Focused

Agile Tortoise's Greg Pierce discusses what he's learned in a decade as an independent developer and consultant.

Greg Pierce

Not all clients are good clients. If you don't manage the herd, you could lose the farm. This is why it's important to consider the right time, and right way, to fire a client. We discuss fireable offenses both obvious and subtle, and the best approach to take when firing a client.

Jason and David discuss their home-office set-ups and the challenges they face when working in a house they share with other people. When do you lock your doors? How do you "go home" at the end of the day? What gear do they use? And do they admit to their clients that they're working in their pajamas?

You can't earn a living as a Free Agent if you don't get paid. In this episode we discuss why the sign of a true professional is ensuring that they're being compensated. Why is getting paid so hard? How do we handle billing? When you're on your own, you're the one who has to make sure that the money is flowing in. If you don't get paid, you won't be an independent worker for very long.

A new year brings accounting and tax challenges for independent workers, so we asked accountant and financial advisor Andrew Carroll to join us. Andrew recently went out on his own and now provides tax and financial advice to free agents and entrepreneurs.

Andrew Carroll

Full disclosure: Andrew mentioned the sponsor of this week's episode, Freshbooks (as well as two of its competitors). He wasn't aware that Freshbooks was a sponsor of this episode when he said it.

Being good at what you do isn't enough. You also need customers, clients, or whatever else you need to pay for shoes. That may mean you have to do a little promotion of your own. But you can be really great at what you do and still terrible at self-promotion. Tricky stuff!

Very recently David's Mac Power Users co-host, Katie Floyd, left her law firm and went out on her own. We ask Katie about making the move, her workspace and work habits, and the issues of adding support staff and partners versus staying entirely independent.

One of the best things an independent worker can do is invest in both belts and suspenders. We discuss cultivating and managing multiple income streams, and both the risks and benefits of getting your money from a bunch of different places.

We discuss planning and taking vacations as an independent worker. How do you set client expectations? How do you set boundaries with the people you're traveling with? What's the best way to get prepared for taking a trip? Most importantly, we talk about the importance of taking time off and meaning it.

In a wide-ranging episode, David and Jason answer your letters and tweets.