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Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#81

Post by michaelgrafl »

kuon wrote: post #74

I have been self employed for 20 years. I used to put my work first, and in 2012 I did a serious burnout and nearly died (common virus can make a LOT of damage when you are exhausted). So I changed my view of life. Now I consider myself on vacation all the time, and work comes second. I work less and get roughly the same amount of money because I plan projects better and select only the ones that pays well. But my ki…

I still have trouble with giving time estimates that seem realistic to me when I feel the customer will think it should be done in a shorter amount of time.

I hate this, because I turn out to take longer and have to push the dealine back on short notice, which makes me feel awful. Especially when I knew from the beginning that my estimate was very tight.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#82

Post by toyg »

michaelgrafl wrote: post #81
kuon wrote: post #74

I have been self employed for 20 years. I used to put my work first, and in 2012 I did a serious burnout and nearly died (common virus can make a LOT of damage when you are exhausted). So I changed my view of life. Now I consider myself on vacation all the time, and work comes second. I work less and get roughly the same amount of money because I plan projects better and select only the ones that pays well. But my ki…

I still have trouble with giving time estimates that seem realistic to me when I feel the customer will think it should be done in a shorter amount of time. I hate this, because I turn out to take longer and have to push the dealine back on short notice, which makes me feel awful. Especially when I knew from the beginning that my estimate was very tight.

I have a similar problem. I’ve found some of it can be fixed by overquoting and then leaving money on the table. You quote twice what you think you’ll need, then make them pay what it actually took. If they push back on the quote, shave a fourth of it max. If they still don’t budge, walk away - if a customer is bent on short-changing you, there will be worse issues down the line. After a couple of iterations of “I quoted 2x but it took 1.5x so here’s an invoice just for that” they should have no problem trusting your quotes as “worst case” scenarios and letting you free to manage deadlines as it suits you. In the event of it actually taking 2x, just make sure you overdeliver in some way - be it in the documentation for the delay, at worst.

The thing is, it’s ok to haggle and say No to a customer. A lot of them expect your first quote will take advantage of them. There will be no hard feelings after the negotiation, it’s just business.

Obviously then you have to manage yourself. That’s a bit harder, and very much down to individual preferences and inclinations. Daily meditation in the morning helped me in that area, but everyone is different.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#83

Post by NicoJuicy »

I have done something similar, more hours but in less time. . You are already noticing a problem, that's good.

Taking your holidays shouldn't be a problem. Talk to the partner company and mention the European holidays.

There are different ways to do this, the honest one is telling upfront.

If your partner is not understanding, mention that you are going to work only from a co-working space, because of trouble working from home.

The co-working space isn't open on European holidays.

If all else fails, change endeavours. You are in Europe, not China. Plenty of IT-jobs here who respect work/family.

Ps. The elephant in the room is not finding work, it's for your partner company to find trustworthy/skillful contractors.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#84

Post by toyg »

striking wrote: post #46
sdegutis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a Christian, the same situation could simply be trusting in Divine Providence and not in ourselves or others for security (which so often fails us anyway). In that case, it would be a virtue.

No, I'm pretty sure that in this case you're just trusting in others for security and trusting that they won't overwork you. Unless you're doing work for the Church, I'd say it might be unwise to conflate your client with God.

I’d say even if you are working for the Church. Account for it as pro-bono by all means, but it’s still work commissioned by human beings, no matter how divinely-inspired they might be.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#85

Post by bamboozled »

You just realise that if you worked for someone else, then you’d be paying for these holidays in one way or another. It would be factored into your salary somehow. You just just need to do the same for yourself.

Also, taking breaks can feel uncomfortable if your not used to the feeling of freedom, start small and work your way up to taking longer breaks. You will find the rest will make you more valuable as you’ll likely be more effective if you’re rested.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#86

Post by zimbatm »

> But since I don't wanna be potentially replaced by competition I haven't taken vacation in years (that was not problem before since I was not that busy and could rest enough every day to have free morning or afternoon) and I don't won't to refuse any projects to miss on money I can't imagine taking vacation, because I'm not gonna lose only vacation expenses, but also similar amount in lost income for every day I would not work.

I think that's the key: afraid.

Having too much work is actually a good thing! It means that you can afford to increase your prices. Then use that extra money and go on holiday.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#87

Post by alexpapworth »

zimbatm wrote: post #86

> But since I don't wanna be potentially replaced by competition I haven't taken vacation in years (that was not problem before since I was not that busy and could rest enough every day to have free morning or afternoon) and I don't won't to refuse any projects to miss on money I can't imagine taking vacation, because I'm not gonna lose only vacation expenses, but also similar amount in lost income for every day I wo…

Correct. How much are you charging per hour at the moment? Consider doubling it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#88

Post by rmah »

You have stated that 1) you make far more than you need; 2) the workload is too high and that 3) consistency and response time are important to the client. If you are truly concerned that taking time off will lead to problems with the client, then the solution is to hire someone to help you. But take a vacation before you go nuts.

Re: Ask HN: How do you justify taking unpaid vacation as self employed?

#90

Post by jthistle »

Increase your prices.

You may be afraid to lose business, and that could be the case if the partner company is your only source of clients.

I did freelance consulting for a long time, and each time I found myself overwhelmed like you I increased my prices. I did lose some clients, but overall I made more money for doing less work.

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