So You Want To Be A Freelancer

March 2nd, 2010

by GaryB

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Going freelance is a big decision; you are basically going into the wilderness. To be blunt, most freelancers fail. The failure rate in 2008 of start-ups (small businesses) was 80%. The last survey I took was 2005; (only way to get them free) the failure rate for freelance web designers for the first 2 years was 98%. As you can see the cards are stacked against you. The biggest reason for most small business failures is planning and lack of capital. Many web designers also shoot themselves in the foot.

Lack of Discipline

You must treat freelancing like a real job. Are you the type of person that can concentrate no matter what kind of distractions are going on around you? You must be able to do the work without letting the distractions effect you. If you can’t work without a boss stopping you from being diverted by the constant stream of chores and chaos that happen in the home environment, rent an office or find a new job.

The hardest part of discipline is solitude. You must be able to work alone and keep from letting you mind wonder. It is very easy to become bored with what you are doing and then seek something to distract you from the boredom. For most people that distraction is the TV. Make sure you do not have a TV near by! If you need a distraction go for a long walk and clear your mind. I grab a sandwich and walk to the fitness center to workout for 45 minutes for lunch. When I get back I am ready to go, mind cleared and new ideas flow.

Lack of Knowledge

The trinity of Cajun cook is bell pepper, onion and celery, and the holy trinity adds garlic. For a web designer the holy trinity is (x)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Graphics. If you can not use any of these languages you are probably just a graphics designer playing web designer. The three languages must be known by heart to be able to make your designs work best and troubleshoot problems. There are lot of other things you should know about web sites and website design. After all, your clients are paying you not only to design but know how everything works, because they don’t. Dreamweaver can’t save you!

Fear

To quote the movie Dune “fear is the mind killer”! Fear in any small business is always a factor but you must overcome it. In the web design business there are two types of fear that will bury you.

1.  Trying to make your price quote lower than any others. You can not compete with the bottom feeders. There is no way for you to make a living trying to compete with someone that thinks $600 is good money. You can churn out website after web site for cheap but in the end all you are doing is going around in circles. Wearing out you creative side and working long hours to eek out a living.

2. The fear that the job is too big. No job is too big!! Put together a team of people and bid on those large websites. You can not always work alone. I put my first tem together in 1998 and still use 70% of that team when need. They still use me when they have the need. Don’t let the big jobs scare you away, become the captain of the team and act like the captain.

Working without a contract

“There’s a sucker born every minute” by P.T. Barnum. If you work without a contract you are that sucker. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard freelancers complaining about being taken advantage of or not being paid because they worked without a contract. I don’t care how much you want the job, never work without a contract. It might not put you out of business but sure can hurt.

Conclusion

After 14 years this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to hear more, tell me. If you think its hogwash tell me