Ask HN: Independent contractors, what tips do you have for starting?
7 comments
Hey friend ;)
Freelancer from Germany here. While I don’t know much about the markets outside of the EU I hope I might still have some helpful advice. First things first: make sure to have enough saved cash to endure at least 6 months without income. When money comes in, do keep these savings or refill them.
German projects usually are scheduled for 6 up to 12 months, and are mostly handed over by consultancy and personell agencies. So my direct clients are those agencies - whom I send my invoices to. Normally I become part of the developer team, like an employee but expectations are higher. Freelancers are not only seen as developers with short ramp up time, but experts who bring new knowledge into the companies. Often you’re expected to fulfill a certain goal, like introducing a new framework into their legacy codebase or implement a service or infrastructure. Also interim positions are given, like being the teams senior when the former one quit, until a new permanent can be found.
In the longer run you should specialize yourself. I don’t mean frameworks with that, but fields of industry. A jack-of-trades will receive fewer offers from my experience than a high value specialist (Cobol someone…?)
You need to develop a business mindset. A freelancer is a business, so all the same rules apply that apply to startups and larger cooperations.
Do not go cheap. When you start selling low, people expect low quality and then negotiations for discounts start and sooner or later you work extremely much for a terrible income. Check statistics about software business hourly rates in your area and place yourself around a sensible median.
Know yourself or get to know yourself better. What is your optimal work time? Do you like being in the office with the other members or are you comfortable at home?
Do not overwork yourself. A burn out can easily become an existential threat.
Learn to say no. Do not sign a project that doesn’t pay enough or bores you. Check your clients financial data beforehand when available.
Last but not least, try to keep in contact with the managers and coworkers you liked.
Freelancer from Germany here. While I don’t know much about the markets outside of the EU I hope I might still have some helpful advice. First things first: make sure to have enough saved cash to endure at least 6 months without income. When money comes in, do keep these savings or refill them.
German projects usually are scheduled for 6 up to 12 months, and are mostly handed over by consultancy and personell agencies. So my direct clients are those agencies - whom I send my invoices to. Normally I become part of the developer team, like an employee but expectations are higher. Freelancers are not only seen as developers with short ramp up time, but experts who bring new knowledge into the companies. Often you’re expected to fulfill a certain goal, like introducing a new framework into their legacy codebase or implement a service or infrastructure. Also interim positions are given, like being the teams senior when the former one quit, until a new permanent can be found.
In the longer run you should specialize yourself. I don’t mean frameworks with that, but fields of industry. A jack-of-trades will receive fewer offers from my experience than a high value specialist (Cobol someone…?)
You need to develop a business mindset. A freelancer is a business, so all the same rules apply that apply to startups and larger cooperations.
Do not go cheap. When you start selling low, people expect low quality and then negotiations for discounts start and sooner or later you work extremely much for a terrible income. Check statistics about software business hourly rates in your area and place yourself around a sensible median.
Know yourself or get to know yourself better. What is your optimal work time? Do you like being in the office with the other members or are you comfortable at home?
Do not overwork yourself. A burn out can easily become an existential threat.
Learn to say no. Do not sign a project that doesn’t pay enough or bores you. Check your clients financial data beforehand when available.
Last but not least, try to keep in contact with the managers and coworkers you liked.
This is so thorough, thank you so much - I really appreciate your insight!
Loved the bit on higher expectations than a single employee along with becoming an expert / specialist in a particular area.
Super appreciate it all, thank you
Loved the bit on higher expectations than a single employee along with becoming an expert / specialist in a particular area.
Super appreciate it all, thank you
This expectation might seem like a burden and it certainly can be but it also allows you to have an impact from day one. You are hired as an outside consultant and if you see something that you don't agree with, you would do your client a disservice to not at least ask why this is done this way.
For me, that's an important shift in your mindset that needs to happen. The sooner the better :)
For me, that's an important shift in your mindset that needs to happen. The sooner the better :)
When you're not working a project, what are you doing (to generate business)?
Cobol? Interim where the lead left (probably for good reason)? Sounds brutal.
Also a freelancer from Germany here.
I agree with most what devdude1337 says.
Specialization is really really important; however, that usually doesn't mean so much to specialize in a specific tech stack but more in a specific class of problems, sometimes only occurring in one industry.
There are recruitment agencies that help you acquire projects but you can also do marketing and acquisition yourself. That depends on your target customers. If you want to work with big companies recruitment agencies are likely your only chance. For smaller to medium sized companies a direct approach can also work.
Although the technical side of being a freelancer is important your communication and business skills are at least as important.
IMPORTANT: You are a business and you need to consider yourself a business to be successful in the long run! That means you need to think about a strategy, goals, and ideally build a system that works for you.
Try not to have only one client. I for example want to have one bigger client that takes up most of my hours and 2-3 smaller clients that provide an unsteady amount of work that I can use to load manage or generate at least some income with when I do not have a big client.
I began my journey when someone on linkedin reached out to me with a small project. It was really small but didn't matter. It showed me that I can make money this way with my skills. However, inbound leads is rather rare in my experience.
Regarding duration, I am currently in a 13month long project and have a couple of smaller gigs on the side.
I agree with most what devdude1337 says.
Specialization is really really important; however, that usually doesn't mean so much to specialize in a specific tech stack but more in a specific class of problems, sometimes only occurring in one industry.
There are recruitment agencies that help you acquire projects but you can also do marketing and acquisition yourself. That depends on your target customers. If you want to work with big companies recruitment agencies are likely your only chance. For smaller to medium sized companies a direct approach can also work.
Although the technical side of being a freelancer is important your communication and business skills are at least as important.
IMPORTANT: You are a business and you need to consider yourself a business to be successful in the long run! That means you need to think about a strategy, goals, and ideally build a system that works for you.
Try not to have only one client. I for example want to have one bigger client that takes up most of my hours and 2-3 smaller clients that provide an unsteady amount of work that I can use to load manage or generate at least some income with when I do not have a big client.
I began my journey when someone on linkedin reached out to me with a small project. It was really small but didn't matter. It showed me that I can make money this way with my skills. However, inbound leads is rather rare in my experience.
Regarding duration, I am currently in a 13month long project and have a couple of smaller gigs on the side.
Choose a way you want to conduct business, internalize it and stick to it.
Clients will try to steer you towards deals you may not enjoy, so you really need to know what you want out of a business relationship
I have recently been entertaining the idea of doing independent contracting, and working on more of a per project basis.
I am curious how you began this journey - Where do you find your clients - How do clients find you?
I am curious about the jobs themselves - What is your skill set - What sorts of projects do you typically pick up - What is the average duration of the projects
And finally what tips do you have for someone who is just starting out doing this?
I have 8 years experience and have most of my experience as a full stack web dev within the JavaScript ecosystem.
Thank you so much!