CHAPTER 16

Consider the Drawbacks

Everything in life has its drawbacks. There is just no way around it. The key is to weigh the good with the bad and march in the direction that best suits you. So, too, with the Patchwork Principle are there advantages and disadvantages to consider, both personally and professionally. In order to take an honest look at this career paradigm, this chapter is dedicated to what the rest of the book is not: discussing the drawbacks of the Patchwork Principle as a career lifestyle. Knowing the true nature of this lifestyle will give you an opportunity to make an informed decision and, if you so choose, to march confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Personal Drawbacks

There are personal drawbacks to Patchworking, and there is no way around this simple truth. You may not get the respect you deserve in certain situations, you may be subject to more distractions than you would like, and it may even take a toll on your physical fitness if you’re not careful. Fortunately, you can control all of these factors, at least to some extent, and of course you always have a choice as to how you react to those realities that you cannot change.

For example, years ago I lived next door to a family who loved to listen to the sound of their car alarm for reasons that I still cannot figure out. Each time the alarm would sound, I would get upset and become fully consumed by the situation. After a while, however, I realized that it was them or me. I had to suck it up and learn to concentrate despite the car alarm or else surrender.

Although being a Patchworker definitely has advantages, let’s take a moment to consider these personal disadvantages:

• You will encounter many distractions while working. There is television, Facebook, neighbors who come knocking at your door, piles of laundry that beg to be washed, and a friend who calls to invite you to an afternoon round of golf on a day that you face a can’t-be-missed deadline. Having the ability to stay focused can be challenging at times. It requires setting clear boundaries for yourself as well as for your neighbors, friends, and family members.
• People may not take your career seriously. Because your career will be new and unfamiliar to people in your life, they may mistakenly believe that you are doing this work until a “real job” comes along. You will be challenged at times to seemingly defend and most certainly explain your new career lifestyle. People will inquire out of curiosity and sometimes disbelief, which can require patience and a thick skin on your part.
• People may not take your office hours seriously. Family, friends, and neighbors may not recognize your office hours as those off-limits times of the day when you are unavailable for socializing. Although these people in your life would never dream of barging into your 9-to-5 workplace setting unannounced, they may show up at your home office door expecting you to drop everything and spend the rest of the morning or afternoon chatting, driving them to the airport, or accompanying them to the farmer’s market. Drawing clear boundaries is critical to the success of your Patchwork career. Be firm but kind and establish the ground rules early on.
• There is no built-in social network. The water cooler talk that you may have regularly enjoyed with 9-to-5 co-workers will no longer be available in its traditional format. You will need to seek out and cultivate new ways to build a social network, and it’s even better if these connections are relevant to your business. Online communities or local entrepreneurial associations are good ways to do this. Likewise, if you are used to being on the corporate softball team or some other sponsored group activity formerly coordinated through work, you will need to seek out a suitable substitute in your local community through a recreation department or another source.
• You may not be able to enjoy the same amenities that you enjoyed when the company was paying. Finer hotels and first-class airline tickets may take a back seat to standard accommodations and coach-class flights, at least initially. Likewise, membership to the best gym in the city that was subsidized by your former 9-to-5 employer may no longer be practical at full price. These expenses affect your bottom line and can add up quickly if travel is a regular part of your business model. However, this is not to say that you have to say goodbye to these luxuries forever—just until it makes sense based on your business’s bottom line. Or perhaps you may want to use your profits for something else altogether.
• Managing your waistline can be challenging. If you work at home, the refrigerator is readily available, and mindless snacking can pose a challenge to your figure. Likewise, doing work that is not physical in nature (computer-based projects, for example) cuts down on the number of calories you burn during the workday. That inactivity can show up on your waistline. However, a simple remedy is to balance your day out by scheduling some time to hit the gym and get your body moving.

  Negotiate Additional Perks

  As you negotiate with potential employers, consider haggling for extra amenities, such as gym discounts, that the employer already offers to its full-time employees. The result can be the enjoyment of a few extra perks, completely free of charge!

• You may feel like you never leave the house. Many people in the 9-to-5 world long for the opportunity to work from home. What you may not consider is the fact that if you work from a home office, you rarely need to leave the building. This can have implications for your physical fitness, your mental health, and your social life. Working from your home office can cause you to feel stuck in the house day after day. The simple fix for this is to deliberately schedule regular outside activities, such as signing up for extracurricular activities or meeting friends outside of the house and socializing. It’s your life, so remember to get out there and live it!
• Your house may feel smaller. Whether you work out of your home office on a regular basis or simply use the space for filing and bookkeeping purposes, part of your former living area will be dedicated to a new function: work. Think about how to carve out a place in your house that allows you to feel cheerful and motivated without compromising too much of your primary living space. An effective home office for some people is a dedicated room with a door, whereas for others it is simply a desk on wheels positioned in the corner of a room. Have an open mind and make the most of your available resources.

When you are a Patchworker, you have to contend with both personal and professional drawbacks. However, none of these is insurmountable. Your attitude is the key to success when faced with one of these unavoidable realities.

Professional Drawbacks

Now, having looked at the personal drawbacks, let’s take a look at the professional drawbacks that have implications for your career and your lifestyle:

• There is no paid time off, period. Paid vacation days are not part of the Patchworker’s reality. If you choose to take time off to hop aboard a cruise ship headed to the Bahamas, you must factor lost wages and perhaps paying a substitute into the overall cost of your vacation. Likewise, there is no sick leave allotment from which you can draw from, so be sure to take an objective look at your health history. Sometimes you will need to work despite minor illnesses in order to provide seamless service to your clients.
• Your income is less stable. For the 9-to-5er, income is like a water faucet; either it’s flowing from the employer to the employee or it’s not. As a Patchworker, you assume some financial risk because your income is based on landing new accounts and maintaining existing ones. Therefore, income is not as certain as it is for a 9-to-5 employee, at least on a day-to-day basis. However, it is no surprise either. Whereas 9-to-5 employees may be subject to sudden job loss due to redundancy, Patchworkers are well aware of their current income and future prospects from their many clients. Therefore, although income may appear more sporadic for the Patchworker, it is in many respects more stable than it would be in a traditional career. However, it takes time to get used to drumming up your own leads consistently enough to feel comfortable making new, substantial purchases such as a house or car.
• Your nontraditional career carries less prestige than a traditional one. If you carry the title Vice President of Sales with a local company, people know how to rank that role within the 9-to-5 hierarchy. However, if you are president and CEO of your own Patchworker business, your title is an enigma for the traditionally minded. Although you may earn more and ultimately enjoy more freedom as a Patchworker, an automatic endorsement from those in the 9-to-5 world is atypical.

  Secure Loans Before You Plunge into Patchworking

  If you are considering the purchase of a new house or car, make the purchase before you take the plunge into Patchworking because lenders will require that you demonstrate a history of earning before approving a mortgage or car loan. However, once you are an established Patchworker, your earning history will speak for itself.

• There is no corporate insurance plan. When you are a Patchworker, you must shop for and apply for your own health and life insurance plans. This topic will be addressed in greater detail in Chapter 19, “Meeting Uncle Sam and Other Necessities.”
• You must be able to handle high-tech headaches. This is not to say that you must know how to fix all of your technical issues, because you can always call an expert to make a house call to your home office. However, you must have the ability to remain calm in the face of a technical snafu and create an action plan to remedy the situation.
• Sometimes clients will not pay for services rendered. Some clients will not be stellar. It’s a business reality, no matter what business you are in. It’s rare, but there may be some clients who will not pay even long after you invoice them. In such cases, you will need to get tough with them, and in the event of complete noncompliance, you’ll have to research your options and perhaps consider taking them to small claims court. These experiences are very educational because they teach you how to spot a red flag when you see it in the future, so you can cut your losses more quickly.
• Paperwork and recordkeeping can be tedious. When you are a Patchworker, you wear many hats and, as a result, find yourself responsible for recordkeeping activities such as invoicing, payroll (yours!), and tax filings. Getting organized and keeping your records current are the best strategies for making this part of business ownership feel manageable.
• You will pay more taxes than you did as an employee. Welcome to the harsh reality of being independently employed—your tax bill will increase. In addition to the standard income taxes you are used to paying, you will have to pay both the employer and employee portions of the Social Security and Medicare taxes.
• You must seek out and finance your own professional development opportunities. The days of signing up for rounds of training sessions on the company’s dime are not typically part of the Patchworker’s reality. Budgeting for needed training will be required, and it can sometimes be costly, depending on your profession. However, you may find opportunities to negotiate for training as part of or in lieu of compensation through a client’s organization.
• Managing your cash flow responsibly is a must. You will need to create and maintain a cash reserve during boom times to counterbalance lean times. Failing to do that can cause your business to go bust in the event of a slowdown, an unexpected leave of absence such as maternity or paternity leave, or an emergency situation such as a prolonged medical absence. Saving for a rainy day is critical for peace of mind and survival.
• You will be responsible for maintaining and upgrading your own equipment. Gone will be the days when the latest technology gadget or upgrade magically appeared on your desk, configured and paid for by the company. You alone will be the one making decisions about which equipment is a must to purchase, upgrade, and maintain when weighed against the related costs. On the other hand, you are in complete control of what you purchase, when, and why. There is no more petitioning the boss or the budget manager for the funds to purchase a necessary item, which can be very liberating.

Although the seemingly endless list of professional drawbacks can appear daunting to the Patchworker, consider the benefits that are plentiful, substantive, and much more advantageous to your overall career and well-being.

So, what do you think? Can you handle the drawbacks? Can you accept them as part of your Patchworker reality and make a break from the 9-to-5 work world in spite of them? Although drawbacks are by nature unpleasant, you do have to take the good with the bad if you want to dive into this new world. Can you negotiate the drawbacks, or will you call it quits at this juncture? Only you can answer the question. Make a decision and decide if now is the right time to begin planning your escape.