Like you, I was once in the same position. Extremely poor, I literally hand drew business cards and cut them out of cardboard and walked around the city to hand-deliver them. This helped as someone eventually gave me a chance, but I'm sure it's because he felt sorry for me. I had no experience and learnt how to code from making free photo copies of the pages in the visual basic 6 book at the local public library.
Where I'm from (South Africa), internet was expensive and not accessible to all at the time.
Some advice for your situation:
- You are at the bottom, your only way from there is up - this is something to be excited about.
- Fake it until you make it. When meeting potential clients, talk the talk and do the walk later.
- You'd be surprised at how many SME's need IT services and don't know it yet :) You can simply walk in the door and have a chat to them.
- Put your ego away and always be aware that in order to eat, you need to sell. Selling is actually pretty simple if have a bit of confidence.
- Look after your laptop with your life, it's your key to getting out of your situation.
- If you can write code, it most likely means that you can solve problems logically - this doesn't only apply to coding, figure out where you can use that and make a bit of money.
- Don't be afraid of charging for your time. Poverty is also a mindset, as soon as you realize that, you are one step closer to getting past it.
- Just ask for help. You are not alone and most people will be sympathetic when they are asked.
- You don't need to prove yourself to anyone in order to survive, simply do what you do best and the rest will follow.
Where I'm from (South Africa), internet was expensive and not accessible to all at the time.
Some advice for your situation:
- You are at the bottom, your only way from there is up - this is something to be excited about.
- Fake it until you make it. When meeting potential clients, talk the talk and do the walk later.
- You'd be surprised at how many SME's need IT services and don't know it yet :) You can simply walk in the door and have a chat to them.
- Put your ego away and always be aware that in order to eat, you need to sell. Selling is actually pretty simple if have a bit of confidence.
- Look after your laptop with your life, it's your key to getting out of your situation.
- If you can write code, it most likely means that you can solve problems logically - this doesn't only apply to coding, figure out where you can use that and make a bit of money.
- Don't be afraid of charging for your time. Poverty is also a mindset, as soon as you realize that, you are one step closer to getting past it.
- Just ask for help. You are not alone and most people will be sympathetic when they are asked.
- You don't need to prove yourself to anyone in order to survive, simply do what you do best and the rest will follow.
Goodluck! S