Start a Software Supply Chain Security Service

1. 1

   Master the tooling before you sell it

   Get fluent with SBOM generation in both SPDX and CycloneDX formats, dependency and vulnerability scanners, package signing and verification, and the build-integrity frameworks like SLSA that customers reference in questionnaires. Run the full stack on your own projects first so every recommendation comes from use, not a vendor datasheet.

2. 2

   Package the supply chain assessment

   Offer a fixed-scope review answering what a customer or regulator will ask: what third-party code ships in the product, which components are outdated or abandoned, how the build pipeline prevents tampering, and whether releases are signed. Deliver a findings report plus a generated SBOM. Small software companies facing their first enterprise security review are your ideal first buyers.

3. 3

   Ride the requirements, honestly

   US federal software procurement rules, FDA expectations for medical device submissions, and enterprise vendor questionnaires all increasingly require SBOMs and supply chain controls. Learn which requirement actually binds each prospect and quote it precisely; nothing kills credibility faster than waving vaguely at regulation a client is not subject to. The SOC 2 readiness lane is a separate, already-established business; you are the layer that secures the code and pipeline itself.

4. 4

   Automate SBOMs into the pipeline

   A one-time SBOM is stale by the next release. The real deliverable is wiring generation, dependency scanning, and license checks into CI/CD so every build produces fresh evidence automatically. This implementation project is your core mid-size engagement and what separates you from a PDF-report consultancy.

5. 5

   Add the monitoring retainer

   New vulnerabilities land in popular packages weekly, and maintainer compromises now make headlines every few months. Sell an ongoing service: watch the client's dependency set, triage new advisories against their actual exposure, and flag abandoned or suspicious packages before they bite. Triage judgment, knowing which alert matters, is the human value tooling cannot replace.

6. 6

   Grow through the developer ecosystem

   Your buyers gather in engineering communities, not CISO conferences. Write technical walkthroughs, contribute to the open-source tools you use, and speak at developer meetups. A reputation for real engineering depth is the marketing channel in this niche, and referrals between CTOs carry the rest.

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