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There are plenty of reasons to take a steady job over running a business, even a very lucrative business. I’ve done both; no stressing over Christmas on whethe

There are plenty of reasons to take a steady job over running a business, even a very lucrative business. I’ve done both; no stressing over Christmas on whether a check will arrive soon enough in January or February to pay for my tax assessment in March has non-zero value to it. Paternity leave was pretty nice. I get to devote a supermajority of my professional efforts to work rather than devoting 10% to business administration and 20% to sales/marketing. Consultants with relatively high rates are not unicorns, any more than lawyers or doctors with high rates are. This is not just repeatable, this is a fairly reasonable career path, much like “work at AppAmaGooBookSoft” is a lucrative but well-trod career path. (Which, btw, have in-the-door offers for mid-career professionals which are reasonably competitive with running a full-time consultancy at $30k/week.)

AFNobody 9y ago
> Consultants with relatively high rates are not unicorns, any more than lawyers or doctors with high rates are. This is not just repeatable, this is a fairly reasonable career path, much like “work at AppAmaGooBookSoft” is a lucrative but well-trod career path. (Which, btw, have in-the-door offers for mid-career professionals which are reasonably competitive with running a full-time consultancy at $30k/week.) You are seriously going to engage me with the argument that $600k+ (20 weeks of paid engagements @ $30k/week) a year in income + benefits is common? I think you have a greatly inflated opinion of what the top 25% of software developers get paid let alone what is reasonable and repeatable.
- unreal37 9y ago
  It honestly sounds like you think $100/hr is the upper limit of consulting earnings. There are at least some people making $250/hr+ as a technical consultant. Is it 0.01%, 0.1% or 1%? Who knows. But it's possible, and it's possible to get there if you're strategic about it.
  - AFNobody 9y ago
    > Is it 0.01%, 0.1% or 1%? Who knows. I said it wasn't common which you are acknowledging. Simply because less some small percentage of people can mange it doesn't make it repeatable.

AFNobody 9y ago

> Consultants with relatively high rates are not unicorns, any more than lawyers or doctors with high rates are. This is not just repeatable, this is a fairly reasonable career path, much like “work at AppAmaGooBookSoft” is a lucrative but well-trod career path. (Which, btw, have in-the-door offers for mid-career professionals which are reasonably competitive with running a full-time consultancy at $30k/week.) You are seriously going to engage me with the argument that $600k+ (20 weeks of paid engagements @ $30k/week) a year in income + benefits is common? I think you have a greatly inflated opinion of what the top 25% of software developers get paid let alone what is reasonable and repeatable.

unreal37 9y ago
It honestly sounds like you think $100/hr is the upper limit of consulting earnings. There are at least some people making $250/hr+ as a technical consultant. Is it 0.01%, 0.1% or 1%? Who knows. But it's possible, and it's possible to get there if you're strategic about it.
- AFNobody 9y ago
  > Is it 0.01%, 0.1% or 1%? Who knows. I said it wasn't common which you are acknowledging. Simply because less some small percentage of people can mange it doesn't make it repeatable.