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Comment by k__ | Hacker News Reader

If found software consulting a bit boring, but quite lucrative.

If you get a project that takes 3-6 months you make enough money for the year and a bit left for the next year.

This means that you only need one customer to say "yes" per year. If you contact only 10 per month your success rate doesn't even have to be 1%.

What I learned is, charge per week or month and never go for full-time.

The month charging filters out all the tiny fishes and the part-time always gives you plausbile deniability when you can't answer the phone.

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For a few years as a consultant, I was working 9 months and taking 3 months off in between. Can't complain about that.

Sorry I don't fully understand

>the part-time always gives you plausbile deniability when you can't answer the phone.

Do you mind elaborating as the rest of the comment is good!

Some customers expect you to be on call 24/7 if they think you work for them full time. Setting clear expectations that you always have other clients removes that.

Not the OP, but (I think) I get what he means.

If you're working a project on a full-time basis, the client will expect to be able to call you up and get you on the line at pretty much any time (and yes, often outside of normal work hours, in my experience). If you're on a "part-time" basis, you don't have this pressure because the expectations are set differently.

> the client will expect to be able to call you up and get you on the line at pretty much any time

I get your point but maybe it's the opposite in some cases? People want to have someone they can get at a moment's notice and when they find that person they are more likely to a) Use them next time (where price is less of a factor) and b) recommend them to others.

I say this as someone who has done quite well at consulting (and I do mean that) and that has no problem taking a call even on Saturday night. Now of course the devil is in the details and the particular client (goes w/o saying) but the counterpoint is that is how you build customer relationships and build a business. Fear of 'door number two' is what gets people to pay more the comfort of knowing someone is there for them.

Sure thing, I can totally understand this. I mean, we need many people doing jobs that are time critical.

Other consultants can have these customers right along with those who want to bill by hour.

I agree with you, and that's how I personally choose to work. There's a lot of folks who would prefer a different lifestyle if they could manage it though.

Ultimately, the number one thing that gets repeat business is results. Because of that, I can totally imagine people who offer a smaller time commitment still being successful. Regardless, I definitely wouldn't recommend going the 'part-time' route to anyone that isn't already established enough to get away with it.

IF someone employees you full-time, the 40-ish hours they pay for is always interpreted as whenever they need you (if they're working you are too, right?). If you're part-time the mental model is you are only available for a very specific subset of hours (which a crisis rarely honours) or the expectation is you don't respond immediately because you're not a full-time engagement. Either way you don't have to be on call 24/7

Agreed. And take on multiple part time projects.

How did you get the first consulting gig?

Wrote some application emails to companies that posted stuff online. AngelList or such aggregators.

I had saved some money, I didn't have pressure. Talked to 4 companies when I started, one said yes. Took 2 months or so.

What experience did you have at that point? (Asking as someone trying to get a first job part-time in college).

Talked with random startups.

They all took their time.

One that seemed promising rejected me over a botched take-home-project.

Another one didn't talk to me vor over a month, then cam suddendly back with a "yes".

All felt pretty uncertain until it worked.

After that I got better in those kind of interviews. Knowing what to say and what not.

At one point I started blogging and that helped with telling people what I know (just read my blog).

Now, I write articles as my main job, lol.

Thank you for the answers, this helps a lot! I will be following a similar path too :)

Are you at the complete beginning like me?

Not exactly, I have been corrupted by working full time at permanent jobs

That sounds like a good kind of corruption to me :)

Thanks for the reply. What was it like starting a blog?

Hm, wasn't too exciting.

I wrote some articles about topics I worked with. React, Webpack, JavaScript, etc.

I think, I was lucky in many ways.

I started blogging 2017 at dev.to when everyone with a name was blogging at medium, so there wasn't much competition.

I wrote beginner articles about front-end topics, that hit a nerve. So getting in the top 7 post of the week a few times helped with motivation.

I posted almost every week in 2017.

Took over two years until companies wanted to pay me to write for them.

Very interesting. Thanks for the detailed reply. I guess I just have to write the first post.

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