I joined Say Hello as a partner in 2019 after realising that I could manage web projects better than working for others. Six years later, it surprises me how quickly time has passed.
Originally, I never wanted to be completely self-employed; my business partner at the time and I divided up projects according to our individual interests. My focus was always on web apps and websites with WordPress and increasingly with React. I invested a lot of time in developing my technical skills and advising customers.
In the distant past, both my sister and my father took their chances to become self-employed and were successful. I am delighted that I have followed in their footsteps – even though I didn’t plan it.
When my former business partner changed direction last year, I decided to take the plunge and become fully self-employed instead of looking for another job and relying on others for projects. Strictly speaking, I’ve been self-employed since 2019, but taking over the company completely was a big change. It gave me the freedom to steer my professional ship in the direction I wanted.
In the first quarter of business under my own management, I easily exceeded my targets and the second quarter, which has just ended, went even better. It’s hard to describe how validating it feels to see my hard work and occasional long hours pay off as hoped. All of this builds on the work of my former business partner since the company was founded. Fortunately, the success confirms that I can also do this job largely on my own.
More efficiency and more design work
The challenge for 2025 will be to reduce my working hours a little while maintaining the same level of success. Thanks to maintenance contracts and a broader range of support services, this is easily achievable. I have also moved away from hourly billing for planned work – I will write more about this in the course of the year.
In future, I would like to spend more time on websites that I design and create myself, rather than just programming other people’s designs. I’ve always been more creative than purely technical, although almost 30 years of experience on the web has given me a lot of technical expertise. A new bilingual company website is also due to be launched this year, where I will be blogging about technology, customer projects and topics relating to web design and coding.
It can’t be that difficult
In a way, the path I’ve travelled to get here was exactly the quiet route I needed. My mantra for the last six years has been: “It can’t be that hard.” It took a long professional experience to realise that and to get to where I am now.
If I had dared to take the step into self-employment back in 2007 when the opportunity presented itself, I would probably have failed due to a lack of experience. Although I sometimes regret the missed opportunity to start up again with a dozen existing customers, other financial worries and a certain naivety would probably have led to failure.
My job is often demanding and requires a lot of focus, dedication and commitment to keep up with the latest best practices. However, the challenges are mostly of a technical nature – and that’s exactly as it should be. Administration, decision-making processes and even details such as CSS naming conventions or the choice of block or hybrid themes have long been established and have proven themselves in numerous successfully implemented projects. Repetition, flexibility and a solid and extensible base of technical and administrative resources are crucial.
I really enjoy the fact that, as a self-employed person, I can spontaneously take a sunny day off without fixed office hours and without being obliged to work at a particular location. Or to spend a day on the train and work with colleagues whilst travelling through the Alps. Shifting my days off from Saturday and Sunday to Monday and Tuesday because it’s much quieter in the mountains. Or working on the organisation of a conference because I enjoy it and it assists the open source community.
I am very lucky to have arrived where I am and I am very grateful to my colleagues and customers who have supported me along the way.
Happy New Year.
