I am normally silent but read all silk-lister's emails diligently ! Coincidentally the thought of retiring is strong in my mind and I need to get the guts to do so ! I must be older than many of you yet go through this dilemma Surely, I am not retiring from productive life, have years of that left. With the knowledge and contacts gained I am sure I will be an asset to anyone who wants to engage with Govt. projects which has been my line for almost half my life !! Of late I have spent a year working with Govt. on their smart cities project. Everybody wants 'pro_bono' consultancy ! I have met many consultants looking for business in the project. Most of them from Bangalore ! Managing a Govt. project and relationship needs a lot of patience and understanding of Govt. behavior, , believe it or not !
How much money do you need in the bank to retire ? I will follow this email chain and maybe get the guts to retire by year end. Good luck to all ! Cheers Valsa On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 8:47 AM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk < s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote: > On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, Suresh Ramasubramanian <sur...@hserus.net> > wrote: > > > > > > On 22-Sep-2014, at 23:26, Sandhya aka Sandy <sandhya.varn...@gmail.com > > <javascript:;>> wrote: > > > > > > A few of you gave some good tips on consulting. Makes sense. During > that > > > post-Intel break, I had tied up with a firm who signed me up for x > days a > > > month and gave me y rs. That worked out well, and I have a few such > > > possibilities in the pipeline. The idea here is to have a supplemental > > > > And as a recent toe dipped into the consultancy sector to feel out a > > pipeline before I took the plunge forcibly reminded me that, least in > > India, prospective customers willing to pay for work tend to drive > > extremely hard bargains and expect five star service at maruti lodge > > prices, so you're stuck with roping in as many foreign clients (who pay > > better though they may well be just as demanding) and late night calls. > > > > > > My recent experience with consulting in India is very similar. Took me > seven years to realise how tough the market here is for consulting. Maybe , > I had a reasonably unique model that did not sit well with the markets I > targeted. People just did not understand what the value of time means to a > consultant. In fact, I've heard downright derogatory statements such as " A > consultant is. One who looks at your watch and tells you what the time > is.". Funny but true. So you just have to be prepared for the gigs and > expect to Actually do way more than what you would have done in a corporate > setting. And if you work with US companies, be prepared to Justify that > charging $20 is not what you had in mind retiring... > > It'll be interesting in any case. Good luck... > > Cheers > Venkat > > PS typing this on an iPad . It seems to add periods and upper case as it > pleases. Apologise for the funny sentences. > -- Cheers ! *** Valsa
