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What this document basically means is - You Don't Want To Be A Consulant.

by pkrumins 18y ago

tptacek 18y ago
Because?
- netcan 18y ago
  You could probably turn that into 100 reasons to (or not to)... A big one is that these are businesses more difficult to sell.
  - tptacek 18y ago
    They're easier to sell; they just sell for much less.
- pkrumins 18y ago
  Because it's very stressful.
  - icey 18y ago
    This is true... if you make it true. My time as a consultant included the most challenging stuff I've probably worked on; but it was also some of the most rewarding work I've done. Consulting is a pretty vast world; you can be a glorified contractor or you can go help companies actually solve some of their deep problems. If you have a good customer-base, you can be up to your ears in interesting work and get paid incredibly well for it. The downside is that you're a bit of a ronin, and you have to be ruthless with the customers you keep as well as the new customers you bring on. I don't think I have the energy to do it full time any more, because it is incredibly time consuming; but I am definitely glad I did it for as long as I did.
  - tptacek 18y ago
    Everything worth doing is stressful. Try making payroll.
bullseye 18y ago
If that's what you think after reading articles like this, then you are absolutely right. Some people aren't wired to work for themselves, and they are better off being dissuaded from doing it.
- jrockway 18y ago
  Consulting is not the only way to "work for yourself". Income from consulting scales linearally with the time you put into it. Considering there are only 24 hours in a day and that you need to sleep every so often, you tend to hit a wall with respect to income. This is why people want to avoid consulting; it is an endless march of death. There is no way to get ahead. Anyway, making a product is the way to scale past $WAKING_HOURS. I have only written a book so far, but even that provides some income. It is nice to see royalty checks a year and a half after I've written the book. I would almost call it free money, and that's the best kind :)
  - gaius 18y ago
    Income from consulting scales linearally with the time you put into it While that is true, there's no need for your value/hour to be fixed. E.g. if you're worth $x/hr to implement something from scratch for one customer, you ought to be worth $n*x/hr to do the same or similar work for another, since now you have experience, reusable code, a reputation, etc. There is a limit obviously, but it's not clear when you start what exactly it might be.

What this document basically means is - You Don't Want To Be A Consulant.

tptacek 18y ago

Because?

netcan 18y ago
You could probably turn that into 100 reasons to (or not to)... A big one is that these are businesses more difficult to sell.
- tptacek 18y ago
  They're easier to sell; they just sell for much less.
pkrumins 18y ago
Because it's very stressful.
- icey 18y ago
  This is true... if you make it true. My time as a consultant included the most challenging stuff I've probably worked on; but it was also some of the most rewarding work I've done. Consulting is a pretty vast world; you can be a glorified contractor or you can go help companies actually solve some of their deep problems. If you have a good customer-base, you can be up to your ears in interesting work and get paid incredibly well for it. The downside is that you're a bit of a ronin, and you have to be ruthless with the customers you keep as well as the new customers you bring on. I don't think I have the energy to do it full time any more, because it is incredibly time consuming; but I am definitely glad I did it for as long as I did.
- tptacek 18y ago
  Everything worth doing is stressful. Try making payroll.

bullseye 18y ago

If that's what you think after reading articles like this, then you are absolutely right. Some people aren't wired to work for themselves, and they are better off being dissuaded from doing it.

jrockway 18y ago
Consulting is not the only way to "work for yourself". Income from consulting scales linearally with the time you put into it. Considering there are only 24 hours in a day and that you need to sleep every so often, you tend to hit a wall with respect to income. This is why people want to avoid consulting; it is an endless march of death. There is no way to get ahead. Anyway, making a product is the way to scale past $WAKING_HOURS. I have only written a book so far, but even that provides some income. It is nice to see royalty checks a year and a half after I've written the book. I would almost call it free money, and that's the best kind :)
- gaius 18y ago
  Income from consulting scales linearally with the time you put into it While that is true, there's no need for your value/hour to be fixed. E.g. if you're worth $x/hr to implement something from scratch for one customer, you ought to be worth $n*x/hr to do the same or similar work for another, since now you have experience, reusable code, a reputation, etc. There is a limit obviously, but it's not clear when you start what exactly it might be.