Farouq ZaababResearcher, Coach, Trainer, Consultant| FreelancerSohar, Oman
I have always thought that this is a rhetorical question to which the answer is "Yeah!"
However, following a discussion with a friend I started to doubt this. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to make the leap? I would appreciate it if you share your story :) Saving Changes...
I don't have a story, just some thoughts on decisions I've made. Being your own boss can also mean being your own accountant, marketing department, etc. If you want to run a business AND be a project manager, it might be a good idea. You also have to consider the economy and competition. Do you have enough savings to live on if things start slow? Do you have a significant other or family - will they support your decision? Will becoming your own boss mean that you have to spend more time away from them?
So, currently, I'm not my own boss. That may change in the future, but there are factors that make it unrealistic, right now.
You should also think about what it means to you to be your own boss. Does that mean you become an independent consultant and just manage projects, or do you get published and start speaking professionally as part of your new role, and use these as opportunities to network and grow your business across a larger geographical area?
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 16, 2018 1:51 PM
Farouq Zaabab
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Thank you Aaron. I agree, all the questions you asked are pivotal and must be answered before taking this risk.
Saving Changes...
Jesus MartheynProject Manager SR Lvl 2| GlobantMedellin, Antioquia, Colombia
Well, I'd lived the situation that you suggest. I'm still being CEO of my own enterprise and I work as a project manager for another. The reason is simple, depending on the nature of your own business, it is probably that some months no work is performed. When I get contracts I hire my team and I direct them. In my opinion, is better work as a consultant and freelance, you can earn really good money.
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 16, 2018 1:49 PM
Farouq Zaabab
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Jesus-
Thanks a lot for the reply. To me, this is an awesome opportunity to ask you more questions.
I am very interested to know more about how you can manage both. How do you deal with the workload at busy times?
Saving Changes...
Farouq ZaababResearcher, Coach, Trainer, Consultant| FreelancerSohar, Oman
Aug 16, 2018 1:19 PM
Replying to Jesus Martheyn
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Well, I'd lived the situation that you suggest. I'm still being CEO of my own enterprise and I work as a project manager for another. The reason is simple, depending on the nature of your own business, it is probably that some months no work is performed. When I get contracts I hire my team and I direct them. In my opinion, is better work as a consultant and freelance, you can earn really good money.
Jesus-
Thanks a lot for the reply. To me, this is an awesome opportunity to ask you more questions.
I am very interested to know more about how you can manage both. How do you deal with the workload at busy times? Saving Changes...
Farouq ZaababResearcher, Coach, Trainer, Consultant| FreelancerSohar, Oman
Aug 16, 2018 12:09 PM
Replying to Aaron Porter
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I don't have a story, just some thoughts on decisions I've made. Being your own boss can also mean being your own accountant, marketing department, etc. If you want to run a business AND be a project manager, it might be a good idea. You also have to consider the economy and competition. Do you have enough savings to live on if things start slow? Do you have a significant other or family - will they support your decision? Will becoming your own boss mean that you have to spend more time away from them?
So, currently, I'm not my own boss. That may change in the future, but there are factors that make it unrealistic, right now.
You should also think about what it means to you to be your own boss. Does that mean you become an independent consultant and just manage projects, or do you get published and start speaking professionally as part of your new role, and use these as opportunities to network and grow your business across a larger geographical area?
Thank you Aaron. I agree, all the questions you asked are pivotal and must be answered before taking this risk. Saving Changes...
Damian PereraMonitoring & Evaluation Specialist| ChrysalisMellawagedara, Western Province, Sri Lanka
I have heard both success & faliure stories of those who made that leap. It's a risk that should be taken with a good plan.
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 16, 2018 2:05 PM
Farouq Zaabab
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Hi Damian,
It would be great to hear one of those stories from you :)
Saving Changes...
Farouq ZaababResearcher, Coach, Trainer, Consultant| FreelancerSohar, Oman
Aug 16, 2018 2:02 PM
Replying to Damian Perera
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I have heard both success & faliure stories of those who made that leap. It's a risk that should be taken with a good plan.
Hi Damian,
It would be great to hear one of those stories from you :) Saving Changes...
Vivek BhatiaPrincipal| The Bhatia GroupOakland, Ca, United States
Do you mean PM consulting? Or something completely different?
If PM, I started my own thing 5 years ago, got sick of making other people money. In the end, it's a numbers game. Is your network big enough to keep you gainfully employed for enough to pay the bills. Everything else is secondary to actually making money.
I wrote an article about this a couple of years back for ProjectTimes.com:
"Having worked as a contract Project Manager earlier in my career, and having hired contract Project Managers more recently, I wrote an article two years ago comparing the pros and cons of using them.
This perspective represents only one side of the coin, and with the increasing number of Project Managers I’ve met who have expressed interest in pursuing this type of work, I felt it might be beneficial to cover this topic from the other side. It should be noted that my focus is not on those Project Managers who have taken on contract work temporarily as a stopgap until they are able to land a suitable full-time role.
It might seem surprising to you, but financial benefits are not a factor I will focus on – it is well understood that contract rates will usually be higher than full-time salary rates, but it is might be more useful to calculate net annual income and monthly cash flow.
When one factors in outflows such as health or dental insurance, financial impacts of downtime between projects, self-funded personal development such as courses or conferences, operational costs such as accounting or legal fees and the impacts to liquidity of net 30 or net 60 day payment terms, financial merits alone might be insufficient to clinch the decision.
Other non-financial benefits of contract work include:
-The freedom to decide what type of projects you will accept
-The ability to take longer time off or to spend more time on your personal development
-The opportunity to get much greater depth and breadth of experience than might be possible in full-time roles
-The chance to build relationships across many companies
But before you quit your full-time role and jump into the contract market, here are a few questions to ask yourself.
Are You A Generalist?
In many parts of the world, it has been a buyer’s market for hiring managers.
Recruiters have the luxury to not only demand project management competence but also to expect that candidates possess specific domain expertise relevant to the needs of a given project. When recruiting full-time project managers, employers are usually going to consider the breadth of experiences which a potential candidate can bring to their organization as they are (or should be!) considering the long term. In contract situations which are more transactional and time-bounded, depth is often given greater weight.
Even if you have worked in many different industries and on many different types of projects, don’t despair! You might still have gained sufficient specialized project management experience which could be a differentiator. For example, if you have frequently taken over troubled projects from other Project Managers and have been able to complete them successfully, you could find your contractual calling as a recovery specialist.
How Effective Are You At Networking?
Relationship building is critical for Project Managers regardless of whether they are working full-time or on contract. However, if you are not effective at cultivating your network, especially at times when you DON’T need something from your connections, it can become very challenging to find new gigs, especially when the supply of talent significantly exceeds demand.
It is almost impossible to get into the heads of a recruiter or worse, automated application processing system in order to craft a resume which guarantees being at the top of the candidate pile, so your best bet is to leverage the support of someone in your network to do a warm introduction for you. But if you haven’t taken the time to stay in touch with your contacts, helping them as often as you require their help, it will come across self-serving to solicit their assistance.
This can be challenging for many project managers. Some may simply not have the interest or ability to maintain a broad network. For others, if they have been managing a long-running project, it can become onerous to invest regularly in such business development activities.
How Resilient Are You?
NO job is a sure thing.
Even long-tenured employees are just a few days’ notice from having to find alternate employment. Having said that, contract Project Managers need to possess the intestinal fortitude to stomach a greater volume of vicissitudes than their full-time peers. Shifts in business priority cause projects to be delayed or to be put on hold and organizational restructuring can result in shifts from contingent to internal workforces.
Even if none of these occur, projects come to an end, and if you haven’t been fortunate enough to line up a new gig to coincide with the end of the previous one, you could be looking at some prolonged downtime. Yes, this might be a good opportunity to take that much needed vacation or take a few courses, but that’s all on YOUR dime!
As is often the case in our profession, there is no decision tree which will help you quantitatively determine the expected value of working as a contract project manager, but with the questions I’ve provided above, hopefully, you will be better equipped to make a balanced decision."
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 17, 2018 1:49 AM
Farouq Zaabab
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Great article Kiron. It answers all my questions :)
Saving Changes...
Sie LauProject Manager| Adaptive Training & ConsultingPuchong, Selangor, Malaysia
I took the leap & go solo (so to speak) and become a freelance PM 5 years ago. Fortunately I've adequate works to keep me going so far. I obtained almost 100% of works from my networks through 30yrs of corporate experience. It has been rewarding in many ways not least spending more time with my family. So, please access your extend of your networks & see if you will able to get majority of works from there.
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 17, 2018 11:14 AM
Farouq Zaabab
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Thanks for sharing your story Sie :)
Saving Changes...
RAJESH K LProject Manager, PMP| Bharat Electronics, Bengaluru, IndiaBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Agree with Kiron
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1 reply by Farouq Zaabab
Aug 17, 2018 1:09 AM
Farouq Zaabab
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I don't agree with you Rajesh. Your story is too short :)
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