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Like any investment they don't always pan out, and you don't start making money right away. It's easy to say you should invest your time, but I think that's goi

by ehnto 5y ago

Like any investment they don't always pan out, and you don't start making money right away. It's easy to say you should invest your time, but I think that's going to be tough for someone trying to strike out as a freelancer for the first time. You have to pay the bills right away. It's hard enough to build up contracts without the added concern of trying to productize your time. I think you need to balance them at first, unless you have a year of runway in savings to blow and a fallback job at the end of your runway.

atatatat 5y ago
Every contractor at my startup has a full-time job that they're seeking paths of escape or diversification from.
- PragmaticPulp 5y ago
  Full-time employees who double as hourly contractors are a difficult balance. Generally, if they were seeking to escapes their full time job they’d quit and do more contracting. It’s tempting to try to capture the best of both worlds: A full time job with benefits and steady pay where they work on minimizing their workload, combined with hourly contracting work where they focus their efforts to capture those extra contracting paychecks. It works for a while when things are slow at work and the contracting effort is fun and new, but eventually they start cutting corners in one or both areas to avoid burnout. If they really want to contract, they’ll go that route. However, it’s common to simply realize how low-stress and predictable a full time job is and just stick with that. I’ve done freelance work on the side in the past. It’s a difficult balance. I’ve also had employees who tried to contract on the side, usually with an associated decline in day job output. The worst case is when someone goes all-in on contracting but tries to keep their day job paychecks as long as possible, doing the bare minimum to delay getting fired for as long as they can get away with. That situation is miserable for their teammates and coworkers.
  - atatatat 5y ago
    Do paid tasks, not hourly. Hourly work, as a whole, is desirable for slow, inefficient people.

by ehnto 5y ago

atatatat 5y ago

Every contractor at my startup has a full-time job that they're seeking paths of escape or diversification from.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago
Full-time employees who double as hourly contractors are a difficult balance. Generally, if they were seeking to escapes their full time job they’d quit and do more contracting. It’s tempting to try to capture the best of both worlds: A full time job with benefits and steady pay where they work on minimizing their workload, combined with hourly contracting work where they focus their efforts to capture those extra contracting paychecks. It works for a while when things are slow at work and the contracting effort is fun and new, but eventually they start cutting corners in one or both areas to avoid burnout. If they really want to contract, they’ll go that route. However, it’s common to simply realize how low-stress and predictable a full time job is and just stick with that. I’ve done freelance work on the side in the past. It’s a difficult balance. I’ve also had employees who tried to contract on the side, usually with an associated decline in day job output. The worst case is when someone goes all-in on contracting but tries to keep their day job paychecks as long as possible, doing the bare minimum to delay getting fired for as long as they can get away with. That situation is miserable for their teammates and coworkers.
- atatatat 5y ago
  Do paid tasks, not hourly. Hourly work, as a whole, is desirable for slow, inefficient people.