Why Solo Developers Should Be The Face of Their Business

If you want companies to pay you a premium for software development consulting, it can feel like the “serious” move is to come up with a clever business name, slap a logo on a website, and make yourself look corporate and legit. But the truth is, as a solo developer going into consulting, you’re missing a massive trust-building opportunity when you present yourself as “another company.”

Companies don’t feel trust—people do. And when you let you be the face of your business, you reduce risk for the buyer, lower friction in the buying process, and make it easier for them to say yes to a premium consulting offer.

Why should solo developers be the face of their business?

Because being the face of your business lowers the perceived risk for the person hiring you—and in consulting, risk is the real currency. When a company considers paying premium rates for a business outcome that uses technology, they’re not just buying code. They’re buying confidence that the person on the other end will show up, communicate clearly, and deliver the result without drama.

If you want to be taken seriously, you might assume you should look like a company. But as a solo consultant, there’s actually incredible power in letting your name be the brand. When I first began coaching developers eight years ago, I experienced this firsthand. When potential clients showed up to meet me, they were happy it was me and not some random other employee. After watching my videos, they felt like they already knew me.

Now, you don’t need to have a YouTube channel to sell a premium consulting offer. This isn’t about being an influencer or posting hot takes. It’s about reducing risk for your clients so it’s easier for them to buy your consulting offer. In this episode, I shared five specific ways being the face of your business helps you land clients. But first, we need to debunk one of the biggest misconceptions about being a consultant.

And yes, this connects directly to the kind of premium positioning I build with developers inside the Consulting Offer Workshop, because the offer is only half the equation—the buyer’s trust is the other half.

Who is your real client when you’re doing consulting?

Your real client is the person you’re primarily working with. Not “the company.” If you miss that, you’ll misread the entire buying decision. And if you get it, you’ll stop trying to look like a corporation and start building trust with the actual human being who has to bet their reputation on hiring you.

Eighteen years ago, I joined a software development consulting agency right here in Austin, Texas. I already had a 12-year career in tech at that point, but I was new to consulting. So for the first week of my job, they asked me to attend a consulting boot camp. On the last day of the boot camp, the CEO was brought in to speak. And he said something that really jumped out at me:

“Remember, your client is not the company that hired you. It’s the person you’re primarily working with there.”

He was teaching us that as a consultant, your job is to make sure the person who hired you is happy, not the whole company.

That’s the point most developers miss. Companies don’t feel trust, but people do. The person buying your consulting offer is thinking, “Do I want to work with this person?” Not “Do I like this logo?” Not “Is this LLC impressive?” They’re picturing what it will be like to collaborate with you when things get messy, unclear, or politically complicated inside their org.

So whether it’s your website, posts you might make on social media, or anything else, do it under your own name. You’re not just selling the outcome of your consulting offer. You’re selling the chance to work with you specifically.

This is one of the reasons I’m so intentional in the Consulting Offer Workshop about helping developers map their experience into business value—because once you can articulate value, the next question the buyer asks is: “Okay… but can I trust you to deliver it?”

How does being the face of your business reduce friction for clients?

It reduces friction because the buyer knows they only have to deal with one person. And in a world where everyone is distracted, overwhelmed, and drowning in process, making the buying experience simpler is a competitive advantage.

When companies consider hiring a consultant, they know there’s some paperwork involved. Consultants can be solo (like I’m teaching you) or they might work for an agency. And you may not know this, but working with a consulting agency creates a lot of friction in the buying process for clients.

An agency might have a legal department. They might have a sales rep. They might have account managers. They might have multiple layers of approvals and internal handoffs. These are all hurdles your client has to overcome just to get someone in the door to solve their problem. Even when the problem is urgent, the process becomes heavy.

But as an individual consultant, it’s just you.

When you’re the face of your business, your client is thinking: “I only have to deal with one person.”

Don’t underestimate the impact this can have on you landing clients. People are more distracted and overwhelmed than ever. Anything you can do to make it easier for them to work with you is going to help you get started.

And notice what’s happening here: you’re not “trying to look bigger.” You’re leveraging being smaller. You’re leveraging clarity. You’re leveraging simplicity. That kind of simplicity pairs perfectly with a premium, outcome-based offer—because premium buyers are often paying to avoid complexity, not to add more of it.

Inside the Consulting Offer Workshop, this is why we don’t just talk about pricing and value. We talk about packaging and positioning in a way that makes the buyer’s decision easier, not harder.

Why does a personal brand help you own results and avoid the bait-and-switch problem?

Because when you’re the face, the results attach to you. And the client knows they’ll actually get you. That directly neutralizes one of the biggest objections companies have to hiring consultants: fear of the bait and switch.

Back when I worked for a consulting agency, my results had to stay hidden. I helped Fortune 50s, FAANGs, and did some really cool work with a lot of impact. Unfortunately, it was only the agency I worked for that got to brag to future clients about what I did—without my name personally attached. I wasn’t permitted to talk publicly about it.

But when you’re the face of your business, you get to own the results you get.

Own your tech career by crafting a premium consulting offer in 4 evenings that’s worth $300+/hr

If you get testimonials from clients, those results are directly assigned to you. They don’t disappear into “the company.” They don’t get credited to a brand that isn’t actually the one doing the work.

And here’s the big one: one of the biggest objections companies have to hiring consultants is the “bait and switch”.

This is where a really good consultant comes in and sells the consulting offer. But when the project kicks off, it’s really just some lower-level person who delivers it.

You avoid this altogether when you are the personal brand.

One of the biggest objections companies have to hiring consultants is the “bait and switch”.

Clients know they get to work with you every step of the way. And that’s why people will pay more to work directly with you.

That premium is not just about skill. It’s about certainty. It’s about continuity. It’s about the buyer knowing the person they’re trusting during the sales conversation is the same person who will be in the work when it’s time to deliver.

In the Consulting Offer Workshop, the offer framework I teach is built to be repeatable and demonstrable—so when you do get results, you can confidently attach those outcomes to your name and let your track record compound.

Why does being solo lower a client’s fear of being upsold?

Because agencies are incentivized to expand scope, add headcount, and turn one yes into ten invoices. When you’re solo and you’re clearly the face, the buyer feels safer letting you in the door. Because they don’t feel like they’re feeding an army.

Consulting agencies typically grow by finding clients that need multiple people. So they’re always on the lookout for projects that need as many consultants as possible.

The thing is, companies who are considering hiring consultants know this. And they know if they let a consultant in the door, the consultant will probably start looking for bigger opportunities. They’re afraid an agency might turn their one yes into ten invoices.

That fear is real. And it makes buyers cautious, even when they need help.

Clients are afraid a consulting agency might turn their one “yes” into ten invoices.

But as a premium consultant, you focus on helping clients achieve one business outcome through your technical work. And since you’re the face of your business, they know you don’t have an army of other consultants to feed.

Once again, this is a big lever in your favor when it comes to selling your offer to a new client. It lowers their resistance to bringing you on when they know you’ll be focused on results. Not upselling them on a bigger project that needs more people.

This is also why I talk so much about outcomes instead of tasks. When the offer is packaged around a specific business outcome, it naturally limits scope creep. It sets expectations. It tells the buyer: “This is not an open-ended staff augmentation situation. This is a focused engagement.”

That’s exactly the kind of offer we design in the Consulting Offer Workshop. Something that’s premium because it’s specific, and trusted because it’s clear.

How does sharing who you are build trust without becoming “an influencer”?

Because the buyer is deciding whether they’ll like working with you—and a little bit of real humanity lowers their internal resistance. You don’t need to overshare. You just need to be a real person, not a corporate mask.

Six years ago, a video on my other YouTube channel, Healthy Developer, went viral. In that episode, I talked about how working in tech fueled my depression and addiction. And I also talked about how getting through it helped me find hope in my tech career.

When I was a career coach, that episode alone helped me reach so many coaching clients. As people reached out to me for help, it lowered their resistance because they knew more about me personally.

Now, you don’t have to go spilling your deepest failures to the internet to be authentic. But if you’re willing to share a little more about who you are, prospective clients will love it.

The worst thing would be to build a successful business where you’ve tried to be someone that you’re not.

Remember, they’re going to work with you as you deliver your offer. Inside their head, they’re thinking: “Am I going to like working with this person?”

So whether it’s hobbies you like, your perspective on the tech industry, your values, or anything else—be yourself.

It’s been said many times that the worst thing would be to build a successful business where you’ve tried to be someone that you’re not. Now you get to keep up a lie to be successful. Don’t do it.

This is where a lot of developers get stuck because they think “professional” means “sterile.” But trust doesn’t come from sterile. Trust comes from clarity, consistency, and being recognizable as a person.

That’s also why I say this isn’t about being an influencer. It’s not about farming attention. It’s about reducing perceived risk. The buyer is trying to predict: “Will this consultant communicate well? Will they make my life easier? Will they be reasonable when things change?”

When you let your personality show in a grounded way, you answer those questions without needing to say them out loud.

In the Consulting Offer Workshop, I treat trust as a core part of premium positioning—because the higher the price, the more the buyer needs to believe you’re safe to work with.

What happens when your consulting offer changes—do you need to rebrand?

If you build the brand around what you do, then yes. Every pivot forces a brand reset. But if the brand is you, you can change your positioning without losing identity, continuity, or momentum.

When you’re just starting out, your consulting offer might be a little rough around the edges. So it’s pretty normal to have the thought: “What if my offer needs to change?”

Here’s where you get to experience one of the best things about self-employment.

If you decide to make some changes, there’s no boss to stop you from doing what’s best. Adjusting what you do based on feedback isn’t a mistake. It’s part of being a business.

A personal brand lets you tweak your positioning, but your identity stays the same.

I personally changed what I offered as a career coach several times before I really hit traction.

And here’s where being the face of your consulting business helps again:

If you were to create a company, you’d probably name it after what you do. But if you need to change direction now, the brand needs to change as well.

This doesn’t happen if you have a personal brand.

You just change your positioning, but your identity stays the same.

That’s such an underrated advantage. Especially for solo developers. Because most people’s first offer is not their final offer. It’s the first version of something that becomes better as they deliver it, learn, refine, and get clearer about what the market actually values.

So if your name is tied to the business, your growth doesn’t require a reinvention every time you get smarter.

This is also part of why the Consulting Offer Workshop is designed around getting you to a believable first offer—something you can test, deliver, and improve—without needing perfection before you move.

How does all of this connect to landing premium consulting clients?

Being the face of your business makes it easier for the buyer to trust you, easier for them to say yes, and easier for you to build momentum. Your offer still matters—but the delivery vehicle of trust is often you. And in premium software development consulting, trust is the shortcut.

So now you know why being the face of your business helps you land clients:

• It reduces friction because the buyer only deals with one person.
• It lets you own your results and avoids the bait-and-switch fear.
• It lowers resistance because you’re not incentivized to upsell like an agency.
• It builds trust because people feel like they know you enough to work with you.
• It protects you when your offer evolves because your identity stays stable.

Branding is only one aspect of finding companies to work with so you can go solo. But if you miss this piece, if you hide behind a company name because you think that’s what “serious consultants” do—you’re often making it harder on yourself than it needs to be.

And if you’re building toward a premium, repeatable, outcome-based offer, this is exactly the kind of positioning foundation I want developers to understand early. Because it supports everything we build inside the Consulting Offer Workshop.

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