Dear Mr Khan,
I saw your advertisement on Carousell website and read also your Getcha Solutions website. I was very impressed with what you have done so far. I really salute you.
I have same amount of working experience as you but I was involved in SAP programming for the first 15 years of my career. I have worked with IBM and HP on some major projects. However, I came out to do other non IT related businesses thereafter for 10 years. It did not turned out as well as I expected. In the last 2 years, I started self-learned HTML, PHP, Javascripts and Symfony framework and was trying to launch my own portal for education sector. It is still work-in-progress (90% done). Then I realized to launch and market an online portal it requires more than just the portal. It requires lots of funds and marketing people and know-how. Therefore I intend to delay the launch of my portal until I could get some funding from some investors whom I am still talking to now or have enough savings to do it myself.
Meanwhile, I also want to do some part time IT work to cover some of my living expenses. I was just exploring and want to inquire whether you need anyone to assist you in your programming projects. I am a good programmer in the sense that I am organized and I am very well versed in business processes from logistics to finance, to accounting to trading and so forth. I don’t mind doing less challenging programming work, or documentation of processes or writing manuals. Please let me know should you need someone to assist you in anyway in your projects. I am more than happy to assist you. I am also not demanding but to earn some living expenses.
I hope to hear from you real soon. You may whatsapp me at xxx. Thank you for your time and attention.
Regards,
Richard xxx
My reply:
Hi Richard,
1) Thank you for your good words.
2) “However, I came out to do other non IT related businesses thereafter for 10 years. It did not turned out as well as I expected.”
This is sad. I have tried to start out my own ventures too. You might not believe me. I think I must have had more than 50 ideas and try-outs, or even 100. Who’s counting over the so-many years. Every idea was so exciting when it started.
Luckily, since the start itself, I have always told myself: development is my main-job. I will not jump into anything else with both my legs. So, my one leg was always in development. Needless to say, all my countless try-outs have all flunked, with nothing to say of profits, except experience. I’m still trying this and that, but without too much pressure.
Lesson for me: never give up what you know well and are established in, even if it sounds and seem boring. In fact, there are much more to be learn in the field I’m already good in.
3) “Then I realized to launch and market an online portal it requires more than just the portal. It requires lots of funds and marketing people and know-how.”
This is yet another oft-repeated story. I too knew wrongly and learnt this many years back. Product and its quality matters but relatively not much. It is your business skills, like sales and marketing, that will launch a success story.
And usually people look at a success story and think, wow, what a great product. They don’t see the “wow, great sales and marketing” behind it.
4) “Therefore I intend to delay the launch of my portal until I could get some funding from some investors whom I am still talking to now or have enough savings to do it myself.”
Good luck to you on this. I have clients who are at various stages of funding. Yes, funding is another magic word in the equation.
“Meanwhile, I also want to do some part time IT work to cover some of my living expenses. I was just exploring and want to inquire whether you need anyone to assist you in your programming projects. I am a good programmer in the sense that I am organized and I am very well versed in business processes from logistics to finance, to accounting to trading and so forth. I don’t mind doing less challenging programming work, or documentation of processes or writing manuals. Please let me know should you need someone to assist you in anyway in your projects. I am more than happy to assist you. I am also not demanding but to earn some living expenses.”
To be frank, the past few months are not exactly great for me too. I have “very few to none” new clients for some months. Fortunately, due to existing clients, my livelihood is going on.
As for hiring, I do not hire. I work alone due to my own working style and personal reasons.
I empathise with you because I know how it is like. In my past 23 years in business, I have had bad seasons before. I hope and pray that you are out of your bad times soon.
With best regards,
Anees Khan,
Consultant, Getcha Solutions,
Mobile: 91097721 (Singapore – 065)
https://www.getcha.com
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- Tags: diary, email, times are hard, web developer
