I quit my job seven months ago, this is what's happened
danhough.com
danhough.com
It sounds obvious, but if you haven't experienced it yet, try it some time. It feels like a high-wire act.
Eventually I couldn't handle the self-imposed stress (and, at the time, uncertainty about health insurance), so I happily returned to employment. :)
Or else, you will feel tired, broke and like someone has their hand in your pocket all the time.
I also (personally) find it humorous that several of his downsides are extreme upsides for me. No conferences, no after hours schmoozing with my employer, no need for software that has expensive licenses :) and most importantly NO "team-building-moral-improving-bonding activities"!!
And as for the tax thing, I was going to put that in my post but on the advice a proofreader, I took it out to avoid a moral argument. Thanks for the tip though, I absolutely will (and have) been expensing relevant business purchases :)
IMHO the rule is good, but you don't have to offer the same rate for each job. If there's a job that benefits you, work out what how much that benefits you and quote the appropriate rate. If there's a job that doesn't benefit you, double your normal rate.
Clients insisting on negotiating the rate is a negative signal. It may be a signal that they don't value your work at the rate you're quoting, and this is often a signal that they won't value your work. It may be a signal that they are under financial pressure (i.e. it's high risk for you). Better clients might ask for a discount but normally will agree if you stick to the quoted rate.
Small steps on a long road!
You made a different point and I enjoyed reading the article. Congratulations, it seems you found a nice middle ground.
To my pleasant surprise, I actually managed to earn the same amount as I was before, while putting in about half the hours. Really opened my eyes to how underpaid I was before.
Ouch. I'm a couple of months into doing something similar and I was contracting before it. I'm fairly resigned to returning to contracting at the end of my six months.
Churning out a product company from scratch without an obviously good and commercially viable idea is hard. A large part of me is resigned to returning to contracting and at best trying to keep what I've worked on ticking over at the same time.