Can you do the fandango?

I’m not going to lie, I got a little bit overexcited that I was able to use that as a title and I wasn’t even trying, it just fit perfectly with something that happened this week!

I was invited to become part of a project that it’s it’s infancy stages, it’s a really exciting prospect and one that I’d love to work on but it is a bit of a gamble and would involve some risk on my part- that said the potential rewards are very high! I know this all sounds a bit mysterious but it’s early stages so I can’t actually give details!

Anyway, in the initial meetings there was discussion about how my involvement would be compensated- did I want a flat fee, an hourly rate or did I want to take a share of the project. My pension advisor tells me I’m a big fan of risk so it’s no surprise that getting in at the ground floor as a real part of something that could pay massive dividends was very appealing to me!

So we have discussions, ask questions, back and forth a bit and I’m asked to put forward what I’m asking for in terms of remuneration. This is an open question, I understand the project financials and what is and isn’t viable, this is about what I want.

And that’s where I came unstuck. In response I sent back about 5 options, none of which actually had concrete numbers attached to them: I could take a % of the business, I could take a monthly cut of profits, I could do this or that.

Resounding silence in response.

Then I got a text late on Friday (fuelled by Dutch courage I assume!). The gist of the conversation - and title inspiration - was this: “I need you to be less British and more American, tell me what you want because I trust you not to overdo it. I don’t have the patience to dance round this forever.”

Well that went against the grain, it took a bit of soul searching to realise that I wanted the other person to tell me what they wanted to give me- I was, in essence, too scared to quantify my own worth. And if I can’t decide my worth, why should I expect anyone else too?

That night I could sleep. I turned figures over my head and put a proposal together. It’s fair, it’s something the project can sustain and it compensates me well for the work I’m putting in. Am I 100% comfortable being this direct? No, I’m still a bit too British after all but I’ve committed to stop dancing so I’ll send it and I’ll defend it if questioned.

I’ll save my dancing for the bars and clubs and keep it out of business.