The Cost of Self-Employment

Quitting isn't the hard part

March 6th, 2023:  February was short and stressful. Continue to focus on building pipeline and sending out proposals for the consulting business. We had our first ER visit for the little guy and teething started. Glad March is here!

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#1 The Cost of Self-Employment

Nobody said it'd be easy. Fine. I like 'doing the work' and love the self reliance aspect. But Nobody also forgot to mention just how much administrative stuff a W2 really covers for you. Specifically talking about good healthcare and not worrying if a provider will accept your private insurance.

When you really get into the thick of figuring out healthcare, there are a lot of options to choose when it comes to figuring out your health insurance.

The most expensive option is taken advantage of COBRA to stay on your (former) employer's health insurance for the next 12-18 months. But this comes at a cost - you pay full market price + an admin fee to keep that sexy health insurance. ~$1200/mo is what we were quoted to keep my big corporate insurance.

From there you have ACA (Obamacare) which includes discounts if you expect to make less than $80k/year (something like that) which I plan to make more. So without the discounts it became equally as expensive as COBRA.

Then you have private insurance. Want to lower your monthly cost then expect to lose the bells and whistles of corporate insurance. It's a constant give and take of what do you need vs what you might need in the future backed up against what you want to afford. This is what we chose.

The jury is still out if we picked a decent insurance provider but am already feeling the administrative pain of submitting claims, negotiating coverage and hoping it doesn't sting too much when the final bill comes.

#2 Turning the Game on Hard Mode

Babies are fun and we're super lucky to have a good little guy who sleeps and eats well. Occasionally fussy but overall he's a pretty chill dude. We like him. 

If raising a kid had different levels of difficulty, I think his setting was on Standard mode.

Sure you need some skill and patience. Watch to make sure he doesn't fall off the playground slide but beyond that it's a fun ride.

Over the last two weeks he started teething - molars coming in. He cranked the setting dial from Standard to Hard over night. Timed it perfectly with a fever + cold and my wife with bronchitis.

3am wake ups with uncontrollable screaming that even Ms Rachel had trouble consoling. Likely from the pain of a tooth pushing through tiny baby gums, this little guy was going through it and brought his parents along for the ride.

Riding shotgun as we rode in the depths of sleep deprivation almost made my crumble.

But that's just it. You can't. There's no pause button. You can't switch the difficulty level back. You're just an NPC in those moments. 

I'm definitely being overdramatic but it was a tough few weeks. Thankful everyone in the house is feeling better so we can get back to our regularly scheduled cuteness.

#3 Where I Drive Business

As a freelance consultant, if you can't sell then you can't survive. Here are 5 questions to answer that will help you will win more clients:

1. What is your niche? Identify your ideal client and their problems - it's ok to change your mind

2. Why you? What makes you unique?

3. Are you selling work you will do instead of the benefit of your work? Focus on outcome over activity every time.

4. Where do your customers live? - map your channels - these are mine

5. More activity! You can't win work if not you're not in the game. Get in the game.

6. Stop saying you're not a sales person. You 100% are - embrace it!

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  • Nada. But I'm bringing it back!

The End

2023 is about building for me. I'd love to grab coffee/chai or jump on a quick call. Shoot me a text and we can schedule something. 404-731-7814. Go big! - Nik Fuller

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