The part nobody plans for.
THE PROBLEM
Hosting is a business where something can break at any hour, and clients know you personally.
Without boundaries, it consumes everything.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Stated support hours, published and adhered to A definition of emergency A response time you can meet on a bad day Time when you are genuinely unavailable
WHY STATING THEM MATTERS
Without stated hours, every client assumes constant availability.
One response at midnight sets the expectation permanently.
WHAT COUNTS AS AN EMERGENCY
The site is down. Mail is not working. A compromise.
Not a content change or a question.
State that distinction explicitly.
THE DISCIPLINE
Not answering outside hours, except for genuine emergencies.
Difficult at first, and it is what makes the business survivable.
WHAT BURNOUT LOOKS LIKE
Dreading the notification sound Delaying responses out of resentment Resenting clients who are behaving reasonably
THE CAUSE IS USUALLY PRICING
Work that pays too little feels like an imposition. Work priced properly does not.
