Post: #576

Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

Post: #577

Mon-Saturday Daily schedule:

5:30-6:00am - wakeup
6:00-7:00 - Shower, Breakfast, Coffee, fuck off, wakeup
7:00 - 12:00 - working
12:00 - 1:30 gym + lunch (or errands on off days)
1:30-5:30 - working
5:30 - 10pm - Free time. Could be more work, could be dates, could be errands, could be fucking off. whatever.
10pm - sleep. No Later than, I ideally try to get 8 hours of sleep.

Sunday - off

6 days of work @ 9 hours a day. 54 hours a week is the goal and the above schedule is the planned way to achieve it. I may move times around as needed to meet the 54 hour mark while maintaining sanity. I.E. Maybe i'll go out friday night and sleep in saturday, that just requires me to bank time by working late during the work week or catch up on Sunday.

Ideally I want more than 54 hours a week. But that is my goal and bare minimum I want to commit.

Post: #578

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

I would ask yourself this: 'If this was an employee that I was paying hourly, would I fire them based of their performance?"

You expect a partner, that shares in the profits, to perform at a higher level than an employee. If the answer to above answer is yes, then you know your partner isn't even meeting the minimum expectations. Then it is time to address the issue personally, man-to-man, and face-to-face.

Post: #579

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

You know what ship sinks the most? The PARTNER SHIP!

I say, at the first sign of discourse, get your ass out of there.

Aloha!

Post: #580

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

How is your partnership strcutrured ? (LLC LP, S Corp , C Corp etc)

Is it formal?

Who's the CEO / President/ managing Partner?

You need a formal business plan eventually but in the interim you need a detailed partnership agreement. (PA) Without clear and concise job descriptions, scopes of responsibilities, contingencies, etc...you're likely headed for problems.

It s worth repeating: You need a formal, detailed, memorialized PA

Post: #581

(06-26-2017 07:07 PM)Kona Wrote:  

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

You know what ship sinks the most? The PARTNER SHIP!

I say, at the first sign of discourse, get your ass out of there.

Aloha!

That's a really clever saying. I'd never heard that before.

Post: #582

(06-26-2017 08:37 PM)PapayaTapper Wrote:  

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

How is your partnership strcutrured ? (LLC LP, S Corp , C Corp etc)

Is it formal?

Who's the CEO / President/ managing Partner?

You need a formal business plan eventually but in the interim you need a detailed partnership agreement. (PA) Without clear and concise job descriptions, scopes of responsibilities, contingencies, etc...you're likely headed for problems.

It s worth repeating: You need a formal, detailed, memorialized PA

To add to this, make sure you vest shares. Typical structure is a one year cliff during which if they quit before this time they get nothing, then over 4 years the rest of the shares get gradually vested. Helps ensure they have skin in the game.

Post: #583

(06-27-2017 12:24 AM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

(06-26-2017 07:07 PM)Kona Wrote:  

(06-26-2017 06:43 PM)NewDayNewFace Wrote:  Any of you guys have a consulting firm?

I recently started a consulting firm with two of my college buddies. We are focusing on selling implementation IT services to hospitals and clinics.

So far it's going well but it seems like one of my partners are off. I have to tell him many times to do the same thing over and over again. The other guy is a go getter and just like me is very proactive.

What would you guys do? Give a probation period or just simply walk away.

You know what ship sinks the most? The PARTNER SHIP!

I say, at the first sign of discourse, get your ass out of there.

Aloha!

That's a really clever saying. I'd never heard that before.

Well I was gonna say it before, but I didn't. You know why?

Because the gun that kills the most people is the GONNA!

I think I read that one in the same place as the other.

Aloha!

Post: #584

Haha guys. Absolutely correct fellas. Thanks for be advice. I'm going to keep an eye on him and if he doesn't step up I'll just leave. No capital has left my pocket thus far so I'm not even mad. Things are fairly new as well as the LLC hasn't been created. The partnership agreement was however.

Post: #585

Just landed a $4k contract. Should take me anywhere from 1-2 weeks to complete. That gives me the income flow I need to focus on my business full-time until the end of August.

Post: #586

I was finally able to actually score a gig in upwork.
A world of difference to fiverr where I get mostly scammers (specially when it comes to translation) and pretentious clients that want you to deliver reinassance paintings for peanuts and/or freebie seekers.
If I could keep a gig like this per week I'd be swimming along nicely!


Also, anyone with web design skillz available here? I need to buy a new domain and theorethically I'd take the opportunity to actualize my site which needs a migration to wordpress...

Post: #587

I've booked a total of $15k of work this summer. Gives me more than enough to live off the rest of the year, and save or invest the rest.

Hint... SEO matters.

Post: #588

(06-28-2017 10:33 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  I've booked a total of $15k of work this summer. Gives me more than enough to live off the rest of the year, and save or invest the rest.

Hint... SEO matters.

If I ask you when will my four days old blog .. made using blogger and not wordpress, where I plan to post articles/stories regularly but not spend any money on it because I'm new at this and I have no idea how I will ever get any views there other than from a link which nobody clicks on my Instagram page .. finally appear on a google search, will you find it offensive?

Post: #589

(06-28-2017 12:16 PM)Mayhem Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 10:33 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  I've booked a total of $15k of work this summer. Gives me more than enough to live off the rest of the year, and save or invest the rest.

Hint... SEO matters.

If I ask you when will my four days old blog .. made using blogger and not wordpress, where I plan to post articles/stories regularly but not spend any money on it because I'm new at this and I have no idea how I will ever get any views there other than from a link which nobody clicks on my Instagram page .. finally appear on a google search, will you find it offensive?

What are you writing about?

Post: #590

(06-28-2017 12:44 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  What are you writing about?

Well so far I have written four stories and published three of them. I am trying to express my emotions that I felt in different past experiences..
I will make the readers cry any day now. Alas, there are no readers.

Post: #591

(06-28-2017 01:13 PM)Mayhem Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 12:44 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  What are you writing about?

Well so far I have written four stories and published three of them. I am trying to express my emotions that I felt in different past experiences..
I will make the readers cry any day now. Alas, there are no readers.

What searchs are you expecting people to run that will land them on your blog?

Post: #592

I'm sending you a PM

Post: #593

(06-28-2017 01:52 PM)Mayhem Wrote:  ...
stories for depressed teens
stories to read before suicide

This thread is for business, not hobby blogs.

Post: #594

That "..." was the reason for that.
This is...
   
I know that's why I edited it and sent a PM instead.

Post: #595

If you don't have a clear idea of what kind of searches people will run to land on your blog,
or why they would want to read your blog,
you can't do SEO and it won't help you anyway.

Post: #596

Lately I've had to hire two permanent web developers to integrate the long list of changes needed for an e-commerce site I manage. It's been a real pain learning Git and other technologies to help manage this continuous integration.

But we keep getting bugs on the production site due to differences in the server environment. Spoke to a DevOps agency who says we need Docker, Redis and a whole stack of other stuff. From my brief research they look like suitable technologies but really have no clue myself and all of my IT friends are specialised in other areas. Fingers crossed after this stack is setup though I'll be able to focus again on the more important stuff: marketing.

Post: #597

(06-28-2017 03:38 PM)Valentine Wrote:  Lately I've had to hire two permanent web developers to integrate the long list of changes needed for an e-commerce site I manage. It's been a real pain learning Git and other technologies to help manage this continuous integration.

But we keep getting bugs on the production site due to differences in the server environment. Spoke to a DevOps agency who says we need Docker, Redis and a whole stack of other stuff. From my brief research they look like suitable technologies but really have no clue myself and all of my IT friends are specialised in other areas. Fingers crossed after this stack is setup though I'll be able to focus again on the more important stuff: marketing.

Business Corollary: Hiring a third party to manage that for you may be the right move if the price is right.

Programmer Corollary: Why don't the developers just test their code on an exact clone of your production environment before releasing?

Post: #598

I know a lot of people are using sites like Upwirk to find employees, I've discovered over the years he best people to hire for sales and or support have been Jamaicans as one they speak English and most are very familiar with the American mentality, phrases etc. also surprisingly enough Nicaragua they speak excellent English as they were once a UK colony.

Post: #599

(06-28-2017 03:43 PM)Corollary Wrote:  

(06-28-2017 03:38 PM)Valentine Wrote:  Lately I've had to hire two permanent web developers to integrate the long list of changes needed for an e-commerce site I manage. It's been a real pain learning Git and other technologies to help manage this continuous integration.

But we keep getting bugs on the production site due to differences in the server environment. Spoke to a DevOps agency who says we need Docker, Redis and a whole stack of other stuff. From my brief research they look like suitable technologies but really have no clue myself and all of my IT friends are specialised in other areas. Fingers crossed after this stack is setup though I'll be able to focus again on the more important stuff: marketing.

Business Corollary: Hiring a third party to manage that for you may be the right move if the price is right.

Programmer Corollary: Why don't the developers just test their code on an exact clone of your production environment before releasing?

That's the idea behind us moving to Docker containers - so that it is essentially the same on both environments. Trying to do the same with just Ansible has lead to a lot of configuration drift.

Definitely going to have the agency maintain the system as well, otherwise it's just taking away from my time to work on revenue-generating tasks.

Post: #600

Having one of those great sequences of days where I really just seem to be in the flow of things, and it's a massive buzz. I've got a huge 10 days coming up. A meeting has been set up for me to pitch to 50 or so of my key audience for a brand new piece of technology I've dreamed up, that has my guys and me really excited. Then immediately on the back of that I'm pitching for substantial investment in my business to 200 very wealthy guys (£500k ready to invest is the minimum criteria for entry).

I've been crazy busy trying to run a business on top of smashing out a ton of presentations, documents, and supporting materials, and I feel on top of the world. It's been a great reminder of just how much I love what I'm doing when I'm able to do the things I'm really good at, which is coming up with innovative solutions to complicated problems, and persuading people round to my way of thinking. It's a real make or break time for us, which I also love. I feel like I'm firing on all cylinders. I feel really aggressive in a very positive way, just feeling indomitable and very focused. I'm practically radiating energy. I'm actually very hard to deal with or be around when I'm like this - exhausting for the people who love me, because it's impossible for them to raise their energy levels in the same way. It's probably a good thing I live alone or I'd drive those around me mad.

It's great for me though. I'd love to be like this all the time - this is when I feel most in my element and most 'like me'. I'm excited to work all weekend. I love the big 'shit or bust' stuff. Chicks love it too, I'm practically giving off sparks at the moment and it seems to garner a lot of attention. I'm off to an art exhibition full of very pretty girls tonight and I'm absolutely on one, so I'm hoping for a good night.