[consulting] Drupal web design as hobby - shall I start consulting?

[António P. P. Almeida]

On 18 Ago 2010 12h36 WEST, alexei at malinovski.org wrote:

> So we have here:
> - I expect Customers to require hosting to be included since they
>   are non
> technical people.
> - I do not want to mess with hosting being responsible for uptime etc. since
> it is not profitable for me.

Is it really not profitable for you? It depends on how you want to
position yourself. Do you want to provide a dependable service that
basically allows the client to phone you when something is wrong? Or
do you want to just provide a one off type of service where the
relationship with the client mostly ends after the site is done.

Note that I believe that the most profitable market is in complete
support. That's where free software still is lacking That's why
inferior solutions as those proposed by proprietary software still
have a strong position. Bear in mind that the most profitable deals
are those when you develop a bond of trust with the client. He/She
knows that when something isn't working there's always someone to
complain to. A dependable relationship.

I was at a presentation some months ago where a company that's doing
some major work for the local energy transportation de facto monopoly
says that the client wants everything to be in tip top shape and wants
to have someone to hold responsible for the implementation. Of course
they went for SharePoint, not because it's a better solution
technically, but because there's someone to answer the phone and be
held accountable when things go wrong.

We had a discussion at the end and they conceded that the went for
SharePoint because it was what they knew and that the client demanded
strict responsibility regarding the system. 

> What about following idea. I offer to Customer to create hosting
> account for them and pay for it while they cover the cost. At the
> same time they should agree that I'm not responsible for up time,
> possible hosting errors etc. In case they have such problems I will
> fix them for a price X Euro/Hour.

I don't think thats a good strategy. You're picking up the tab for the
hosting company problems. First you said you're not responsible for
hosting problems, now you're saying that you are, well sort of. I
suggest that you offer the client a full solution first, where you are
held accountable for everything, including hosting -- choose your host
carefully, no shared hosting, &c -- then if the client insists in
handling the hosting themselves make clear where the boundaries of
your accountability are.

Having full control of the web site experience is a time saver. Since
you are interacting with an environment you control to a very large degree.

> Advantages:
> 1. Customer doesn't need to mess up with hosting company
> 2. This might bring me some work later on when Customer needs to do
> something with site.
> 3. I'm not responsible if hosting is down.

See above.

> Disadvantages:
> 1. If hosting is down Customer will immediately contact me to solve
>    it. So,
> I play role of a middle man here transferring messages Customer<->Hosting
> back and forth. But what if I'm not available?

If you want to offer an integrated solution you have to be always
available. That goes with the territory.
 
--- appa