Who you are actually hiring
One person, and that is the point
Robin Angelé, micro-entrepreneur, trading as Robin4consulting from Malakoff near Paris. No team, no account manager, no junior doing the work under my name. The person you call is the person who does it.
That limits how much I take on at once. It also means nothing gets lost between people, and you never have to explain your situation twice.
I have been through most of this myself
Six years in Germany, from international student to two companies founded there from scratch. Most of the paperwork I advise on is paperwork I have filed myself. I now work from Malakoff, near Paris.
The same goes for the tools. These sites run on my own infrastructure in France, and I maintain them myself. That is the standard I hold the advice to.
How I work
Four rules I work to
Not values on a wall: things you can check I did, on the call and afterwards.
Say it plainly
No jargon, no padding, no hedging
If the answer is that this will be slow and one of the forms exists only in German, then that is the answer. Better you hear the annoying version now than find it out at a counter with a queue behind you.
Name my own interest
You should see where I profit
ReefOffice is mine: I built it and I run it, so I say that out loud whenever it comes up as an option. If what you already pay for is good enough, I tell you that, and there is nothing in it for me.
Know where I stop
I name the limit before you pay for it
I explain how systems work and what to expect. When a question needs someone with a licence behind it, I say so and tell you what kind of professional to bring in, instead of guessing. Being useful and being qualified are not the same thing.
You own it afterwards
No lock-in, no dependency on me
Where I touch your systems: accounts in your name, passwords in your hands, backups restored at least once where you can see it, and a written note of what changed and why. Being hard to leave is not a business model I want.