Checking how fragile you are by asking the question "Can I walk away?" is clever. I'll keep this to have as a rule of thumb.
Back in my analyst days, we looked at how fragile businesses were by looking at the % of the income that came from their top clients. This is a similar way to look at the level of robustness.
The follow up question might be "How can I make myself stonger by walking away?" Maybe walking away from a client can free up some of your time to get more clients or at a higher rate. You would become antifragile.
Oh that’s interesting. I read somewhere a guy recommending to not have more than 15% per client. A bit prescriptive but I like the principle behind it that you’re also highlighting!
I think that’s a great follow up question! We too often think about what we’ll be losing and not what we could potentially gain.
Congrats on your new chapter. We decided to end a lease early too (sold everything in San Diego and got a 1-way flight to Europe back in ~2016). Sometimes you need to shake it up like that.
We've been to Europe multiple times over the years, so maybe they're blurring in my mind, but in that particular trip (the longest we've done), I think we went to: Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy.
We originally planned to max out the automatic EU visa (90 days?) but got exhausted going from city to city, not having planned it all out ahead of time.
Plus, it was harder to run our business than we expected when everything was so chaotic, and the wifi was slower than expected.
What's next for you? It sounds like you found a new place that felt time-sensitive.
Hard to focus on something when you’re always on the run! I like travelling but I also like some semblance of stability while working.
For the lease, it was mostly because we already moved out way before the end of it. I wanted to save a month and shoot my shot. But the leverage was near zero lol
The rent thing reminded me of some good old sales theory - BATNA, ZOPA etc. Congratulations on your new place!
For me personally, money has mostly been the leverage used against me - or rather, I had become slave to the drip of steady salary and therefore was not able to chose myself for many years. That has changes last year and it's been scary but also not half as scary as I thought.
Interesting theories. Are you still using those nowadays?
Happy you decided to choose yourself last year. You know, I find it quite fascinating how we can be scared of making a decision like that. It feels like a leap of faith into the unknown. But in the end, life goes on and it’s still solving one problem at a time as it was before!
I was in a similar situation to you in 2021. The client wasn't paying much, so I found better rates and announced that I was reducing my hours.
But then the unexpected happened. They doubled my rate. Yep, 100%. We still work together.
For another client, I just told them I was upping prices by 30%, which went smoothly. I charge average rates for what I do, and I always look for things besides the money in projects, like if there's a tech I can work with that I've never done.
Can I walk away? I don't want to. I enjoy coding, building stuff, and working remotely. We have living expenses covered for a year and 3 passive income streams that require no work. If I were walking away, I'd still be working on projects.
Oh wow, Akos! That’s amazing! Very great point. It’s not because you CAN walk away that you HAVE to walk away. Your situation shows it beautifully.
Looks like you built a lot of leverage for yourself and that gives you a lot of choice. Really amazing. Great job on putting yourself in such a situation!
Checking how fragile you are by asking the question "Can I walk away?" is clever. I'll keep this to have as a rule of thumb.
Back in my analyst days, we looked at how fragile businesses were by looking at the % of the income that came from their top clients. This is a similar way to look at the level of robustness.
The follow up question might be "How can I make myself stonger by walking away?" Maybe walking away from a client can free up some of your time to get more clients or at a higher rate. You would become antifragile.
Great edition Kenny!
Oh that’s interesting. I read somewhere a guy recommending to not have more than 15% per client. A bit prescriptive but I like the principle behind it that you’re also highlighting!
I think that’s a great follow up question! We too often think about what we’ll be losing and not what we could potentially gain.
Awesome perspective, thanks for sharing it :)
Congrats on your new chapter. We decided to end a lease early too (sold everything in San Diego and got a 1-way flight to Europe back in ~2016). Sometimes you need to shake it up like that.
Man, sounds like an adventure! I’m intrigued. Where did you stay? Did you travel around in Europe or did you stay in one country as a base?
We've been to Europe multiple times over the years, so maybe they're blurring in my mind, but in that particular trip (the longest we've done), I think we went to: Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy.
We originally planned to max out the automatic EU visa (90 days?) but got exhausted going from city to city, not having planned it all out ahead of time.
Plus, it was harder to run our business than we expected when everything was so chaotic, and the wifi was slower than expected.
What's next for you? It sounds like you found a new place that felt time-sensitive.
Hard to focus on something when you’re always on the run! I like travelling but I also like some semblance of stability while working.
For the lease, it was mostly because we already moved out way before the end of it. I wanted to save a month and shoot my shot. But the leverage was near zero lol
Love this entry, Kenny!
The rent thing reminded me of some good old sales theory - BATNA, ZOPA etc. Congratulations on your new place!
For me personally, money has mostly been the leverage used against me - or rather, I had become slave to the drip of steady salary and therefore was not able to chose myself for many years. That has changes last year and it's been scary but also not half as scary as I thought.
Glad you enjoyed it, Ben!
Interesting theories. Are you still using those nowadays?
Happy you decided to choose yourself last year. You know, I find it quite fascinating how we can be scared of making a decision like that. It feels like a leap of faith into the unknown. But in the end, life goes on and it’s still solving one problem at a time as it was before!
Great thoughts. Leverage is super important.
I was in a similar situation to you in 2021. The client wasn't paying much, so I found better rates and announced that I was reducing my hours.
But then the unexpected happened. They doubled my rate. Yep, 100%. We still work together.
For another client, I just told them I was upping prices by 30%, which went smoothly. I charge average rates for what I do, and I always look for things besides the money in projects, like if there's a tech I can work with that I've never done.
Can I walk away? I don't want to. I enjoy coding, building stuff, and working remotely. We have living expenses covered for a year and 3 passive income streams that require no work. If I were walking away, I'd still be working on projects.
Oh wow, Akos! That’s amazing! Very great point. It’s not because you CAN walk away that you HAVE to walk away. Your situation shows it beautifully.
Looks like you built a lot of leverage for yourself and that gives you a lot of choice. Really amazing. Great job on putting yourself in such a situation!
Thanks, Kenny! It was a lot of work, and now I see things from many perspectives. Writing about this in tomorrow's issue!
Haha, awesome! I was going to ask you about it.