Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life? • Hacker News Board

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#11

Post by SwellJoe » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 7:34 PM UTC

I've known many people who've made a living well into their 50's doing freelance work, and they lived quite comfortably (nice car, nice house, nice and long vacations, etc.). Not web design, but I can't imagine IT and database apps are dramatically different from design for freelancers. I did freelance work on and off for about five or six years, and was always well-paid when I did.

Treat your customers better than they deserve, work dramatically harder than you would if you were on the payroll, charge through the nose, and make sure you interact more with the customer than the design (or servers, or database, or whatever; the way you explain things is more important than what you do...you have to do a good job, but if you fail to explain it well and in a way the client understands, you won't get referrals and you won't make the client happy). These are the keys to living happily and being well-paid in a freelance business.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#12

Post by aaronblohowiak » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 7:50 PM UTC

csomar wrote: post #7

Freelancing is good, but is it sure? If yes, then don't care and live the way you like, if no, then think again. A company = Hard work, but is more sure than freelancing

Depends on where you live. At-will employment with a single firm is more risky than having multiple employers.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#13

Post by skmurphy » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 8:06 PM UTC

It's difficult as a solo consultant to build a sustainable business: you have only your hours to sell, it's difficult to stockpile them, and jobs arrive unpredictably. When you are busy it's hard to look for additional work, so that porpoising (alternating periods of work and idleness) is hard to avoid. I would look to join up with another two to four like minded consultants. This gives you an opportunity to spread out your marketing and sales efforts across the group, take on larger assignments, and have backup in case of illness or other temporary inability to complete the job. Partners also give you time to renew and enhance your skillset--obsolescence of expertise is another business level risk--and others to compare notes with in new or challenging situations.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#14

Post by mdmd » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 8:08 PM UTC

br0ke wrote: post #5

Why do your friends and family think that? Do you agree with them? Given your freelance background, I would imagine you might know more than most first time entrepreneurs? I haven't met any business owners who surrender having a life for their biz (though I haven't met any multimillionaire business owners, either). Perhaps finding patterns in your freelancing and building those solutions into products while continuin…

Well reasoj being from where i come, not many people leave a happily paying job to freelance. And most of those who do, build their own company. Amongst my local tech group also i am the only one who is not either a employee or employer.

Yes i have seen some businesses though not completely failing but not doing great, which kind of deters me just to jump right into it.

And i think that is a good idea, to have some personal projects/passive income besides client works. Thanks for reminding :)

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#15

Post by mdmd » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 8:15 PM UTC

SwellJoe wrote: post #11

I've known many people who've made a living well into their 50's doing freelance work, and they lived quite comfortably (nice car, nice house, nice and long vacations, etc.). Not web design, but I can't imagine IT and database apps are dramatically different from design for freelancers. I did freelance work on and off for about five or six years, and was always well-paid when I did. Treat your customers better than t…

Your second paragraph is amazingly motivating. Within these 7/8 months i kind of became rude/aggressive while working, and frankly did not give those points much thought.

Will implement them and definitely going to be more expressive, polite with my words and firm with my action. I think that will be more professional and will go a long way if i have to do some meaninful/longterm business.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#16

Post by mdmd » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 8:21 PM UTC

skmurphy wrote: post #13

It's difficult as a solo consultant to build a sustainable business: you have only your hours to sell, it's difficult to stockpile them, and jobs arrive unpredictably. When you are busy it's hard to look for additional work, so that porpoising (alternating periods of work and idleness) is hard to avoid. I would look to join up with another two to four like minded consultants. This gives you an opportunity to spread o…

My first post on HN and replies that are actually helping me clear out my doubts/concerns!

I think on the long term i am going to find few reliable local 'associates/friends' with whom i can share projects/profits and discuss code etc, as you mentioned.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#17

Post by skmurphy » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 8:40 PM UTC

mdmd wrote: post #16

skmurphy wrote: post #13

It's difficult as a solo consultant to build a sustainable business: you have only your hours to sell, it's difficult to stockpile them, and jobs arrive unpredictably. When you are busy it's hard to look for additional work, so that porpoising (alternating periods of work and idleness) is hard to avoid. I would look to join up with another two to four like minded consultants. This gives you an opportunity to spread o…

My first post on HN and replies that are actually helping me clear out my doubts/concerns! I think on the long term i am going to find few reliable local 'associates/friends' with whom i can share projects/profits and discuss code etc, as you mentioned.

Few is not none, and it only takes a few. Shared values and work ethic are the more important selection criteria in my experience.

Also, having tried it several different ways, I would develop a business partnership based on shared business successes (vs. friendship, desperation, or other non-business experiences) by dividing the income stream--and managing expense--from a series of projects. This is a reliable way to judge what it will be like to manage a business jointly.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#18

Post by noodle » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 9:18 PM UTC

mdmd wrote: post #16

skmurphy wrote: post #13

It's difficult as a solo consultant to build a sustainable business: you have only your hours to sell, it's difficult to stockpile them, and jobs arrive unpredictably. When you are busy it's hard to look for additional work, so that porpoising (alternating periods of work and idleness) is hard to avoid. I would look to join up with another two to four like minded consultants. This gives you an opportunity to spread o…

My first post on HN and replies that are actually helping me clear out my doubts/concerns! I think on the long term i am going to find few reliable local 'associates/friends' with whom i can share projects/profits and discuss code etc, as you mentioned.

you can get by with very few. you're clearly getting by with 0. try 1 and see how that goes.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#19

Post by mdmd » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 9:29 PM UTC

noodle wrote: post #18

mdmd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first post on HN and replies that are actually helping me clear out my doubts/concerns! I think on the long term i am going to find few reliable local 'associates/friends' with whom i can share projects/profits and discuss code etc, as you mentioned.

you can get by with very few. you're clearly getting by with 0. try 1 and see how that goes.

Agreed.

Re: Can I continue to be a freelancer? For life?

#20

Post by gaius » Sat, Jun 27, 2009, 10:16 PM UTC

SwellJoe wrote: post #11

I've known many people who've made a living well into their 50's doing freelance work, and they lived quite comfortably (nice car, nice house, nice and long vacations, etc.). Not web design, but I can't imagine IT and database apps are dramatically different from design for freelancers. I did freelance work on and off for about five or six years, and was always well-paid when I did. Treat your customers better than t…

I can't imagine IT and database apps are dramatically different from design for freelancers.

The lifecycle for back-end stuff like databases is an order of magnitude greater than the front-ends like websites. For example the front end might have gone 3270 -> Motif -> VB -> CGI -> Cold Fusion -> Rails, but it's still Oracle or a mainframe under the hood. Be aware how volatile front-end skills can be.