[consulting] work overflow

[Dan Robinson]

When we have work we have to pass on we refer it to folks we know, and
who have often referred work to us in the past.  My opinion is that
attempting to form more than casual relationships like this is time
consuming and doesn't have a big payoff.  We often work with other
providers on projects, but we have never done finders fees.

Dan Robinson
> While the list is on the subject of business questions, I've got one
> of my own.
>
> I'm regularly contacted for projects, but it often seems to come in
> waves.  I don't always have the time to handle all the work that comes
> my way, yet I'm not particularly interested at the moment in getting
> into the business of outsourcing or managing contractors/employees.
>
> Ideally in such cases I'd like to pass it off to someone competent,
> who is able to make estimates, and either a) receive a finders fee, b)
> work on those parts of the project that I have the time to work on
> while the rest is handled by the third party, or ideally c) both a+b.
>
> I keep going back and forth on the idea of either starting an
> organization and building up a list of people who I trust to handle
> the overflow work, or aligning myself with an existing company that I
> can feed work into and be fairly compensated for.  Essentially, I'm a
> developer, not a business person, and I want to develop not manage
> accounts or provide estimates.
>
> In a case like this should I try to find myself a good partner or two,
> or try to develop a working relationship with an existing company?
>