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February 24, 2007

Keeping one's cool .....

One of the most difficult things about working for oneself is deciding which work to accept and which to refuse. My recent jaunt to Jamaica was not an easy decision to make in the first place and now appears to have been the wrong one. In accepting the offer I made myself unavailable for other work here in the UK, work which would have paid a lot better, but which wasn't on the table when I accepted the Jamaica contract. I was aware that there might be some work coming from the alternative source, but was also conscious of the need to build opportunities for the future.

Well, the company that enagaged my services in Jamaica now has all the materials I put together for them for their courses and, having had me deliver the first of these, now knows how they should run as well. Pricing this sort of work is always tricky, as to front load pushes the cost for the client out of the affordable. So you spread your costs over the estimated number of courses you will be delivering for them.

Generally it works out, but every now and then, you get stung. I have just been stung. I was scheduled to go and deliver the next course in a weeks time, no longer. I received a rather abrupt e-mail informing me that my services will not be required. No explanation, no apology - and no payment in lieu! So the Monk now has three weeks on his hands with no income (it's too late to pick up the alternative work since it has gone to someone else.) and there doesn't seem to be much on the table at present.

Lesson learned? You bet.

Posted by The Gray Monk at February 24, 2007 06:52 AM

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