Help! Trapped on the second step: Specialised Skill

[Sonya]

I taught myself to code and have been offering website design services. I watched this video and I think I'm trapped on the second step.

I have many ideas for creating my own 'specialised unit', but to pay the bills I take on client projects. The problem is, when I take on a client project I become obsessed - every project, no matter how low the quote, becomes a major production.

I can't help myself. I never charge the client more than the original quote because I feel it's unfair - they didn't ask for all the extras. I just can't stop adding value and improving the project.

I have a pitch coming up. The client wants a new brand strategy and marketing material for recruitment. I have an idea that could completely transform their business, and have no doubt they will like it, but it will be expensive to launch. So, I've spent the last few weeks coding mockups, researching wearable technology and IoT to present them, not only with a concept, but a feasible business plan.

What's wrong with me? How do I get unstuck? I think my desire for approval has trapped me on the second step in a never-ending cycle of under-quoting and over-delivering.

 

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[MTEE1985]

I taught myself to code and have been offering website design services. I watched this video and I think I'm trapped on the second step.

I have many ideas for creating my own 'specialised unit', but to pay the bills I take on client projects. The problem is, when I take on a client project I become obsessed - every project, no matter how low the quote, becomes a major production.

I can't help myself. I never charge the client more than the original quote because I feel it's unfair - they didn't ask for all the extras. I just can't stop adding value and improving the project.

I have a pitch coming up. The client wants a new brand strategy and marketing material for recruitment. I have an idea that could completely transform their business, and have no doubt they will like it, but it will be expensive to launch. So, I've spent the last few weeks coding mockups, researching wearable technology and IoT to present them, not only with a concept, but a feasible business plan.

What's wrong with me? How do I get unstuck? I think my desire for approval has trapped me on the second step in a never-ending cycle of under-quoting and over-delivering.

Where are you as far as timeline? Have you been doing this for 6 months or 6 years? If it’s the former then I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Offering up the amount of value you are will lead to opportunity sooner than later.

It sounds like the first thing you need to do is raise your prices. Not knowing how you’re acquiring clients can you charge 50% more and still get enough projects to pay the bills while freeing up some time? A specialized skill should allow you to work less and make the same or work the same while saving a considerable amount of money.

There also sounds like a good chance that one of these clients, perhaps in your next pitch even, liking your work so much that they want to exclusively work with you in which case you are in a strong position to dictate terms that work best for you as far as both pay and time commitment.

Congrats on reaching the second step as 95% of people never even make it there.

 

[Sonya]

Where are you as far as timeline? Have you been doing this for 6 months or 6 years? If it’s the former then I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Offering up the amount of value you are will lead to opportunity sooner than later.

It sounds like the first thing you need to do is raise your prices. Not knowing how you’re acquiring clients can you charge 50% more and still get enough projects to pay the bills while freeing up some time?

There also sounds like a good chance that one of these clients, perhaps in your next pitch even, liking your work so much that they want to exclusively work with you in which case you are in a strong position to dictate terms that work best for you as far as both pay and time commitment.

Congrats on reaching the second step as 95% of people never even make it there.

Thanks for the encouragement.

It's been about two years now but this is a career change and I don't have time to continuously prove myself. The upcoming pitch is for a client that truly appreciates my work. They keep returning and I LOVE the projects - intellectually challenging and creative. They are a non-profit and I don't think they can afford to pay more. Or perhaps I'm just afraid to actually put a price on my value.

Your advice is wise: charge more and take on fewer projects = more time to advance to the next step. But here's the rub - when I charge more then I take ownership. I become obsessed with manifesting the ideas in my head.

Perhaps I should take small jobs - little projects that I can complete in a day or two. Charge a bit less and not feel obliged to give them my first-born?

 

[Hai]

Why not work on client stuff till 6pm and moonlight your specialized unit stuff?

 

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[Flint]

Tim Ferris described a great approach to this: triage your problem with the Pareto principle and Parkinson's law.

The Pareto (or 80/20) principle says that 80% of results come from 20% of the causes or efforts put in. The other side of it means also that the remaining 20% of the outcomes (to top it up to 100% perfection) will cost you soo much more work... that may easily be below your client's perception threshold.

The idea is to focus on identifying those 80/20 key impact actions and refining further only if required.
I recommend engaging your clients earlier and often to get feedback on what they really notice, need and are willing to pay for. The rest is good enough.

Watch out for scope creep though. Whenever they ask you to do/add/change something, ask them if they'd still want that at the $X price point.

Then Parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Or simply: time allocated = time used.

By over-engineering your solution and spending more time on fixed price projects you're diluting your value (expressed in the hourly fee equivalent).

Set deadlines and deliver to them. Ship/send/release when you hit the hard stop and you'll discover an interesting thing: you get things done faster and the outcomes are still pretty good.

Triage your problem with the combo of 80/20 and Parkinson's law and you won't need to micromanage your own work.

And of course, choose your clients wisely and value yourself highly.

Good luck!

 

[PhilKowalski]

as harsh as it sounds, but sooner or later you have to ask yourself if you run a passion or a business.

At some point in time you have to make a distinction if you want to grow your business to the next level or if you want to follow the passion to deliver the perfect product. I personally think both are absolutely fine, however, I don't think you can have them both at the same time.

I am a big fan of the Pareto principle, because - from my point of view - that's the baseline for scaling. Finding the right tradeoff with time to stop will give you the opportunity to scale. Always wanting to make it perfect will not. Often times good is more than good enough.