for them in 2-3 weeks… In my understanding, software consultancy is when you work with your client and their engineering team, but don’t actually build the product. You may help hire the team and you may indeed write actual code, but it’s the team that’s supposed to do the actual engineering and future support. Deep understanding of client’s needs (a pre-requisite), steering them away from wasting resources on building the wrong or unmaintainable product, and helping them organize their processes efficiently are important parts of consultant’s job. With that in mind, building the whole thing from the ground up at the same time just doesn’t seem to be the best use of your consulting skills. The following maintenance—even less so. Normally consulting activities seem to be billed by the time (hourly or daily). In my experience, if you do build the thing yourself, it can be difficult to ensure client’s understanding that you’re really acting as both a consultant and the engineering team, and structuring your pay adequately becomes somewhat harder. If you build the thing, you should probably make it your responsibility to ensure that deliverables include all the information necessary for future maintenance. Then the client is free to use it with their engineering team or a freelancer, and even if later you’re willing to be hired back for maintenance yourself, you’ll appreciate the documentation you’ve left.