Do I stay or do I go? Again!
I’ve been thinking about my current work situation a lot.
For the last month or so, my workload has been primarily Client A and MicroISV work to fill the gaps. Client A is getting very sloppy about paying invoices, typically running a week or two overdue. I need to forcibly remind them and usually resubmit the same invoice multiple times. They are a high-stress client, change their mind a lot and have frequent emergencies. Two years ago when I started with them they were paying what seemed like a lot of money. In that time I’ve taken a pay cut, suffered from high inflation and significantly improved my skill set, so I’m not being paid very well either.
So I think the time has come to let them go.
Of course, this is the ‘take the leap’ problem all over again. Do I try to make it on my own, or do I stick with a stable (ish) thing?
This time, I’m going to take a different approach. Rather than try to make it purely on the MicroISV, I’m also going to cultivate some consulting work. I’m eager for the human interaction, and seeing payments go into my account is a big motivator. I don’t need to be earning a lot overall, but I do want to keep my hourly rate at a fairly good level. What constitutes ‘good’ may shift with time, but I’m still comfortable for a few years even if I don’t earn anything.
Along the way, I should pick up some interesting contacts and ideas. Not that I’m short on ideas already - the challenge is in completing them before getting distracted by the next shiny new thing.
I’ll be without predictable income for the first time since I started working (seven years). I should take a proper holiday. It’ll be the first one since I started working, too.
I think this is the right direction for me to head in. And, as always, the worst that can happen is that I have to get a job.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Oh man, does this sound familiar! I’ve working with my “Client A” for just over a year and I have very little work to show for it. The money has been good- I negotiated a monthly flat fee retainer that reserves almost my full time commitment. It’s gotten me out of most of my debt and allowed me to stockpile some reserves to run the company for a while. But they’re so screwed up internally, a lot of my time is spent on conference calls, switching projects, and doing what essentially turns into throw away code. As of the end of this month, the retainer agreement is done and they want to go to hourly. It seems like an excellent time to take a break from them.