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I was a consultant for 8 years and burned out, in part because of the context switching between sales and delivery. It can be exhausting. More specifically not

I was a consultant for 8 years and burned out, in part because of the context switching between sales and delivery. It can be exhausting. More specifically not the sales per se but the extensive amount of in depth relationship work at very sophisticated clients. Or the cheap clients that always want something for nothing. You can have a lot of inbound, but how many of those clients are qualified? Then there’s the complicated contract negotiation process, which is its own huge headache with months of legal negotiation extending well beyond the desired project start time. Often from big companies that role your eyes at you when you say you want to negotiate. Then when it’s all said and done, chasing payment. They promise they’ll pay in 30, 45, 60 whatever days, but there’s always an excuse for not getting paid. Often made up ones that actually violate your contract with them. But what are you going to do, sue? You can stop work, and we did, but then you’re maybe burning bridges and disrupting the tech colleagues you work with day in, day out… Relationship work is important in any work. And you’re _always_ selling and communicating value. But when it becomes all about administriva like contracts or being paid, it’s no fun. I don’t think it’s a valuable use of smart peoples time. Finally, there’s a certain type of company that hires lots of consultants. And they often aren’t the ones you would choose to work with. They hire consultants because they have bigger organizational dysfunction but lack awareness to tackle that dysfunction.

lobocinza 5y ago
The thing that I hate the most is filling taxes.
- desireco42 5y ago
  You are missing out greatly here, as this is where the benefit of being independent is. You get tax breaks on pretty much everything you do.
  - massysett 5y ago
    This is no panacea, as it also means you have no employer paying Social Security taxes on your behalf, not to mention not getting any employer-provided benefits either.
    - withinboredom 5y ago
      You still have to pay SS (at least in the US and NL), it just doesn’t come out of your check every month. In the US, it’s pretty high (15%) IIRC.
- mpfundstein 5y ago
  then hire someone to do it for you
  - sfgweilr4f 5y ago
    This is why I got an accountant who set up the aspects of my side-hustle business I'm too stupid^H^H^H^H^H^H lazy^H^H^H^H busy to sort out. Yes I could have done this all myself but could I have done it myself the correct way from the outset? Not a chance. I would have screwed up some detail.
    - 6510 5y ago
      Its silly, lots of people do their own taxes but forget what they normally charge per hour and how slow they do the taxes makes it not worth it. No one would hire them to do taxes at those rates.
      - mpfundstein 5y ago
        this of course only works if you spend the time in exchange for billable hours. if you do it during down time or in your free time, you of course save money. until you screw up :P
        6510 5y ago
        That amused me so much I forget to reply. There is no such thing as doing work in your free time!
  - lobocinza 5y ago
    I wish to do so, I approached a few and will definitely hire one when I incorporate as a one person company. The issue is that I did not find one with experience in my activity as it is very particular when compared to that of their average client. And I was reasonably scared that the ones that I could hire could screw me. So I ended up studying how things should be done for this particular case and I think I'm better doing it myself.
- Aeolun 5y ago
  I have literally never had a problem with this. Is there some part of self employed tax filing that I’m just missing?
  - lobocinza 5y ago
    I live in Brazil so things might be different. I have to fill taxes monthly and the system to do it sucks. I have to clear cookies each time I visit it or log in wouldn't work. I'm probably overreacting because I find it extremely boring.
    - KronisLV 5y ago
      Just use a private browser window if it's so bad? Most of the browsers have a mode like that that won't store cookies for the sites that you visit in it. Nor should that mode give any of your already present cookies to the private session. You shouldn't have to clear all of your cookies to just make one site not persist session data. Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-fi... Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464 https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464 Edge: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/browse-inprivate-in-microsoft-edge-e6f47704-340c-7d4f-b00d-d0cf35aa1fcc https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/browse-in... Safari: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-private-browsing-ibrw1069/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-private-browsing-...
      - lobocinza 5y ago
        Thanks but who does not know about incognito mode? :) It's not a big deal, I just have to clear/remove cookies for just that site. I though it wouldn't work in incognito mode because theoretically it would require access to my client certificate which I believe wouldn't/shouldn't work in a private window. Anyway I tried and it worked because the site is not using it in the end.
        KronisLV 5y ago
benlumen 5y ago
This is an excellent summary of tech consulting.
arcturus17 5y ago
If you get to a certain size, and it doesn't need to be huge, you can delegate those tasks, can't you? Just hire an administrator that's competent - they most likely don't need an MBA to do the tasks you're describing.
- simonswords82 5y ago
  It's an undervalued skill to delegate and manage people, even menial ones. So whilst your point is spot on I've learned (the hard way) that not everybody has the ability to delegate. It's a skill just like any other.
- itsoktocry 5y ago
  >Just hire an administrator that's competent The idea that this sort of thing is easy is precisely why most startups fail. Sure the ideas and tech and implementation are hard, but that happens to be what most of us are good at. But guess what? The administration of the business is also hard (harder?). This is just the inverse thought process of a couple of business students with an app idea for which they plan on outsourcing the programming for $5 an hour. It's a simple app, no problem!
  - arcturus17 5y ago
    > The idea that this sort of thing is easy is precisely why most startups fail Most small businesses fail, too, but a small business such as a boutique consulting services company does not have the same risk profile as a startup. I never said it's easy, but it's certainly not as hard as building a unicorn. The difficulty is commensurate to the risk and the scale, I hope you can appreciate that? If you don't want to delegate, then the other only alternative is to put up with doing these jobs (marketing & sales, finance & accounting, etc.) since they are not going away regardless of your technical expertise.
- simonh 5y ago
  So the solution to people working for a boss and not themselves is to hire people to work for you?
desireco42 5y ago
I always found companies with disfunction are the ones where you can get most benefit for yourself. You do have to make sure you work their disfunction to your benefit, not getting crushed by it. They usually have a lot of problems, some are solvable, some are not, you have to pick solvable ones and do good job and you will have a good time.
- milleramp 5y ago
  You should have been a lawyer. :)

lobocinza 5y ago

The thing that I hate the most is filling taxes.

desireco42 5y ago
You are missing out greatly here, as this is where the benefit of being independent is. You get tax breaks on pretty much everything you do.
- massysett 5y ago
  This is no panacea, as it also means you have no employer paying Social Security taxes on your behalf, not to mention not getting any employer-provided benefits either.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    You still have to pay SS (at least in the US and NL), it just doesn’t come out of your check every month. In the US, it’s pretty high (15%) IIRC.
mpfundstein 5y ago
then hire someone to do it for you
- sfgweilr4f 5y ago
  This is why I got an accountant who set up the aspects of my side-hustle business I'm too stupid^H^H^H^H^H^H lazy^H^H^H^H busy to sort out. Yes I could have done this all myself but could I have done it myself the correct way from the outset? Not a chance. I would have screwed up some detail.
  - 6510 5y ago
    Its silly, lots of people do their own taxes but forget what they normally charge per hour and how slow they do the taxes makes it not worth it. No one would hire them to do taxes at those rates.
    - mpfundstein 5y ago
      this of course only works if you spend the time in exchange for billable hours. if you do it during down time or in your free time, you of course save money. until you screw up :P
      - 6510 5y ago
        That amused me so much I forget to reply. There is no such thing as doing work in your free time!
- lobocinza 5y ago
  I wish to do so, I approached a few and will definitely hire one when I incorporate as a one person company. The issue is that I did not find one with experience in my activity as it is very particular when compared to that of their average client. And I was reasonably scared that the ones that I could hire could screw me. So I ended up studying how things should be done for this particular case and I think I'm better doing it myself.
Aeolun 5y ago
I have literally never had a problem with this. Is there some part of self employed tax filing that I’m just missing?
- lobocinza 5y ago
  I live in Brazil so things might be different. I have to fill taxes monthly and the system to do it sucks. I have to clear cookies each time I visit it or log in wouldn't work. I'm probably overreacting because I find it extremely boring.
  - KronisLV 5y ago
    Just use a private browser window if it's so bad? Most of the browsers have a mode like that that won't store cookies for the sites that you visit in it. Nor should that mode give any of your already present cookies to the private session. You shouldn't have to clear all of your cookies to just make one site not persist session data. Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-fi... Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464 https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95464 Edge: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/browse-inprivate-in-microsoft-edge-e6f47704-340c-7d4f-b00d-d0cf35aa1fcc https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/browse-in... Safari: https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-private-browsing-ibrw1069/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/use-private-browsing-...
    - lobocinza 5y ago
      Thanks but who does not know about incognito mode? :) It's not a big deal, I just have to clear/remove cookies for just that site. I though it wouldn't work in incognito mode because theoretically it would require access to my client certificate which I believe wouldn't/shouldn't work in a private window. Anyway I tried and it worked because the site is not using it in the end.
      - KronisLV 5y ago

benlumen 5y ago

This is an excellent summary of tech consulting.

arcturus17 5y ago

If you get to a certain size, and it doesn't need to be huge, you can delegate those tasks, can't you? Just hire an administrator that's competent - they most likely don't need an MBA to do the tasks you're describing.

simonswords82 5y ago
It's an undervalued skill to delegate and manage people, even menial ones. So whilst your point is spot on I've learned (the hard way) that not everybody has the ability to delegate. It's a skill just like any other.
itsoktocry 5y ago
>Just hire an administrator that's competent The idea that this sort of thing is easy is precisely why most startups fail. Sure the ideas and tech and implementation are hard, but that happens to be what most of us are good at. But guess what? The administration of the business is also hard (harder?). This is just the inverse thought process of a couple of business students with an app idea for which they plan on outsourcing the programming for $5 an hour. It's a simple app, no problem!
- arcturus17 5y ago
  > The idea that this sort of thing is easy is precisely why most startups fail Most small businesses fail, too, but a small business such as a boutique consulting services company does not have the same risk profile as a startup. I never said it's easy, but it's certainly not as hard as building a unicorn. The difficulty is commensurate to the risk and the scale, I hope you can appreciate that? If you don't want to delegate, then the other only alternative is to put up with doing these jobs (marketing & sales, finance & accounting, etc.) since they are not going away regardless of your technical expertise.
simonh 5y ago
So the solution to people working for a boss and not themselves is to hire people to work for you?

desireco42 5y ago

I always found companies with disfunction are the ones where you can get most benefit for yourself. You do have to make sure you work their disfunction to your benefit, not getting crushed by it. They usually have a lot of problems, some are solvable, some are not, you have to pick solvable ones and do good job and you will have a good time.

milleramp 5y ago
You should have been a lawyer. :)