[thelist] OT - How to work freelance on a global scale.

Ian Anderson ian at zstudio.co.uk
Mon Oct 24 17:04:32 CDT 2005


VOLKAN ÖZÇELİK wrote:

> 1. What are the pros and cons of being a freelancer / small business
> owner (financially, time-scedule, stress and deadlines etc)

PROs: thrive on responsibility, see the whole project and not just your 
bit of it, be your own boss, working for your success, yada yada. Go 
fishing when you want; realise you never have to ask anyone's permission 
to do something.

CONs: long periods you may have no income. Other times you will have so 
much on you are avoiding the phone for days at a time because of all the 
deadlines you have blown. Having to invent more fairy stories than Hans 
Christian Andersen to explain why things have not appeared. Have to do 
things you DON'T like - sales calls, schmoozing clients, bookkeeping, 
chasing late payments.

Realise that the limit on your income is *your available time*. Then panic.

No more social contact with colleagues; you now have "clients" and 
"networking contacts". No recognition; no pats on the back. Doubt. Lack 
of support. More doubt. No support network - (no accounts department, 
HR, etc). Cashflow problems. No pension contributions. No sick pay. No 
holiday pay. No chance of promotion. Loss of feeling of status if you 
have a senior position presently.

No-one has heard of your company, or you. You always have to repeat and 
then spell your company name when you're phoning someone up.

No work nights out. No office parties. No attractive members of the 
opposite sex in the workplace. In fact, no-one else in the workplace.

Spending FAR more time working than you did when you had a real job. 
Have to work weekends, evenings, all nighters to make deadlines for zero 
thanks or recognition. Spend what was previously free time doing all the 
business crap you didn't have time for while you were trying to make the 
deadlines you missed.

Forgetting what spouses, friends and children look like. Have no one to 
bounce ideas off, or to check your thinking, or to check your spelling. 
Find yourself missing just as many family moments as you did when you 
had a 9-5. Find yourself talking to clients with two or more children 
dragging your leg and shouting - and this with an office that *isn't* 
near the house.

Realising that on your daily rate you are effectively paying the tax man 
for the privilege of working this hard. Enjoy massive tax bills years 
after you spent the money, and perhaps even well after you wound up the 
business.

> 2. What are the ways to advertise yourself on the net, so that people
> know that you are doing some good business at a reasonable price.

The only successful and non-stressed freelancers I know have solid 
pre-existing networks of business contacts. Or have no commitments, no 
kids, no mortgage etc and have a safety net if they want to go back to 
more regular work patterns. Very few new contracts will come your way, 
whatever you do.

Regardless of what you know, or how well you do what you do, business 
success will come from a. Who you know and b. How well you can sell.

Does this sound like techie heaven? No, didn't think so either.

> 3. What is an average hourly rate for a freelance position (do not
> respond to this if you wish, or respond off-topic. I guess that as
> ones reputation increases so does their income)

a. You are in competition with the world. You may be lucky and have low 
cost of living compared to people in UK, Australia, Scandinavia, US or 
Canada. Or you could be in competition with people charging client rates 
that are 10%-25% of what you need just to survive.

b. Pricing - base this on $amount you want to earn/1000 billable hours 
per year. You want $100K a year before tax? You got to charge $100/hour, 
minimum.

Compare this with what clients are willing to pay.

You may price yourself out of the market, or find you are working for 
beans and will never meet your financial goals.

> 6. Is it a good decision to reduce the risk by starting up 2-3
> colleagues rather than taking my lance and fighting alone. (humm,
> that's why it's freelance, free - lance, never thought of it before).

Not employees - partners possibly. But remember that there are now more 
mouths to feed and the revenue requirements will go through the roof.

> 7. Anything else that I forgot?

Investigate other cheaper ways to make yourself unhappy*, such as 
voluntary surgery, giving away possessions to strangers, and so on.

* OK, I'm kidding. Mostly.

Best move - go part-time if you can swing it. Build up business then 
take the jump when the office parties seem stale and boring...

Been self-employed for seven years (this time around) - some of them 
good ones...But - being self-employed is addictive. Once you realise you 
can do it, the walls in that office where you 9-5 seem tissue thin.

You see the Steve Martin film Parenthood, where the old lady talks about 
the swings and the rollercoaster? Employment is the roundabout, 
freelancing is the rollercoaster. Depends what you want from life. 
Personally, I think happy techies are mostly found in supportive large 
organisations, where their living does not depend on their phone skills.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Ian

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