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Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

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Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#61

Post by dwelch2344 »

dataflow wrote: post #55
defen wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Travel like a professional and bill the client. One additional tip here is to purchase cancellable / refundable airline tickets and hotel reservations. You don't want to get stuck with the bill if your client cancels a meeting or whatever. Made this mistake with a long-term client where it wasn't worth trying to get reimbursed for travel expenses for a canceled meeting.

But what about the much higher prices?

Make it part of your policy and very clearly disclose it up front while explaining the why. If they push back, concede by letting them pay for the non-refundable tickets up front then

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#62

Post by nlh »

Everyone’s talked about charging more but let me add a vote specifically for dealing with credit risk - it’s real.

I worked with a lovely but cash-strapped startup who really needed my help, and I made absolutely certain to collect payment up front as a condition to working with them. I billed on the 1st of the month for the upcoming month and it took away all stress around (their) cash flow.

It ended up being a really fun engagement that lasted 6 months, and when they told me they were really tight on cash and had to stop the engagement in 2 weeks, it was zero stress on my part (because they’d already paid for those two weeks).

Chasing a client for money is one of the worst aspects of consulting and I’ve just decided not to let it happen again. I’ve been on both sides — the consultant trying to get paid, and (unfortunately) the client who didn’t have enough cash, and it’s agony for everyone involved.

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#63

Post by mehrdadn »

dfsegoat wrote: post #4

Embarrassing but honest: Pay your taxes on time (quarterly), assuming you are US based and on a 1099. Put that money away as soon as possible with ea. payment - just like an employer were withholding it. I managed my finances poorly, and it gets increasingly difficult to catch up. All good now but was the most expensive lesson I learned. Edit: seeing other replies here, I would meet with a tax/financial person from t…

How do you know how much money to put away until you're at then end of the tax period and know the total tax amount? Do you just estimate based on what you expect to earn?

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#64

Post by fierarul »

The common rule around here is to charge more. This is also promoted a lot by patio11 on HN and on Twitter.

I would counter this with the fact that sometimes it could backfire. Just like in a job negotiation, a contract negotiation might end up with no contract at all.

So while it's nice to hear about this, applying it in practice generally works for new customers while the original/current customers are paying your bills at the normal rate. Trying this with your current customers might lead to no customers.

There are a lot of glass ceilings out there and mental blocks on both sides of the negotiating table. Even a deal that works for everybody might not happen because people are not entirely rational when talking about money.

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#65

Post by _Codemonkeyism »

Too cheap and not sending early enough invoices, because it felt hard to do while we were still working together. Now I'm more expensive and send invoices right away. If there are troubles with payment I have a better lever and can also stop working with a client.

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#66

Post by japhyr »

mattferderer wrote: post #3

Hire a good tax person immediately. Maybe hire 2. A significant amount of your income earned is gained through having someone walk you through handling taxes & health insurance. I'm not suggesting cheating on taxes. There are common practices such as knowing how to best incorporate your business for your situation. How to best pay yourself (dividends vs income) & how to handle your personal & company expenses. This c…

I live in a small remote town, and I'm very unlikely to find an accountant familiar with tech work here. Any advice on finding a good accountant remotely?

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#67

Post by ama_ma »

sumgame wrote: post #60

Trying to find work through gig sites. I've spoken to multiple freelancers to learn that the best way to actually find good clients that pay well is through word of mouth. There is inherent trust in the relationship when someone comes in as a referrals vs when they don't. And that trust really changes the game in terms of how much more comfortable they are in terms of how they engage with you. They'll trust you with…

Interesting. Will like to give this a whirl. Just curious - a) if there is an option to import my existing network/contacts from LinkedIn or some CRM that I maintain.

b) are you also building tools to help me showcase my consulting portfolio? (Like Dribble is for designers, but something more generic to encompass all types of freelancers/consultants). I would like to have a portfolio page on the platform - that I can easily create with some (no-code?) tools - and then something my referral network can easily point to - to their next level connections - as Proof of Work.

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#68

Post by raverbashing »

dwelch2344 wrote: post #61
dataflow wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what about the much higher prices?

Make it part of your policy and very clearly disclose it up front while explaining the why. If they push back, concede by letting them pay for the non-refundable tickets up front then

Exactly this.

Either bill them in advance or have them purchase your ticket in advance.

Any major travel expense shouldn't be on your dime unless you're very acquainted with the customer.

Re: Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

#70

Post by zerr »

FpUser wrote: post #58
bitcoinmoney wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious what do you consult on for 350/hr? Is this basic CRUD stuff? Wordpress template etc?

I once charged $20,000 for 3 days worth of work. Happened like this: one very huge phone company wanted some very specific self contained component written in Java. They shopped around and did not find anyone willing to do it. My friend was working there and told them that he knows that genius consultant (yours truly). So they called me up and during negotiations I told them that I will do it for $20,000. I was prepa…

Yeah, such projects happen and it always surprises me - why can't such shops find in-house devs (with regular salaries) for such projects?
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