“The problem with consultancy.... is that you have to network, you have to advertise, you have to sell, you have to do billing, you have to do correspondence, and somewhere in there you actually get to do your job. “
After the company I worked for 10 years closed up shop I had to become self-employed. If you can get a good job I urge you to do so. Running a business, however small, ends up taking all of your time and energy. I used to devote lots of time to my hobbies when I was someone else’s employee, now that time is spent on billing, networking, shipping etc etc etc...
You are so correct. One should know these things before attempting a one man independent consultancy. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.
If they are trying to raise a family, schedule a yearly vacation, or pursue a hobby, they should get a good full time job and not attempt to spend the excessive time required to own, build, and maintain a consultancy.
Despite what Obama says, it takes a lot of overtime, sweat, frustration, and sacrifice to build a business. If they don’t love what they do and are not very good at it, they are wasting their time. But if they have the drive, skills, and know how to supply what the market demands, it can be very rewarding.
The primary reward for me obviously was the money and the secondary reward was the independence I achieved in my career. As I was getting older, I begin to worry about my job security and if I had enough retirement savings to retire if I lost my job. I had observed a number of people my age going through lay-offs and early retirements. This insecurity and the knowledge that my experience was worth something in the market, led me to quit and devote my full time to building a consultancy.
As an independent consultant, I pursued the jobs I wanted and did not have to rely on one company for my livelihood. And the money was good. Maybe not so good at the start but eventually it exceeded my full-time job (no extra pay for overtime) salary many times over, particularly for my age group and occupation at that time. I never regretted my decision, except that I had not made it sooner in my career.
The oddest thing I remember about the consultancy was being too busy at times to cash the checks and decide how to spend or invest the money. Also during periods of downtime between contracts, whether to kickback and “take some time off”.