The slides for this session can be found here: https://www.zivtech.com/blog/contractor-to-shop

In this presentation I’ll discuss the process of going from an independent contractor to a Drupal development shop, and specifically some of the problems I/we have gone through in building Zivtech from 1 to 19 people over the past 4 years. We will examine some of the issues we’ve faced as we’ve grown, and explore how we’ve dealt with them. The goal of this session is to illustrate enough of the tough issues that you’ll face as you start to grow and hire additional people

• Defining the “type” of Drupal/web shop you are.
• Defining management and partnerships. Who is in charge? Who is responsible for What?
• Managing cash flow, taxes, & benefits.
• When and how to hire more people. Also, what positions should you hire for?
• Sales, especially the difference in sales cycles and RFPs/proposals between small and large projects
• Office-based or remote?
• Managing groups of developers.
• Juggling more and longer term engagements and handling your sales pipeline effectively.
• Balancing client work with business development (working on vs. working in the business).