Re: FN-FORUM: The first six months..

date posted 15th August 2004 20:59

On 15 Aug 2004 19:40:48 -0000, nick b [EMAIL REMOVED] wrote:
>=20
> Aaron Brailsford wrote:
>=20
> > How *do* you make a living at this? It seems to me like I'd have to be
> > bringing somewhere between 4 and 6k a month into the company, every
> > month, to really break even and be almost as well off as I was before
> > - and I'm starting to wonder if that's physically possible as a one
> > man band?
> >
> If by making a living, you're talking about =C3=83=E2=80=9A=C3=82=C2=A350=
k+ a year then, err, no
> wonder you're having trouble..
>=20
> Personally I attach a value to some ot the other advantages of
> self-employment (no dickheads, no bosses, enjoyment of work, flexible
> hours, no commuting etc) and console myself that way..
>=20

No dickheads? Hmmm ... inclined to disagree with that, especially
after giving much thought to an experience with a client on Friday
afternoon. However, I do have the option of 'deep sixing' that client
relationship with little economic penalty and might just do that -
after her cheque has cleared.

To attempt an answer to Aaron's question: diversity is a good plan -
that's to say widen the range of services you offer. Be prepared to do the little jobs. For those who
don't know, I do Mac support, training, coaching. troubleshooting and
I am starting to expanding into doing that in the PC platform. Granted
I know far more about Macs than PC's - however my PC knowledge towers
above many PC users. The questions are often mind boggling easy and
frankly 50% of the work is dealing with people.

A few examples:

I was walking along the street the other night, a regular client
named 'Henry' (not his real name) called - he was having trouble
getting into the Transport for London web site to pay his congestion
charge. I kid you not - he called me about this. Henry is an art
dealer, drives a Merc, has an office in Mayfair and struggles along
with a rudimentary knowledge of his PowerBook and the software on it.
He can be rather neurotic - but he does know how to flog a =C2=A32 million
painting and pays his bill - and that's all I care about. The major
skills I applied to this 'problem' were empathy and patience. His PA
(when she gets back from holiday) will have an invoice for this, plus
also showing him how to print to the office laser and anything else
that crops up.

Last Sunday, I spent 20 minutes in a Chelsea hotel room dealing with a
French film director's problem with connecting to the hotel's WiFi
network. The previous Monday, a journalist called at 11pm because M$
Word wouldn't 'save' a story - she was in a major panic and frankly
she's a handful to deal with but I got her sorted out and she has a
bill for =C2=A320 for phone support. When I set her ADSL connection up, it
was a 4 hour call on the Friday evening - that's =C2=A3140 plus I got to
off load my dusty old boat anchor ADSL Speed Touch modem for =C2=A330. And
she wrote a cheque on the spot.

These are just a few examples of what I do - it's not big money and
I've not solved the problem of how to make =C2=A350K a year or even close
to that, but I generally get paid pretty promptly - often on the spot
with cold hard cash. The producers of a very popular film released
last year owe me around =C3=82=C2=A3600 for work I did less than 2 weeks ag=
o and
I can say with confidence I'll have my money by Friday. Many of the
clients I have are just regular people with regular jobs - but they
are happy to pay someone =C2=A350 to solve their problems with that damned
computer.

It wasn't always this way - I back in the early 90's I made outrageous
amounts - I used to eat lunch at a 5 star hotel across the street from
a client site and not care about the bill. I built a large corporate
network, connected Macs to IBM's big iron and designed a world
spanning Apple network - but how I got through those years without a
heart attack, I don't know.

But that was then and this is now ... those days are gone (along with
the money I pissed away in a state of hubris) and frankly I'd say if I
ever were to make that kind of money again, it won't be anything to do
with computers.

Anyway - in conclusion, diversify, use the freedom of not being a wage
slave to do other things. I do give coaching on how to be a successful
Mac consultant :)))

Dave

--=20
http://www.m4mac.com