I am President and CEO for a S-Corp that I founded over five years ago. We write police software, among other things, and have nine law enforcement agencies using our records management package. We are still struggling, so it remains to be seen if all the hard work will really be worth it in the long run, but I have learned a LOT through this experience. If you have not, read The E-Myth or The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. Get your head around that before you go any further. Do not jump to the conclusion that he is talking about something that has nothing to do with your line of business. I read the E-Myth after I had been in business for two years, I wish I had read it a lot sooner.

Things I want to pass on:

ALWAYS get agreements in writing BEFORE you do any work.
Spell Things out. Don’t assume, some people just have different concepts of things, others are outright dishonest. Don’t take chances. Consulting a lawyer or having them draft up a contract is SOOO much cheaper on the front side than it is having them help you sort things out after the fact. We were tied up with lawyers (and their fees) for 2 1/2 years because of a good faith handshake agreement.

Get an organizational system, and make it your own. GTD is working for me.

If you want to do software development, don’t do consulting to finance it. Find another way, or don’t do it at all. Consulting is an entirely different animal from being a software development house… consulting is about developing relationships with clients (who take a lot of time and energy in relation to what they pay) and software development is about manufacturing intellectual property, and getting it in the hands of as many people as soon as is realistically possible. Publish and release often, add features as you go. Don’t try to do everything at once.

Good Luck!