5 ms·

I’m genuinly curious how he got his SAP Business from $280k to $4m in 4 years. That seems like an accomplishment in and of itself, nevermind the online store

77pt77 8y ago
I'm more curious how he started at the 280K mark.
- hkmurakami 8y ago
  It’s pretty well known that SAP consultants make a high hourly rate.
  - amenod 8y ago
    Still... that's a pretty high number. I doubt 4M is true, it seems a bit exaggerated. Good for him if it's true though.
    - nigifabio 8y ago
      Considering he was working in hr, he was probably doing body rental of sap consultant and make the margin on top, if you are good in headhunting is a really scalable business
    - gazarsgo 8y ago
      No, it's really not a high number. It's right on the money for 3 years in-the-trenches experience making the move into consultancy -- around $130-140/hr billable, which is what I was billed out at in the mid 2000s as a .NET consultant.
      - kolbe 8y ago
        Getting high hourly rates isn't the hard part. It's maintaining consistent work across multiple clients while taking the time to market yourself and negotiate contracts. That's not an easy task for someone who has never worked on their own before. Unless it's an unusual circumstance (like he had one client the whole time), I think averaging 20 billables a week in the first year is pretty impressive for someone to do.
    - JonoBB 8y ago
      Pretty sure that he other other employees/consultants under his umbrella. I don't think that anyone bills $4m/yr as a single person (which would equate to around $2000/hr).
      - HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
        https://www.alanweiss.com/store/books/million-dollar-consulting/ https://www.alanweiss.com/store/books/million-dollar-consult... IIRC, Alan Weiss wrote that book back in the early 90's. BTW, Matt Inglot did a good interview with him at Freelance Transformation. Also, I just found this article, which I have yet to read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/08/31/the-ascent-of-the-million-dollar-self-employed-professional/#28d77e27201b https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/08/31/the-as...
    - tluyben2 8y ago
      280k is not a high number for a senior SAP consultant with a big mouth, but 4M indeed is but definitely not impossible or even rare. Anecdotal, but at least I already know 1 person from my own friend group, a friend worked as SAP consultant in utility; he started his own company specializing in SAP for utility but he wrote specific small tools for parts where SAP was(is?) very hard / cumbersome to use or where it has gaps for the particular (big) electricity providers he contracted for. Selling those on the side next to his high contracting fee, he made (makes) millions.
      - amenod 8y ago
        Wow, just... wow. It really goes to show that there are oppurtunities in this world where one would not expect. It looks like I completely misjudged the size of this market and the magnitude of consultants' income in it. Thanks!
    - user9182031 8y ago
      280k is only around $150/hour which isn't unreasonable at all, if anything maybe even a bit low. I know 1099 contractors that bill higher and do less..
      - chrisbennet 8y ago
        It is really hard to get in 1800+ billable hours in year as a consultant. You have so much other stuff you need to do that isn’t billable. (I aim for 5 billable hours a day on average.)

77pt77 8y ago

I'm more curious how he started at the 280K mark.

hkmurakami 8y ago
It’s pretty well known that SAP consultants make a high hourly rate.
- amenod 8y ago
  Still... that's a pretty high number. I doubt 4M is true, it seems a bit exaggerated. Good for him if it's true though.
  - nigifabio 8y ago
    Considering he was working in hr, he was probably doing body rental of sap consultant and make the margin on top, if you are good in headhunting is a really scalable business
  - gazarsgo 8y ago
    No, it's really not a high number. It's right on the money for 3 years in-the-trenches experience making the move into consultancy -- around $130-140/hr billable, which is what I was billed out at in the mid 2000s as a .NET consultant.
    - kolbe 8y ago
      Getting high hourly rates isn't the hard part. It's maintaining consistent work across multiple clients while taking the time to market yourself and negotiate contracts. That's not an easy task for someone who has never worked on their own before. Unless it's an unusual circumstance (like he had one client the whole time), I think averaging 20 billables a week in the first year is pretty impressive for someone to do.
  - JonoBB 8y ago
    Pretty sure that he other other employees/consultants under his umbrella. I don't think that anyone bills $4m/yr as a single person (which would equate to around $2000/hr).
    - HeyLaughingBoy 8y ago
      https://www.alanweiss.com/store/books/million-dollar-consulting/ https://www.alanweiss.com/store/books/million-dollar-consult... IIRC, Alan Weiss wrote that book back in the early 90's. BTW, Matt Inglot did a good interview with him at Freelance Transformation. Also, I just found this article, which I have yet to read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/08/31/the-ascent-of-the-million-dollar-self-employed-professional/#28d77e27201b https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/08/31/the-as...
  - tluyben2 8y ago
    280k is not a high number for a senior SAP consultant with a big mouth, but 4M indeed is but definitely not impossible or even rare. Anecdotal, but at least I already know 1 person from my own friend group, a friend worked as SAP consultant in utility; he started his own company specializing in SAP for utility but he wrote specific small tools for parts where SAP was(is?) very hard / cumbersome to use or where it has gaps for the particular (big) electricity providers he contracted for. Selling those on the side next to his high contracting fee, he made (makes) millions.
    - amenod 8y ago
      Wow, just... wow. It really goes to show that there are oppurtunities in this world where one would not expect. It looks like I completely misjudged the size of this market and the magnitude of consultants' income in it. Thanks!
  - user9182031 8y ago
    280k is only around $150/hour which isn't unreasonable at all, if anything maybe even a bit low. I know 1099 contractors that bill higher and do less..
    - chrisbennet 8y ago
      It is really hard to get in 1800+ billable hours in year as a consultant. You have so much other stuff you need to do that isn’t billable. (I aim for 5 billable hours a day on average.)