simple business roles for the self-employed

People often wonder about being self-employed. It's one of those things people fantasize about after a bad day at the office or something. At least, I did...

It should surprise nobody that the reaility doesn't always live up to the fantasy.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my unoiffical business rules that I've found helpful...

• The less they've paid, the more they expect. ALWAYS.
• People that take up a big amount of time and energy before you've got a project always make high-maintenence, frustrating clients. See number 1.
• If a client makes you cry, it's time to begin firing them. Ok, so not everybody is so emotional...but i can be.
• Don't answer the phone when you're sleepy or not sharp.
• Don't answer a client email when you're uspet.
• say no when you need to. it's easist the faster you do it.
• listen to your gut. it's always right even if you can't say why at the time.
• take SOME time off every day, regardless of your workload. the downtime makes your work time more productive anyway.
• fire clients that stress you out. it's not worth the money anyway.
• projects always take approximately 3 times as long to finish as you think they should.