Anyone here successfully working part-time in tech? • Hacker News Board

Re: Anyone here successfully working part-time in tech?

#11

Post by overu589 » Thu, Jan 02, 2025, 10:40 AM UTC

george87 wrote: post #7

overu589 wrote: post #3

Don’t call it “part time”, become an independent contractor, focus on a niche, and only bill how ever many hours you like. I have spent long periods of time only billing ~3 hours per day. Great for life/work balance. Btw, the more you bill the more your time will be valued. Don’t make a concession, mark yourself up as premium.

Even better, charge for entire projects or engagements, start to finish. The more competent and efficient you are, the more you will make per unit of time.

Yes, and if there are unexpected issues driving up the unproductive yet necessary time, eat the hours.

Integrity and foresight are the “premium.”

Re: Anyone here successfully working part-time in tech?

#12

Post by seanwilson » Thu, Jan 02, 2025, 12:07 PM UTC

overu589 wrote: post #11

george87 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even better, charge for entire projects or engagements, start to finish. The more competent and efficient you are, the more you will make per unit of time.

Yes, and if there are unexpected issues driving up the unproductive yet necessary time, eat the hours. Integrity and foresight are the “premium.”

Fixed price works for some projects and not for others. I like fixed price for self-contained projects, and you can reduce the chances of big surprises by charging for a discovery/design phase before you quote for the development. I find fixed price less practical when there's multiple designers/devs involved though, when you can't control the decisions and scoping as much. Sprint based pricing can be an option here.

Besides hourly, have you tried daily billing? I rarely see this mentioned but I think half day billing works well: unlike daily billing you're not forced to work the full day for one client, and the timekeeping can be less granular so you can focus more and worry less about eating/explaining hours.

I've seen people advocate weekly billing (and even monthly), but then what if you can only commit to a few days some weeks?

Re: Anyone here successfully working part-time in tech?

#13

Post by overu589 » Thu, Jan 02, 2025, 2:41 PM UTC

seanwilson wrote: post #12

overu589 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and if there are unexpected issues driving up the unproductive yet necessary time, eat the hours. Integrity and foresight are the “premium.”

Fixed price works for some projects and not for others. I like fixed price for self-contained projects, and you can reduce the chances of big surprises by charging for a discovery/design phase before you quote for the development. I find fixed price less practical when there's multiple designers/devs involved though, when you can't control the decisions and scoping as much. Sprint based pricing can be an option here.…

> works for some projects and not for others

Precisely why independents exist.

All of that other stuff is your distraction. You can have a mixed strategy. You can tune and innovate over time. Think things through and find what meets opportunity. Clients want work done with out the pain in the ass. Being direct and easy to deal with is “why me” in the first place.

You can invoice in blocks and pre bill ~25% as a retainer of necessary. You work through blocks of hours or features and send “pay the amount of” invoices every week (or as agreed) subtotaled from the projected original.

The first (or routine) invoice is just their professional promise to pay you as agreed if you do the work. Periodic or batch “pay amount of” invoices notch away at these. Keeps everything clear and hassle free.