[consulting] being a listed consultant (sime)

[Len Layton]

sime wrote:
> Hi
>
> Being a drupal.org contributor, and finally sorting out my branding, I 
> recently had a page added for my business at 
> http://drupal.org/drupal-services
> This caused an increase in enquiries through my website, which is great.
>   
> What I find a bit odd is that I'm getting enquiries from the U.S. when 
> I'm clearly (?) based in Australia. Often the presumption is that work 
> can be paid for after completion by PayPal and this does not sit well 
> with me *at all*.
>   
> What do others think about this type enquiry? Am I being overly 
> paranoid, or should a simple google-search reference check be enough to 
> confidently take on this work.
>   

[Len] As a trasnsplanted Aussie myself, I think your best bet is to run a
quick Dun & Bradstreet check on them (starts at $25 a pop with a free search
to see if they are even listed), and/or get Austrade in San Francisco to
help you out -- they will do a lot of work for you for free. The other
suggestions of gettting some up-front money and progress payments are also
good. For non-local clients, I would suggest setting a minimum contract size
and "price out" the smaller & riskier clients. Make sure you Google the
actual people you are dealing with also, to see what they've been involved
in before. 

You can also work with Austrade to get insurance & financing on getting paid
for exported services (used to be called EFIC -- check with the website.)
The Aust. govt. (like the Canadian one) are always trying to help with
exporters.

--Len.


Len Layton, Director of Sales, BPO Canada
601 W. Broadway, Suite 400, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4C2, Canada
Phone +1 (604) 736-2257  Skype ID lenlayton