A Cloudy Crystal Ball

Starting my new architect job occurred simultaneously with having a lot of orders in the Etsy/WyseWorks store. I have some really mixed feelings about the WyseWorks store.

It's a small, small business. My brother says I shouldn't say that. But it is. At this point in time, I make a few thousand dollars from it each year. It's really nice to make some side money. But relative to the amount I'm paid to do architecture, the WyseWorks stuff pays, like, half the hourly rate. In spite of this, some people are still pretty sure my prices are rip-offs. Here's an inquiry I received about doing a custom project. Initially I wanted to justify my prices. Instead I simply turned down the work. Starting off a client relationship with antagony is not a good idea. (I, myself, could do well to remember this.) This year in particular, I really didn't have time to be forgiving / justifying / proving my worth.

What makes up for the low WyseWorks wages are that most of the customers are really cool and they have really neat ideas. I LOVE the challenge of making something that is "just right" for someone. The reviews and positive feedback are pretty great, too. Sometimes, I go read the reviews when I am in a bad mood, and they buoy me up and makes me feel so much better.

Going forward, however, it's hard to justify spending the time on WyseWorks when I'm paid more to be an architect.

But then, the WyseWorks business feels like one of my children. It's hard to walk away from it. And what if this architecture thing doesn't work out? What if spending hours and hours on Revit bores me to tears? What if the economy tanks and we have a big recession and I get laid off? I'm always one to have Plans B and C in the wings, so I guess I need to keep ahold of the WyseWorks store, but I'm not exactly sure what that means yet.