I'm happy to answer. Its word of mouth and referrals.
18 karma · joined February 19, 2018
It's not even that most won't start their own shop (which is perfectly do-able), it's also that they will actively attack even the mere notion of it.
And its usually using "isms" like "its hard to get clients", "its risky", "multiple clients mean multiple bosses" and "90% of businesses fail in the first 5 years" and other nonsense.
Edit: then the economy takes a turn, mass tech layoffs happen and it makes some people think.
Pure consultants, if they are specialized, can make more than that - and that's because of the value they bring.
Although a lot of work no doubt has gone into this, it seems to me like a bit of a pointless project if someone then must source their own data from various (and varying in quality and price) APIs. As mentioned, the entire value of Bloomberg is the data. Its not an interface which almost anyone can create.
A business without knowing accounting/finance, exist can. (An accountant, hire, one can).
For accounting/finance to be useful at all, a business exist, must first.
Its defined by people buying a product or service they find of value - that is core to business (just like the definition of an artist is someone that actually produces art). If you don't have that you don't have a business (no matter how many accountants or MBAs you have).
Any skill can be taught.
Business is about numbers, yes - at all sizes of companies.
But what actually drives those numbers?
Its 1) value and 2) sales/and marketing. Its not the accounting department. That's my point.
Understanding costs and margins is crucial, yes. But its very much secondary to having a valuable product that people want and that you can market/sell effectively - that's business, not accounting/finance.
A developer asking questions about the value a product creates and the problems it solves or doesn't solve will do far better than learning accounting/finance as far as "learning business" goes or getting an MBA!
I'm not a Musk fanboy, but he has created multiple valuable companies (spolier alert, he didn't do that by focusing on an MBA but rather on creating valuable products) - here is what he has to say about MBAs in large companies:
"Spend less time on finance and power points and more time on making your product as amazing as possible". Bingo. That's business.
Accounting for one is recording what has already happened in a business - its merely reporting, nothing more. Its a reporting function of business.
There is far too much focus I feel on accounting and finance in MBA courses. Its not business. An MBA degree these days is sort of an entry price or piece of paper into the C-suite. I don't see that MBA degrees actually teach a lot of business.
Business is finding people and having them pay for value - a product or service. If you have an accounting department or knowledge of accounting/finance, you don't have a business, you have reporting. That's all you have.
Business is far more about sales, marketing, pricing, psychology, product/market fit. Then there is the delivery of that value - the actual product or service.
I'd also say a big part of business is learning about and being about to solve problems in a certain market.
Accounting/finance in a discussion of "learn business" should come way down the list IMO - its nothing more than reporting.
(A lot of the resources here focusing on accounting or finance are great resources - if you want to learn accounting / finance or if you want to get an MBA but they don't necessarily equate to learning "business". Also there is no better way learn business than doing rather than reading about it. I heard someone once say that you'd learn more about business running a lemonade stand than doing an MBA - I tend to agree).