What am I doing?
My freelancing since January couldn’t go any better. I am happy, I am learning and I am challenged. But I already know, that freelancing for clients isn’t everything I want to do. This is, and always was, supposed to be the first step into the “right” direction.
I read lots of articles by other freelancers and entrepreneurs who shared the “why” behind what they do. Today I want to do a bit of the same. Perhaps you’ll find it interesting as well?
For a few years now I ran a small/tiny SaaS for German companies doing telesales. I have prior experience as I worked in this industry for 6 years during university. So I created the application to do telesales. It was designed and developed to support the telesales marketer in the right way. The way I always wanted to be supported while calling companies (strictly B2B! 😚). I will close that company towards the end of the year. I just do not have any interest in it anymore. You do need a certain amount of passion and interest in the market and the topic if you want to have some success marketing your product. I lack both these days.
I will concentrate all my energy into my freelancing business, which I want to turn into a consulting business. Or something else. I am unsure. I have some ideas how to evolve this but I am uncertain which one is the best direction.
Which brings me to you! You have been reading my emails for the last few weeks, and you signed up for the newsletter some months or years before. Because you read something I wrote that you found interesting, I guess. I am good at sharing knowledge, helping people learn and supporting developers in growing their skills. I had this wonderful experience last week: A former co-worker wrote me an email congratulating us on the baby. She also gave me the big compliment, that during her time with me she learned more than ever before or after. She was “my” intern and I tried to enable her to grow according to her talent. It seems I did it quite well. I received compliments like that rather frequently. I am wondering whether I should pursue this path with more intensity…
My current contract ends on September 30th. I am now in talks with companies about the time from October 1st and will have interviews later this week. This is quite a long shot, but if you or your company is looking for a senior developer for who could mentor you or your team, please get in touch. I’d love to talk about ideas how I could support you. Things like mentoring, but also vetting/hiring developers, giving workshops, doing code reviews. If anything like that sounds interesting, please answer this mail. To be clear: I do not seek permanent employment. 😄
I am curious what you think. If you don’t have anything in mind, I’d like to ask something else of you: Please help me find other readers. You know someone who could find my emails entertaining. Someone on your dev team or a friend? Please send them to my website www.holgerfrohloff.de and make them sign up 😉. It means a lot to me and supports me.
Thank you.
Yours, Holger