Finance, Technology and Macroeconomics

First Writing Racket: Lessons Learned

1. Get the Big Picture.I took this stint to know how it works so that next time, I can systematize and manage it well. The stint initially involved financial projections for a start-up mining company. Eventually, client asked to provide figures for the financial part of the feasibility study. The dangerous part of it is we left Bob do the coordination part because he was the one who has connections to the client. Bob, however, is too busy to even study the requirements of the projections. Information are usually incomplete and I ended up preparing something that wasn't really needed because Bob failed to capture the big picture. When I was reading the materials for the stint, it dawned on me that our services were sought for the feasibility study. If I knew then that we were supposed to work on it, I should have not gone through great lengths to work on this.

2. Know the industry before opening up to commitment. Ask client to give you 24 hours to think about the service being sought. Since I was assigned to financial projections, I didn't find time to familiarize myself on nickel content. The first thing I did was to check Bloomberg. which showed prices for precious metals and base metals but none of it on nickel with different grades.

3. Sign an Agreement. Prior to making a commitment, spend one hour familiarzing self with the industry. To avoid multiple revisions, sign an agreement with a clear description of what the client needs. Put some allowance for revisions, say the client can ask revisions thrice and every revision thereafter is charged with an additional 5%.

4. Ask for a timeline. Agree on reasonable deadlines. I realized that the stint was stressing me because it was taking so much of my time with Bob asking for outputs to be delivered immediately or on the same day. Initial output to be provided within 5 business days while revisions may need a maximum of 3 business days. Next time, I should be strict to myself. I shouldn't spend the entire day figuring things out. I should take time.

Research (3 hours).
Readings (5 hours).
Research (3 hours).
Action (important things first: 3 hours)

4. Don't commit unless client knows exactly what she/he is looking for. Related to getting the big picture. Awhile ago, when we were having a meeting. Bob was saying that price would depend on importation cost. Eventually, when Eileen arrived with data from, he said the LME would provide prices for nickel with 1.05 something. So, Bob confused me a lot. I realized that with him at the helm, I just have to note everything that he is saying then focus on what matters. Some 90% of the things said doesn't contribute to anything related to the stint.

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Summary: Arm self with an agreement.

posted by JD @ 12:13 AM