[consulting] List for Independent Drupal Consultants -- Anyone?

[John Sechrest]

On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 12:36 PM, Sam Cohen <sam at samcohen.com> wrote:

> n Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 3:07 PM, John Sechrest <sechrest at ao.com> wrote:
>
>> Are there no problems/projects or websites that can be build by drupal
>> that have value, which don't require writing new code?
>
>
> Sure, but to make a living as a Drupal consultant just doing those types of
> projects?  Is that possible?  I mean is it possible if you work for
> yourself?  How does that work?  How many projects do you have to do a
> week/month?  What do you tell clients when they want something that's not
> configurable?
>


I believe it  is possible , for a particular set of clients. However, I have
not been doing it , so I should not climb too deeply into this hole.

Others will have to talk about how much they code vs how much they
configure.

But when I did the SixHourStartup , I used Drupal as a platform. And while
we intended that we would attract some coders to create two new modules, we
did not. And yet we were able to craft a site that came close with just
configuration and CSS work.


>
>
> It seems to me that the better drupal gets , the more often you can get
>> what you want without writing code.  And just because it does not take code
>> to solve the problem, often configuring drupal so that it is what someone
>> wants is more than the average lay person can do.
>
>
> I agree that using panels, views, cck and other modules does require
> knowledge beyond your average lay person's abiliy, and you can get a great
> deal done with those.
>

Yes, Panels, Views and CCK goes a very long way.



>
>
> And that is the space that many consultants are in.
>
>
> I find that really surprising.  I just couldn't imagine doing what I'm
> doing without also writing code.  And I'm never , as you said below,
> "writing the next new bit of something."   I don't have time for that.  For
> me, it's just about getting a job done and writing what needs to be written
> for a job, which for me has always required quite a bit of customization.
>

Perhaps it is a question of the range of skills you have. There certainly
are many different routes for how people become drupal consultants.  Often
people who start on the graphics arts side are not likely to step into
writing code.



> I don't understand how you can do a project without it.  If a client asks
> for something, I say, yes, that will take X hours, or X to Y hours.  That
> feature may exist in a module, in which case it takes less time.  But just
> as often it doesn't and I have to price the time it would take me to write
> it or modify something written.
>

Perhaps you have clients which match the types of skills you have and the
way to get there is more obvious to you than to others.


>
> If your a one-person consultant and you don't code, do you tell them that
> it can't be done?  Or do you have to shop out every feature to a developer?
>

I know of several different pathways.

One pathway is to craft a "package" and then market that package to people
who have that kind of problem. And so you are never really in a position
where you are getting the requests for various features, because that is not
really what you are selling.

Another pathway is that you build a partnership with a wide range of folks.
I for instance do a relatively poor job at graphic arts work. I really
prefer to contract the graphics to people who like to do that work.

And on the other hand, when it gets into the guts of modules, there are
other folks who are willing to do deep module development and actually like
it when someone with some knowlege can specify the requirements a bit
cleaner than the average client.

I do know that some folks do say that modules can't be done cost effectively
and steer people away from what they don't want to do.

I am sure that I have seen all of these happen at one time or another.




>
>
> This is interesting to me, because in many ways I'd like to be able to do
> less code and actually spend more time working with clients, so I'm curious
> how this works for others.
>

I think one way to do less code is to get more focused on the marketing
analysis of who your clients are and and what problems you can solve for
them. And to identify the clients with common needs. So that when you solve
a problem for one, you probably have solved it for others.



> Right now, without custom code, I'd probably have to do 3 sites a week to
> make a living, because for me a typical job involves at most, maybe a day of
> "configuration" but can take from a couple of days to 100+ hours in coding.
>
> I'd love to hear what other consultants are doing?  Are there really that
> many of you who work for yourselves, make a living,  and are not spending a
> big portion of your time coding?
>

Me too....





-- 
John Sechrest          .
Corvallis Benton        .
   Chamber Coalition      .
      420 NW 2nd                   .
             (541) 757-1507              . sechrest at corvallisedp.com
                                                                     .


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