In short: Create a community and a breakeven department within my firm that provides so much value and loyalty from the community of I.T. developers, it results in increased sales of management consulting and software development services provided by my firm.
Batman Origin Story minus the Batman:
In recent candidate searches for an IT position at my firm, I've had candid discussions with IT professionals. They've revealed frustrations with automated application systems, inexperienced recruiters, and questionable practices from staffing agencies. It's been eye-opening; while I knew of some issues, the extent has shocked me.
The economic downturn has hit IT professionals hard, worsened by a talent industry in disarray, endangering their livelihoods and morale. Starting my career as a developer, I've always felt a protective instinct for software engineers. This led me to wonder: what could a small New England business management consulting and software development firm do for IT developers?
Problem:
Financial impact: More research needed.
Market: U.S. Market Business Client Side I.T.: ~$900 million
Solution: My business develops a new, net zero, strategic business unit founded on a commitment of radical transparency and revenue sharing methodologies providing the following benefits to businesses and I.T. developers:
The new SBU is not a profit center, it is break even, zero profit. So, what is the benefit?
Hypothesis:
I.T. developers that have been disenfranchised and demoralized by bad actors in the industry will develop a strong bond with this new community and company because it is guided by ethics, transparency, and effort to help each other be successful in work and in life. These resources maintain a long-term relationship with my firm, provide valuable client leads, and become part of a, normally unattainable, valuable resource pool that can be leveraged when new projects become available.
The SBU is breakeven, but the other area of my business, that provides management consulting and software development services, will flourish because:
Many open questions:
P.P.S. Yes, this is not a radical, or revolutionary, idea; there are many models, better models, that work on the same, or similar, principles… this is just one potential flavor.
123 ROAST!
Batman Origin Story minus the Batman:
In recent candidate searches for an IT position at my firm, I've had candid discussions with IT professionals. They've revealed frustrations with automated application systems, inexperienced recruiters, and questionable practices from staffing agencies. It's been eye-opening; while I knew of some issues, the extent has shocked me.
The economic downturn has hit IT professionals hard, worsened by a talent industry in disarray, endangering their livelihoods and morale. Starting my career as a developer, I've always felt a protective instinct for software engineers. This led me to wonder: what could a small New England business management consulting and software development firm do for IT developers?
Problem:
- I.T. developers are exploited by staffing agencies through deceptive business practices:
- Forced to accept positions before first meeting with the client.
- Hidden fees that lower purported / advertised compensation.
- Manipulated to work extended hours without pay despite the legalities.
- Absurd pay rate to billing rate ratios.
- I.T. developers are being exploited by freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr:
- A myriad of fees and costs obfuscate and lessen effective compensation.
- Platforms do little to protect freelancers from bad actors on the platform leading to non-payment of work completed.
- Wasted time creating proposals never viewed due to hundreds of proposals generated by automated systems.
- Businesses experience lower productivity from underpaid and demoralized developers.
Financial impact: More research needed.
Market: U.S. Market Business Client Side I.T.: ~$900 million
Solution: My business develops a new, net zero, strategic business unit founded on a commitment of radical transparency and revenue sharing methodologies providing the following benefits to businesses and I.T. developers:
- Staffing opportunities, facilitated by my firm, where billing rate and pay rate variance is minimal, only enough to cover the overhead and break even.
- Billing rate and pay rate is transparent to I.T. resources leading to increased trust and feeling of being valued and being part of a real team. increased productivity.
- Access to a vetted community of I.T. resources offering opportunities for continued education and a private platform for open communication of issues, opportunities, and methods for supporting one another in the industry.
- Clients are vetted by executive leadership.
- Revenue sharing when providing client leads.
- A percentage of first-year revenue.
- An opportunity to be hired to work on the project as a contractor, or possibly hired by my firm as a full-time employee depending upon the scenario.
The new SBU is not a profit center, it is break even, zero profit. So, what is the benefit?
Hypothesis:
I.T. developers that have been disenfranchised and demoralized by bad actors in the industry will develop a strong bond with this new community and company because it is guided by ethics, transparency, and effort to help each other be successful in work and in life. These resources maintain a long-term relationship with my firm, provide valuable client leads, and become part of a, normally unattainable, valuable resource pool that can be leveraged when new projects become available.
The SBU is breakeven, but the other area of my business, that provides management consulting and software development services, will flourish because:
- The I.T. community will assist in developing leads (I.T. developers are often “in the know” of upcoming projects).
- They will bring the leads to us when projects may be too large to handle on their own.
- They realize that the deal is too large to be “closed” by a single person and additional business expertise / business development is needed to craft comprehensive proposals.
- They will be compensated for providing the lead and will have an opportunity to be hired to work on the project.
- Most importantly, because they value our community and our mission.
- Sales growth will be compounded by word of mouth, growing footprint and history of providing quality deliverables on time and on budget.
- Online chatter and goodwill towards an ethically behaving business will also serves as a form of advertising to increase sales.
Many open questions:
- Is this hippy bullshit thinking (go ahead and roast me… I’m already doing it to myself as I write this). Have I been listening to too much John Lennon?
- Are I.T. developers that pissed off at the industry, that the simple act of providing opportunities, behaving ethically, and being transparent, would be such a magnanimous statement, it would attract and excite talented developers to help the company thrive?
- Would leads provided by I.T. developers be significant?
- How significant is the competitive advantage of having immediate (more or less) access to talented, happy, and loyal I.T. developers? (competitive advantage over other small software development firms).
- To what extent would chatter related to this model indirectly assist in marketing and advertising of services provided by my firm?
- Initial investment needed (financial model pending)
- Lots of other questions not detailed here.
P.P.S. Yes, this is not a radical, or revolutionary, idea; there are many models, better models, that work on the same, or similar, principles… this is just one potential flavor.
123 ROAST!