5 ms·

You just outlined the exact reason that getting into freelancing worries me. You start out as one guy and will have to face some long hours no matter how well

by netmau5 16y ago

You just outlined the exact reason that getting into freelancing worries me. You start out as one guy and will have to face some long hours no matter how well you plan. I know when push comes to shove, I can do it, but anyone capable of doing 80+ hours/wk for 3 or more weeks and stay productive is superhuman to me.

gridspy 16y ago
The trick is learning to say no. Once you have too much work you can pick your clients. Then you can do the most interesting work at the best rate for the most reliable clients.
- kls 16y ago
  Right I call it the "no or grow" decision, I chose the latter, I just found out that the grow decision is a difficult one to make, we are working through it but it take time.
  - gridspy 16y ago
    You only want to grow your business based on sustained clients with a lot of work. Do it very slowly and carefully, one of the most common ways for a business to fail is to get too big, too fast. Are you totally certain that you will have a lot of work 3 months from now? 12?
    - kls 16y ago
      That is the point of contention and why I said it is a difficult spot. We are taking a very pragmatic approach to growth but that means that for the time being, that we have to pull a lot of hours for a time to ensure that we are at a point to sustain another hire, when the numbers reflect a sustained volume then we can justify the hire. It also means that because we are growth oriented that we have to take the projects to grow. After we move through this critical point the reserve starts to stack up so that another employee is not such a risky venture. The issue is not only is it bad to burn a client, but it is also just as bad to burn a good developer with on again off again employment. So we want to ensure that once we pick one up that we keep them for the long haul. We have a great reputation as a development house from both clients and employees and we intend to keep it that way. We have to stack up the reserve to do so. The hope is to build the development house on contracts and then pivot into a product company once we have amassed a solid team. That will be the next difficult transition for us and we are already laying plans for the time when revenues and growth can sustain that transition of business models.
      - gridspy 16y ago
        Sounds like you have a solid idea of where you are going. Well done. Doing the overtime to justify the new hire sounds like a good, low risk approach. Congrats on putting in the hard yards now to enjoy the growth soon. :) Don't do it too long - you WILL burn out.

by netmau5 16y ago

gridspy 16y ago

The trick is learning to say no. Once you have too much work you can pick your clients. Then you can do the most interesting work at the best rate for the most reliable clients.

kls 16y ago
Right I call it the "no or grow" decision, I chose the latter, I just found out that the grow decision is a difficult one to make, we are working through it but it take time.
- gridspy 16y ago
  You only want to grow your business based on sustained clients with a lot of work. Do it very slowly and carefully, one of the most common ways for a business to fail is to get too big, too fast. Are you totally certain that you will have a lot of work 3 months from now? 12?
  - kls 16y ago
    That is the point of contention and why I said it is a difficult spot. We are taking a very pragmatic approach to growth but that means that for the time being, that we have to pull a lot of hours for a time to ensure that we are at a point to sustain another hire, when the numbers reflect a sustained volume then we can justify the hire. It also means that because we are growth oriented that we have to take the projects to grow. After we move through this critical point the reserve starts to stack up so that another employee is not such a risky venture. The issue is not only is it bad to burn a client, but it is also just as bad to burn a good developer with on again off again employment. So we want to ensure that once we pick one up that we keep them for the long haul. We have a great reputation as a development house from both clients and employees and we intend to keep it that way. We have to stack up the reserve to do so. The hope is to build the development house on contracts and then pivot into a product company once we have amassed a solid team. That will be the next difficult transition for us and we are already laying plans for the time when revenues and growth can sustain that transition of business models.
    - gridspy 16y ago
      Sounds like you have a solid idea of where you are going. Well done. Doing the overtime to justify the new hire sounds like a good, low risk approach. Congrats on putting in the hard yards now to enjoy the growth soon. :) Don't do it too long - you WILL burn out.