Busy Times, Hence Why I’m Posting Not So Much

I’m in the middle of a client demo this week, so if blog content has seemed light the past several weeks, that is why. It all builds up to this. We’ve been developing an RFID solution for one of our clients, and I volunteered to be developer, project manager…. basically a one man band. In truth, I like to fly that way. I am in my element when there’s a project within my capabilities and I am confident I don’t need to bring on a team to help out. Things are going well, but you do want to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts when your client’s CFO is reviewing your work. There’s always things that will go wrong testing in a real environment as opposed to the ideal conditions in a “lab.” You want to keep the client interested by meeting and exceeding their original vision. You have to show potential and value when that’s what you’re brought in to do. That’s what we do.

If my client had gone to one of the big technology consulting firms with an idea like this, Very Big Consulting would have come back with a seven figure quote, and team of a dozen people for two years. Most of that staff from Very Big Consulting would be kids right out of college with no real world experience. You’d have a senior guy “running” the show who billed at a rate some talented lawyers would envy, but whose real job would be keeping the victim’s client’s decision makers happy (think awesome golf and dining opportunities) while not doing much to actually accomplish anything. Whether the project actually has any chance of succeeding would be left in the hands of the more capable workers among the team from both the victim client and Very Big Consulting. If you’re lucky, you may have something that is a fragment of your original vision when you’re done. If you’re very lucky, it might even be at least somewhat functionally useful.

We’ve cleaned up more than a few messes from Very Big Consulting for some of our clients our 16 years of operation. In fact, probably one of our biggest obstacles is convincing new clients, “No, really, we’re different than those other consulting firms. We’ll bring in capable people across the Board. We don’t look at you as a resource to be milked. We won’t bring in a team unless we need a team.” So I’m hoping for this client we deliver a proof of concept that we can develop into a real product to benefit their customers. When all is said and done, it’s very doubtful the client will spend more than low-six-figures, let alone seven. But we are not Very Big Consulting. And it’s for that reason I have to be a bit scarce these few weeks.