I’m not sure whether this is easy, but Actually Making A Thing might be overlooked by people in this sort of space. Like, take a hobby that you know well, think of a physical object that would be useful to people in that hobby, make designs in fusion 360, prototype them with 3d printing, manufacture a small production run, sell on amazon, see if it works, then scale up and automate production.
Even your example of consultants is bringing value to people’s lives through an extraordinarily roundabout way that feels like a bubble. It feels like you’re (the generic you) a parasite on those large companies, who are large enough suckers to pay for consultants. Actually Making A Thing is directly useful, and the essence behind capitalism: you saw a market, you thought you could bring a new product, you did it, and you made money.
The consultants aren’t parasites. They offer something extremely valuable, on call, disposable expertise without requiring you to hire another full time employee. If you have a month’s work for someone but that someone needs to actually know what they’re doing right now then paying a large premium can make sense very quickly. Convenience and lack of expectation of continued employment are part of what contractors generally provide.
I see the appeal of actually making a thing but the thing can equally be an info-product like a book or course that also serves as proof of expertise. That serves as a casing card for consulting services too. Margins are better on services and information products than on physical objects.
I’m not sure whether this is easy, but Actually Making A Thing might be overlooked by people in this sort of space. Like, take a hobby that you know well, think of a physical object that would be useful to people in that hobby, make designs in fusion 360, prototype them with 3d printing, manufacture a small production run, sell on amazon, see if it works, then scale up and automate production.
Even your example of consultants is bringing value to people’s lives through an extraordinarily roundabout way that feels like a bubble. It feels like you’re (the generic you) a parasite on those large companies, who are large enough suckers to pay for consultants. Actually Making A Thing is directly useful, and the essence behind capitalism: you saw a market, you thought you could bring a new product, you did it, and you made money.
The consultants aren’t parasites. They offer something extremely valuable, on call, disposable expertise without requiring you to hire another full time employee. If you have a month’s work for someone but that someone needs to actually know what they’re doing right now then paying a large premium can make sense very quickly. Convenience and lack of expectation of continued employment are part of what contractors generally provide.
I see the appeal of actually making a thing but the thing can equally be an info-product like a book or course that also serves as proof of expertise. That serves as a casing card for consulting services too. Margins are better on services and information products than on physical objects.