thoughts on / criteria for - taking on outside work

I know that brought this up at one point talking about speaking gigs and I'd love to hear others' thoughts as well. How do you decide whether to take on consulting/contract/outside work? Why: I have a project opportunity to do a production run for another company that would pay well but I suspect it would mostly be a pretty enormous drain on my time. I'm hesitant to take on something that is not specifically moving Thicket forward but I'd really love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Parents
  • Oooo, this is a good one.  For us, we are trying to work things so we don't have to resort to that, but if our business stalls, then we need the outside cash.  We do struggle, because if we get outside work, then our runway is longer, but the business moves more slowly.  This is why some of us have quit our outside jobs in order to launch our business.  

    Is there any way you could farm out the work?  Then, you could potentially do both.  If you were to oversee the workers, and the quality, would that be an acceptable solution to your client?  You would still take time to oversee the production, but *theoretically* less time than doing it all yourself.

    I am assuming that this is work to be done now, and not something you could do in your offseason?  (I know your season is ramping up here soon...).  Doing contract work may be a great way to fill in your seasonal income gaps.

Reply
  • Oooo, this is a good one.  For us, we are trying to work things so we don't have to resort to that, but if our business stalls, then we need the outside cash.  We do struggle, because if we get outside work, then our runway is longer, but the business moves more slowly.  This is why some of us have quit our outside jobs in order to launch our business.  

    Is there any way you could farm out the work?  Then, you could potentially do both.  If you were to oversee the workers, and the quality, would that be an acceptable solution to your client?  You would still take time to oversee the production, but *theoretically* less time than doing it all yourself.

    I am assuming that this is work to be done now, and not something you could do in your offseason?  (I know your season is ramping up here soon...).  Doing contract work may be a great way to fill in your seasonal income gaps.

Children