![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
May. 22nd, 2012
The Paleolithic Job™ is going a lot slower than I expected, mostly because the text is a lot more complicated than I expected (silly moi). So I've spent several hours over the past couple of days getting familiar with the way the language sounds, in both English and Russian. I've also sent email feelers out to people working in the field, and the results have been gratifyingly friendly, with helpful attachments and links.
As a result, it's getting to the point where I can dash off a sentence like
Much.
I'm going to have to pick up the pace if I want to keep doing this kind of work.
In other news, a potential client called with a not-exactly-rush-but-not-exactly-leisurely job and offered me a rate that is 20% less than what I usually charge. When I objected, the counter was to offer quicker payment, which I assumed meant "payment on receipt," but didn't bother to clarify, because discounting an invoice by 20% for payment on receipt would be a pretty silly move on my part.
Consider the "2/10 net 30" payment terms that are not unusual in commerce. Interpreted, the terms mean that although payment is due on the 30th day, the customer can take a 2 percent discount if payment is made before the 10th day. If you do the math—(Amt of discount/Discounted Price) x (360/No. of days paid early)—this actually amounts to 2/98 x 360/20=36.7% rate of return for the customer if payments are made consistently on the 10th day. You should, therefore, not be surprised to learn there are companies out there whose profits depend on their ability to pay their bills within 10 days.
Now, I'm pretty sure my potential client wasn't thinking of "rate of return" when she offered to pay on receipt (let's assume that's the case) if I'd only agree to work at the lower rate, but one thing I learned—too late, I might add—at my first engineering job was this: "If your work life is made difficult because of what your boss does (or fails to do), then it really doesn't matter whether your boss intends to make your work life difficult or not."
And so, if we posit payment terms that grant the customer a 20% discount for payment on receipt (instead of 30 days), this represents a rate of return, for said customer, of (20/80 x 360/12 =) 750%. (Yikes!)
I stood my ground, the client (apparently) stood hers.
In yet other news, I just got paid for the marketing job I landed a few weeks ago. It feels nice!
In yet other news, while watching a news clip of some entertainment event, it occurred to me that some celebrity saying, "I really enjoyed working with X, who was very professional," is really sort of a backhanded compliment.
Isn't it?
Cheers...
As a result, it's getting to the point where I can dash off a sentence like
Such scrapers typically feature a semicircular cutting edge executed with a semi-abrupt or abrupt dorsal retouch.without breaking a sweat.
Much.
I'm going to have to pick up the pace if I want to keep doing this kind of work.
In other news, a potential client called with a not-exactly-rush-but-not-exactly-leisurely job and offered me a rate that is 20% less than what I usually charge. When I objected, the counter was to offer quicker payment, which I assumed meant "payment on receipt," but didn't bother to clarify, because discounting an invoice by 20% for payment on receipt would be a pretty silly move on my part.
Consider the "2/10 net 30" payment terms that are not unusual in commerce. Interpreted, the terms mean that although payment is due on the 30th day, the customer can take a 2 percent discount if payment is made before the 10th day. If you do the math—(Amt of discount/Discounted Price) x (360/No. of days paid early)—this actually amounts to 2/98 x 360/20=36.7% rate of return for the customer if payments are made consistently on the 10th day. You should, therefore, not be surprised to learn there are companies out there whose profits depend on their ability to pay their bills within 10 days.
Now, I'm pretty sure my potential client wasn't thinking of "rate of return" when she offered to pay on receipt (let's assume that's the case) if I'd only agree to work at the lower rate, but one thing I learned—too late, I might add—at my first engineering job was this: "If your work life is made difficult because of what your boss does (or fails to do), then it really doesn't matter whether your boss intends to make your work life difficult or not."
And so, if we posit payment terms that grant the customer a 20% discount for payment on receipt (instead of 30 days), this represents a rate of return, for said customer, of (20/80 x 360/12 =) 750%. (Yikes!)
I stood my ground, the client (apparently) stood hers.
In yet other news, I just got paid for the marketing job I landed a few weeks ago. It feels nice!
In yet other news, while watching a news clip of some entertainment event, it occurred to me that some celebrity saying, "I really enjoyed working with X, who was very professional," is really sort of a backhanded compliment.
Isn't it?
Cheers...