Newsletter #71 - Delayed September Newsletter


Newsletter #71 - Delayed September Newsletter

Mid-October

I have two main clients. One in robotics, which is mostly very technical infrastructure work for now, and the other one in retail furniture, which is mostly Airtable integrations.

Both are quite challenging in their own ways, infrastructure is very abstract, and Airtable is challenging to turn into a beautiful, easy-to-use solution, it always looks a little overloaded.

With these two clients I'm in a good situation. They pay sufficiently, and there is enough to do.

The goal is to keep building on this:

Keep current clients happy

Find a third client for a slightly higher rate

Keep clients happy

Find a fourth client for a slightly higher rate

Find someone to help me

...

The challenge is the trade-off between delivery and prospecting

To find new clients, I need to write articles, build a website, write cold emails, find new prospects, pitch for projects, ...

To keep my current clients satisfied, I need to deliver

There is enough to do, and I notice I'm getting better at focusing on getting the work done.

Other Projects

There are no other projects anymore, I'm getting better at focusing on delivering the hours, which means my personal stuff gets pushed aside for now....

Moving

Our rental contract expires in July 2026. We had a good deal on this one, and rental rates in Amsterdam are rising.

We don't want to pay more than we currently are paying, so in 9 months our Amsterdam experience will probably come to an end.

What's next? Don't know yet. A destination with a little more sun?

Motorbike driving license

I had a Thai motorbike driving license

The Dutch don't accept that

So I had to start from scratch, it's a long process!

Exam coming up in two weeks!

After that, maybe take some time off and do the offroad North-South crossing in Portugal?

50 Pushups

I'm reading living with a seal which is a surprisingly funny book about a person who invited a highly trained US marine to live with him for a month, and workout together.

One of the things he mentioned is that the marine is doing pushups all the time, everywhere.

That's inspiring, and that's something I can easily replicate.

So my goal is to do 50 pushups every day, scattered throughout the day.

I started today, did 20 so far. So can't share the long term benefits or struggles yet

Wrap-up

That's it

It's Friday Morning

The weather is gray and 13 degrees

Here's the view today on Amsterdam's Herengracht

Have a great weekend!

Hi! I'm Joris

This is my weekly braindump. You can read it, but I don't write it for you, I write it for me.

Read more from Hi! I'm Joris

Newsletter #70 - Massive Pain! I ran into my bicycle pedal while doing a sprint triathlon last weekend. I rode a mountainbike (while everyone had a racebike) and was a little too aggressive in the transition area It gave me the opportunity to test the Dutch emergency healthcare on the weekend. They did a good job! Injured! Contrary to the title, it doesn't hurt at all and hence it's business as usual today And business as usual it was! It's Friday 29 August, the roads are busy. Schools start...

Newsletter #69 - H1 Finished We’re halfway the year The good thing about living in Europe is seasonality. It makes me realize the incredible speed at which time passes It seems only a couple of weeks ago when temperatures were below freezing. Now it’s 34 degrees. I’m still doing projects, I have 2 current clients - albeit one dormant - and 1 new client in Amsterdam from Wednesday onwards The plan is to grow this. To grow more clients, and get more projects, and have more people do the work...

Newsletter #68 - More Turmoil! The end of April was the deadline I set myself to find a freelance rol. It colminated in a quite dramatic nogo on the Unilever freelance role, and a first Upwork project I would start searching for employee roles from May 1st onwards The Upwork project gives the opportunity to postpone just a little longer I need to find another project - can't bet on one horse - either on Upwork, but preferably via other channels. Upwork is where I compete with others. Doing...