About a week ago, my company had a little Christmas party planned for everyone and one of the event was a Christmas Gift Exchange.
The way it works is everyone will get a gift valued at roughly $20 dollar, leave it under the Christmas Tree, and when the time comes, each gift will be numbered, so everyone will pick a random number from a little box like a lucky draw and they will get the present with the corresponding number.
Since it wasn't really the traditional Secret Santa where the giver will actually know who they will be gifting, I decided it would only be right to get a gift that would be fitting for both guys and girls, so I went out and got a Bluetooth Speaker that was valued at $22. It was something I would be happy to get for a present, so I thought it will make for a great gift.
Well, turns out not everyone had the same ideas as I did when it came to selecting a gift because during the gift exchange, I actually got myself a necklace that was meant to be worn by a girl.
Why though?
Why would you go get a gift that was meant for a girl when you know the person who might end up getting the gift be a guy. I mean it just feels really badly thought out and I am sure it must have felt like a bummer when the person who bought the gift realize a guy actually got it.
I know who got the gift because that person ended up getting mine out of sheer coincidence and I also heard that the necklace actually originally cost $60 but was on a discount, but it's still a huge waste of money because I can't appreciate it.
My colleague who got the gift told me I could give it to a girl I know, but it really just defeats the purpose of it being a present that was meant for me if the intention was for the gift to be re-gifted to a girl if a guy ended up receiving it.
So I got a really badly thought out gift.I would have preferred like $20 worth of chocolate over female jewelry because at least I could eat the chocolates, what the fuck am I suppose to do with a necklace aside from wearing it and be judged by my family, friends and the public?
Sunday 31 December 2017
Wednesday 27 December 2017
Buh! Bye!
After my last blog post lamenting about not getting any new projects to run, I was finally able to get a new project over the weekend.
It is a relatively small scale one, and from what I have heard from my friends who have run similar projects before, it is going to be a lot easier than the ones I have been running in the past.
I was really not looking forward to getting any new projects to run after I came to realize that the clients from my fourth project will potentially be a huge pain in the ass. The husband actually got angry at me over text after I had a bit of miscommunication with him and his wife, he didn't curse at me or anything, but I could sense from the way he wrote the text that it was meant to be a confrontational "I've had enough of this crap" tone. I honestly wasn't having any of it, so I also didn't bother coming across extra friendly or extra apologetic in text after he pulled that shit on me, I did apologize for the miscommunication begrudgingly, because they are paying me for my services, but I wish I could have told them to go fuck themselves.
So that exchange with them really affected my drive to sign more new projects in the weeks to come, but out of all the customers I had the pleasure of getting in the weeks following, there was only one couple I was quite interested in, so I put in the effort for their proposal and they decided to engage me for my services a few weeks later.
Unlike all the other customers I have had so far, these couple's main focus was design, and they are actually willing to pay more for it, and when they are willing to spend more, I am also willing to put in more effort for the proposal.
We signed, I was happy that I manage to finally get a new project after months, and then I just stopped wanting to get anymore because every time I think about the fourth renovation project, it's like a motivational killer.
And then in the very same week, two of my follow up customers decided they wanted to meet me again to confirm my services. I haven't met these 2 different sets of customers for weeks and I was not particularly fond of one of their projects because the requirements were a complete mess.
That mess of a project actually belongs to the parents of one of my existing clients, had these couple met me with no prior connections, I wouldn't even have entertained the thought of meeting them a second time.
They are the kind of customers who think they know what they want, but when they share their ideas with me and I actually apply it to the space planning, it just becomes this whole cluster fuck of very bad and contradictory ideas.
For example, in the beginning, they will tell me they want to do an open concept kitchen, to knock the kitchen walls down completely, but then 5 minutes later, the husband will tell me he wants to keep the kitchen door because it was only recently installed by the previous owner.
Open Concept Kitchen = No Doors
...and it isn't just once, both the husband and the wife will constantly tell me they want to retain the doors, even though they have requested for the walls to to be demolished, it's fucking frustrating.
And aside from their contradicting request, their ideas were just extremely questionable, like knocking down a wall between a service yard and a study room, so those 2 rooms can be combined into a bedroom for their guest, the service yard is where the rubbish chute is located and they want to introduce that disgusting chute into the guest room. I told them it was a bad idea, but they just kept telling me it was alright, that they won't be using the rubbish chute often enough for it to become a concern.
The problem here isn't really about convenience....
... it just feels a little rude to be putting your guest in a room where you also go to throw the thrash.
Sometimes, I would tell them something was not possible, but they will forget about it and then ask me 5 minutes later if that impossible task was possible or not, its fucking annoying and I really want to scold them, but my client is sitting right beside them, so all I can do is pretend I find their forgetfulness endearing.
Lastly, because they are on a very tight budget, like so tight that the renovation shouldn't even be financially possible, the wife decided to take my quotation and pick out the items that she wants to do, so she actually took the time to slowly took the items from my quotation and created her own version of it, which reduced the total project cost, but when she was shortlisting what she wanted to do, there were a few necessary renovation works that were not included, so when she came to me last week and showed me what she had prepared, the final figure was just completely off and I ended up having to redo the entire quotation based on what she had prepared, needless to say, the figure was way too low because there were a lot of items she had failed to include in her own quotation, additional and necessary items that amounted to an additional $10,000.
She told me she stayed until 3 am to consolidate what I had prepared for her, like it's something I should be impressed about. I just find it hard to be impressed about something that will end up giving me more work to do.
When I prepare a quotation, there is a certain format that I follow to ensure that everything is accounted for, to make sure that I am not missing any items because I really do not enjoy charging my customers for additional items in the future, so when she came to me with her own version, everything was just completely wrong, the order completely threw me off and I had to spend more time that I normally would trying to come up with my version of her quotation, which was an experience I did not enjoy at all.
Because I honestly have zero patience to deal with them and also zero interest to run their project because it's just a fucking mess, I had to find a way to break the news to my existing client, hoping he can convey the message to his parents, so I dropped him a text a few days ago telling him that I will be busy over the next few months, that I can only start his parents renovation in March, a delay which I am very certain his parents won't be agreeable to, and well, he didn't respond. He told me his parents were actually planning to confirm my services that week, but fortunately, they did not show up, which means my client did convey the message to them, but he just didn't bother updating me about his parent's decision.
If a project is a little difficult to run, but I am able to earn a substantial amount, then fine, maybe I will consider running it, and it is a huge maybe because if the clients are going to such a mess to deal with, that will also affect my interest in the project. This project is not worth the time, it's not worth the effort and it's definitely not worth the measly amount I will actually earn from it.
So fuck it and good riddance to that project. Shitty thing is I still have to deal with him in the future once his project actually starts and I have no idea if he is upset at me or not about rejecting his parent's project.
It is a relatively small scale one, and from what I have heard from my friends who have run similar projects before, it is going to be a lot easier than the ones I have been running in the past.
I was really not looking forward to getting any new projects to run after I came to realize that the clients from my fourth project will potentially be a huge pain in the ass. The husband actually got angry at me over text after I had a bit of miscommunication with him and his wife, he didn't curse at me or anything, but I could sense from the way he wrote the text that it was meant to be a confrontational "I've had enough of this crap" tone. I honestly wasn't having any of it, so I also didn't bother coming across extra friendly or extra apologetic in text after he pulled that shit on me, I did apologize for the miscommunication begrudgingly, because they are paying me for my services, but I wish I could have told them to go fuck themselves.
So that exchange with them really affected my drive to sign more new projects in the weeks to come, but out of all the customers I had the pleasure of getting in the weeks following, there was only one couple I was quite interested in, so I put in the effort for their proposal and they decided to engage me for my services a few weeks later.
Unlike all the other customers I have had so far, these couple's main focus was design, and they are actually willing to pay more for it, and when they are willing to spend more, I am also willing to put in more effort for the proposal.
We signed, I was happy that I manage to finally get a new project after months, and then I just stopped wanting to get anymore because every time I think about the fourth renovation project, it's like a motivational killer.
And then in the very same week, two of my follow up customers decided they wanted to meet me again to confirm my services. I haven't met these 2 different sets of customers for weeks and I was not particularly fond of one of their projects because the requirements were a complete mess.
That mess of a project actually belongs to the parents of one of my existing clients, had these couple met me with no prior connections, I wouldn't even have entertained the thought of meeting them a second time.
They are the kind of customers who think they know what they want, but when they share their ideas with me and I actually apply it to the space planning, it just becomes this whole cluster fuck of very bad and contradictory ideas.
For example, in the beginning, they will tell me they want to do an open concept kitchen, to knock the kitchen walls down completely, but then 5 minutes later, the husband will tell me he wants to keep the kitchen door because it was only recently installed by the previous owner.
Open Concept Kitchen = No Doors
...and it isn't just once, both the husband and the wife will constantly tell me they want to retain the doors, even though they have requested for the walls to to be demolished, it's fucking frustrating.
And aside from their contradicting request, their ideas were just extremely questionable, like knocking down a wall between a service yard and a study room, so those 2 rooms can be combined into a bedroom for their guest, the service yard is where the rubbish chute is located and they want to introduce that disgusting chute into the guest room. I told them it was a bad idea, but they just kept telling me it was alright, that they won't be using the rubbish chute often enough for it to become a concern.
The problem here isn't really about convenience....
 |
 |
... it just feels a little rude to be putting your guest in a room where you also go to throw the thrash.
Sometimes, I would tell them something was not possible, but they will forget about it and then ask me 5 minutes later if that impossible task was possible or not, its fucking annoying and I really want to scold them, but my client is sitting right beside them, so all I can do is pretend I find their forgetfulness endearing.
Lastly, because they are on a very tight budget, like so tight that the renovation shouldn't even be financially possible, the wife decided to take my quotation and pick out the items that she wants to do, so she actually took the time to slowly took the items from my quotation and created her own version of it, which reduced the total project cost, but when she was shortlisting what she wanted to do, there were a few necessary renovation works that were not included, so when she came to me last week and showed me what she had prepared, the final figure was just completely off and I ended up having to redo the entire quotation based on what she had prepared, needless to say, the figure was way too low because there were a lot of items she had failed to include in her own quotation, additional and necessary items that amounted to an additional $10,000.
She told me she stayed until 3 am to consolidate what I had prepared for her, like it's something I should be impressed about. I just find it hard to be impressed about something that will end up giving me more work to do.
When I prepare a quotation, there is a certain format that I follow to ensure that everything is accounted for, to make sure that I am not missing any items because I really do not enjoy charging my customers for additional items in the future, so when she came to me with her own version, everything was just completely wrong, the order completely threw me off and I had to spend more time that I normally would trying to come up with my version of her quotation, which was an experience I did not enjoy at all.
Because I honestly have zero patience to deal with them and also zero interest to run their project because it's just a fucking mess, I had to find a way to break the news to my existing client, hoping he can convey the message to his parents, so I dropped him a text a few days ago telling him that I will be busy over the next few months, that I can only start his parents renovation in March, a delay which I am very certain his parents won't be agreeable to, and well, he didn't respond. He told me his parents were actually planning to confirm my services that week, but fortunately, they did not show up, which means my client did convey the message to them, but he just didn't bother updating me about his parent's decision.
If a project is a little difficult to run, but I am able to earn a substantial amount, then fine, maybe I will consider running it, and it is a huge maybe because if the clients are going to such a mess to deal with, that will also affect my interest in the project. This project is not worth the time, it's not worth the effort and it's definitely not worth the measly amount I will actually earn from it.
So fuck it and good riddance to that project. Shitty thing is I still have to deal with him in the future once his project actually starts and I have no idea if he is upset at me or not about rejecting his parent's project.
Monday 4 December 2017
Referrals Away~!
I haven't been getting any new projects for a while now and I don't really know how to feel about it.
About a month back, one of my existing customer actually referred his friend who was looking for an Interior Designer to me, and I honestly felt like this referral had tremendous potential to actually engage me for my services, so thinking this was almost a done deal for me, I decided it would only be right to go the extra mile and prepare a 3D drawing for them for their first consultation.
I thought we hit it off really well and I was able to schedule a second meeting about a week later, showed them the quotation and adjusted the changes they have requested on the spot for them, I knew they were not going to engage my services without first looking through the quotation and think over it for a few days, so they left.
About a week later, I receive a text message from them, requesting to view one of my ongoing projects, they wanted to see the workmanship of my contractor and since I had one that was almost completed, I granted their request. They came, I showed them around the unit, we spoke, they even met the owner, which was not planned, and then they left, but before they left, I told them to update me about their decision soon.
Well, they did just that this morning and it wasn't what I had anticipated.
They decided to go with another Interior Designer.
I honestly don't know what went wrong, because I thought everything went well. Normally when I feel like a customer has the potential to engage me, chances are very likely they will, especially after meeting them 3 times, so I am honestly really confuse what went wrong. That being said, I do feel a sense of relief that they decided not to engage me.
When they actually do get the keys for their home and proceed with the renovation, it will start around the same time as their friends' a.k.a my client, and it is going to be extremely stressful when they inevitably decide to start comparing with each other their renovation progress, which will then lead to questions like...
... I can't deal with this kind of issue, dealing with one difficult customer is already hard enough, just the thought of having to deal with 2 potentially difficult customers who actually know one another?
So I am actually more glad they decided not to engage my services than I am sad that they have rejected me.
One thing I do find extremely odd is how they were telling me in the rejection text that they will be sure to recommend me to their friends who are also looking for an Interior Designer.
Not going to be a very convincing recommendation, I mean you are recommending to them an Interior Designer you decided not to engage in the end, unless the Interior Designer they have chosen to engage really fucks them over, their friends are not going to settle for what is essentially second best.
I mean settling for second best in terms of food or drinks is alright, if I can't find a KOI nearby, then I will settle for LiHo, they are both good, except KOI is obviously better because it's KOI. It's a few dollars a cup, and I can always afford to have KOI another day, but settling for second best for your home renovation, that's at least a $20,000, ain't no first time home owners gonna settle for second best when $20,000 is on the line.
Second Best. If a couple rejected me because I didn't bother to follow up with them, then I have nothing to say about it, I deserve it for not putting in any effort, but if I did and they still are not impressed by it, it is really quite demoralizing. So if you are going to be telling your friends...
The rejection stings, but I'm sure I will get over it within a week and that sting will soon be replaced by a greater sense of relief. And by get over I mean it won't be at the top of my head, but it will still be constantly at the back of my bitter bitter mind and I am sure this experience will appear occasionally throughout my future blog post.
Evidently, I am not good at handling rejection.
Last month, I also had a potential customer slip out of my hands, but that was more my fault because I didn't really follow up with him after our second meeting, he was nice enough to update me of his decision though, so that was actually great, and really rare of customers these day.
I feel like I have on hand a few customers with potential, but a part of me just doesn't really want to bother getting more new projects.
The only reason why I want to get new projects is so I don't feel so stressed out about not having any new projects. The moment my next 2 projects are done, I am going to really consider making a career switch and get a job with a stable salary because right now, this career is just not cutting it for me financially, my savings has been on a steady decline and the amount I will be making from these few projects I will be closing soon will only be enough to cover what I have spend over the last 11 months.
The current stream of customers I have been receiving are pretty much a waste of time, I don't sense any sort of potential from them, either because I have no interest to run their projects or because it is painfully obvious that their only intention is to get a free quotation.
That being said, I think the biggest issue with this career is myself. I am just way too picky with the customers I want to work with.
Gawd! I really need a new job. Right now I am being tied down to the company because I have 2 more projects that have yet to begin, if by the time those end and I still have no new projects to run, it really doesn't take a genius to know that it is time to leave, which means by the end of March next year, I might be working in a different company, or be in the midst of looking for a new job.
About a month back, one of my existing customer actually referred his friend who was looking for an Interior Designer to me, and I honestly felt like this referral had tremendous potential to actually engage me for my services, so thinking this was almost a done deal for me, I decided it would only be right to go the extra mile and prepare a 3D drawing for them for their first consultation.
I thought we hit it off really well and I was able to schedule a second meeting about a week later, showed them the quotation and adjusted the changes they have requested on the spot for them, I knew they were not going to engage my services without first looking through the quotation and think over it for a few days, so they left.
About a week later, I receive a text message from them, requesting to view one of my ongoing projects, they wanted to see the workmanship of my contractor and since I had one that was almost completed, I granted their request. They came, I showed them around the unit, we spoke, they even met the owner, which was not planned, and then they left, but before they left, I told them to update me about their decision soon.
Well, they did just that this morning and it wasn't what I had anticipated.
They decided to go with another Interior Designer.
I honestly don't know what went wrong, because I thought everything went well. Normally when I feel like a customer has the potential to engage me, chances are very likely they will, especially after meeting them 3 times, so I am honestly really confuse what went wrong. That being said, I do feel a sense of relief that they decided not to engage me.
When they actually do get the keys for their home and proceed with the renovation, it will start around the same time as their friends' a.k.a my client, and it is going to be extremely stressful when they inevitably decide to start comparing with each other their renovation progress, which will then lead to questions like...
"Are you sure this is acceptable workmanship, I did not see this issue from my friend's site."
"This problem right here can be fixed, I know for a fact because you were able to rectify it for my friend."
"Why are you only charging him this amount for this item, but you are charging me almost double the price for mine?"
... I can't deal with this kind of issue, dealing with one difficult customer is already hard enough, just the thought of having to deal with 2 potentially difficult customers who actually know one another?
So I am actually more glad they decided not to engage my services than I am sad that they have rejected me.
One thing I do find extremely odd is how they were telling me in the rejection text that they will be sure to recommend me to their friends who are also looking for an Interior Designer.
Not going to be a very convincing recommendation, I mean you are recommending to them an Interior Designer you decided not to engage in the end, unless the Interior Designer they have chosen to engage really fucks them over, their friends are not going to settle for what is essentially second best.
I mean settling for second best in terms of food or drinks is alright, if I can't find a KOI nearby, then I will settle for LiHo, they are both good, except KOI is obviously better because it's KOI. It's a few dollars a cup, and I can always afford to have KOI another day, but settling for second best for your home renovation, that's at least a $20,000, ain't no first time home owners gonna settle for second best when $20,000 is on the line.
Second Best. If a couple rejected me because I didn't bother to follow up with them, then I have nothing to say about it, I deserve it for not putting in any effort, but if I did and they still are not impressed by it, it is really quite demoralizing. So if you are going to be telling your friends...
"You can look for Tim, he was able to prepare quite a few proposals and even came up with a 3D rendering for us before we even paid for anything, and he's really nice about it, so don't feel bad about it if in the end you don't feel comfortable engaging him."
a.k.a
"We wasted so much of him time and effort and you should too!"
Please. Go Away.
The rejection stings, but I'm sure I will get over it within a week and that sting will soon be replaced by a greater sense of relief. And by get over I mean it won't be at the top of my head, but it will still be constantly at the back of my bitter bitter mind and I am sure this experience will appear occasionally throughout my future blog post.
Evidently, I am not good at handling rejection.
Last month, I also had a potential customer slip out of my hands, but that was more my fault because I didn't really follow up with him after our second meeting, he was nice enough to update me of his decision though, so that was actually great, and really rare of customers these day.
I feel like I have on hand a few customers with potential, but a part of me just doesn't really want to bother getting more new projects.
The only reason why I want to get new projects is so I don't feel so stressed out about not having any new projects. The moment my next 2 projects are done, I am going to really consider making a career switch and get a job with a stable salary because right now, this career is just not cutting it for me financially, my savings has been on a steady decline and the amount I will be making from these few projects I will be closing soon will only be enough to cover what I have spend over the last 11 months.
The current stream of customers I have been receiving are pretty much a waste of time, I don't sense any sort of potential from them, either because I have no interest to run their projects or because it is painfully obvious that their only intention is to get a free quotation.
That being said, I think the biggest issue with this career is myself. I am just way too picky with the customers I want to work with.
Gawd! I really need a new job. Right now I am being tied down to the company because I have 2 more projects that have yet to begin, if by the time those end and I still have no new projects to run, it really doesn't take a genius to know that it is time to leave, which means by the end of March next year, I might be working in a different company, or be in the midst of looking for a new job.
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