Procrastination due to good job?

[andyandy]

Hi All,

I am an IT consultant and single bread winner for the family of 4. I make decent money by consulting and have own LLC but its like a job only- slowlane.I have read the MFL and several other books. I tried to expand business by recruiting by more candidates but no luck. I have several ideas but get plagued by initial low margins, time and effort needed. I do understand there is no quick success and it will require time and effort.

Currently I have another idea of selling online some artwork on etsy.com. But again questions surround me , how much the volume will be , is it worth it?

How do you approach my situation? I understand job is not the path to freedom. Appreciate your input.
Andy

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Welcome.

What kind of IT consulting?

I have another idea

Beware of "ideas"...

What need have you identified?

 

[andyandy]

Consulting is in ITSM specialty tool

 

[RazorCut]

Consulting is in ITSM specialty tool

Sounds like you might be in an ideal position to develop a SAAS product. You must see a lot of client pain points.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

I'm a consultant/contractor myself too, and found the following two podcasts useful (although am not following them to the tee):

1. www.tropicalmba.com/consulting
2. www.tropicalmba.com/services

For me, step 1 is replacing contracting on client sites to contracting from home. This means I can pick up work anywhere in the world.

I'd also prefer to have more clients that had less revenue from each, rather than a few clients with higher revenue from each. I learn pain points from each client, so I figure the more the merrier.

 

[andyandy]

Thanks !! Let me go through the podcasts...

 

[~Phil]

Consulting is in ITSM specialty tool

Is that HP's service manager tool?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/consulting-advice.51526/

Aha... found it. Maybe this thread has some ideas for you.

 

[Andy Black]

I presume ITSM is similar to ITIL?

Do you train people in the tool and processes, or implement it (or both)?

 

[Mr.B]

@andyandy, as well as what @Andy Black has recommended above, I think you may also benefit from changing your consulting pricing strategy to a value based approach. If you haven't already, I suggest you sign up for Patrick McKenzie's newsletter, here are a couple of relevant articles:

• Productizing a Freelancing/Consulting Business
• How I went from $100-an-hour programming to $X0,000-a-week consulting

Brennan Dunn's Becoming a High-Value Consultant series is also worth a read, as is Breaking the Time Barrier by Mike McDerment.

There are also some good ideas in this recent webinar on 'Productizing your Consulting' (it's a pitch for a paid course, but I got value from it, here are the slides for a quick overview).

All the best.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

^^^ Rep+


We're of course assuming you even want to stay in IT consulting. Regardless of what you do, take what everyone says with a pinch of salt. I got caught up in other people's blueprints and advice, until someone said they were just that. Take the bits you want and apply to your situation.

 

[Journey2Million$]

I tried selling my original paintings & drawings on Ebay and it wasn't worth it for me. Too much work for too little money. I like having my art mass produced, sold on products, and receiving passive income on it forever.

Being comfortable definitely can hinder you from pushing hard in your own business.

 

[Mr.B]

Thanks for the Rep+ @Andy Black

@andyandy even if you don't want to stay in IT consulting long term, you may find it helpful to temporarily earn more with your consulting efforts in order to have additional $$$'s to launch a different business. That being said, I doubt that selling some artwork on Etsy will enable you to support your family...

Don't focus on what you want to do or what you think is fun, but focus on what others need and see how you can help them by fulfilling those needs.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andy Black]

Thanks for the Rep+ @Andy Black

@andyandy even if you don't want to stay in IT consulting long term, you may find it helpful to temporarily earn more with your consulting efforts in order to have additional $$$'s to launch a different business. That being said, I doubt that selling some artwork on Etsy will enable you to support your family...

Don't focus on what you want to do or what you think is fun, but focus on what others need and see how you can help them by fulfilling those needs.

^^^ perfect answer IMO. More rep!

 

[andyandy]

I presume ITSM is similar to ITIL?

Do you train people in the tool and processes, or implement it (or both)?

ITSM tool set is based on ITIL. I help implement , customize and support.

 

[andyandy]

Great Advices, thank you all!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Tlcalis]

about how many hours do you work every day totally?

 

[andyandy]

about how many hours do you work every day totally?

8

 

[Tlcalis]

My suggestion
Work more hors work as much as humanly possible if you can get away with working 2 more hours? 4 hours? then why not do it?
it all comes down to effective time management
Then save as much money as possible save every penny you can
don't spend money on stupid shit
save as much money so that months from now at very least you can live on your savings so that you can do something else
thats what I would do if I was you

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BigBrianC]

I think it may be wise to start your own consulting......start with a client or two on the side, then expand until you can quit your job. Then you will be able to afford the time to work on your own business while keeping up with your clients. Then when you feel comfortable enough to pursue the second avenue, sell your clients. This is different from the other posts in that I'm assuming you have another idea than consulting, but it can apply if you want to just continue consulting, just forget selling your clients. Phase it in slowly at a rate you feel comfortable, even get a little uncomfortable -- push yourself a bit.

 

[OscarDeuce]

ITSM tool set is based on ITIL. I help implement , customize and support.

Sounds like your tool could be of value to some of my clients. We should talk.

Cheers,
O-2

 

[andyandy]

My suggestion
Work more hors work as much as humanly possible if you can get away with working 2 more hours? 4 hours? then why not do it?
it all comes down to effective time management
Then save as much money as possible save every penny you can
don't spend money on stupid shit
save as much money so that months from now at very least you can live on your savings so that you can do something else
thats what I would do if I was you

Can't work more than 40 in a week as overtimes are not allowed. Trying to find another part time client...following the advice of some blog post pointed in this thread.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andyandy]

Sounds like your tool could be of value to some of my clients. We should talk.

Cheers,
O-2

Sure, Please PM me and please let know any details needed.Thanks.