As we are, so we do; and as we do, so is it done to us; we are the builders of our fortunes.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve been self-employed for a long time now. Many people envy our lifestyle. I know that if I were still stuffed away in a stifling cubicle in Corporate America living in some noxious city, I’d envy my current lifestyle too.
We formed our company to escape that life, and it worked. Eight years ago, we moved our company to a small town in Northern Idaho. The view out my office window looks out over our 40 acres of forest. It sure beats staring at Steelcase partitions and wearing headphones to drown out the sound of some loud-mouthed sales guy yelling into his speakerphone.
However, when people ask me how we got here and how they dream of independence, I always point out that self-employment isn’t for everyone. When you have a traditional job, you can be pretty sure you’ll be getting that lovely paycheck every couple of weeks. I don’t have that luxury. We have to market our business. In fact, we have a weekly planning calendar we use to block out our week with time set aside just for marketing Logical Expressions, Inc.
Plus, when you go to work at a traditional job, you generally know who you’ll be working with on a given day. I don’t have that luxury either. When the phone rings or new e-mail comes in, it could be anyone. So over the years, we have worked with a long list of clients in a wide variety of industries.
After 10 years, it’s become easy to spot the clients I’ll enjoy working with, along with the ones I won’t. I’ve found that good and bad clients have a lot of things in common.
Good clients:
- Have some clue what I do. (Some of them have even tried doing Web or print design themselves and realized why paying the money is worth it.)
- Understand that they are not the only client I’m working with and respect my time.
- Communicate well using e-mail and phone.
Bad clients:
- Whine about price.
- Blame me for their own incompetence.
- Expect their procrastination or lack of planning to suddenly be my problem.
- Want to “have a meeting” about every single little thing.
- Don’t know how to use a computer at all.
So for example, when I got an e-mail from a prospective client the other day calling my price “a little steep,” warning bells went off in my head, and I suggested she find a different person to update her ancient Web site.
In this case, she actually apologized and asked me to continue, but often that isn’t the case. I don’t buy into the old saw is that the “customer is always right.” Life is too short to work with bad clients, and I’d prefer they go to the competition.
So when people say enviously, “oh it would be so great” to work from home, well yes, I agree, it is. But it’s not all sunshine and roses either. Being self-employed is hard work. But for me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.