17
The truly high-level freelancers you describe bring several things to the table.
Excellent technical skills - both deep and wide
Excellent communication skills
An ability be forward thinking - see more than just the problem at hand but also where the custom will be in the future and how the freelancer can help to get them there
A willingness to move away ...
11
The first step is to be clear with your employer about your plans. If he gave you the green light, then read the following lines. If he did not give you green light (a reference for other readers of this topic), then you should visit a legal advisor to review your contracts. Employers are not always right and fair.
Now, you're asking how to approach to ...
11
The obvious answer: Quit your job and don't apply to other jobs.
I was in the same boat as you [literally: 6 years, degree, co-op] and have only been freelancing for a short period of time. I quit my job and moved to a new location due to other circumstances. I was initially looking for remote jobs since it was possible that I could be moving again shortly. ...
10
There is no clear cut right or wrong; it all comes down to your working relationship and which processes the two parties agree on contractually and during the project.
Since you seem to want to continue the relationship, I suggest you pay the bill and keep this episode in mind when negotiating the next project. Turning what I believe is a misunderstanding ...
9
Here's what I tell others in my industry - design - which may be related.
In general, age never matters to any real degree. Most of my clients have no clue how old I may be - and they don't care.
Experience matters. The more years of experience you have the better off you are in terms of marketing yourself. However, high-end, visible experience will ...
9
Disclaimer: Always read contracts you sign multiple times. Regardless of whether or not a contract is enforceable, be sure you do not agree to anything you disagree with.
Do you need your employer's permission to submit a pull request to contribute your change back into the project's public repo?
Nope. this is a straight up "no", regardless. You are ...
8
If I received the same call and the client started barking requests at me before I could even figure out to whom I was speaking, I think I'd become a bit defensive.
I think it's always important, as a creative professional, that you're able to engage with the client at a certain pace. My "pace" includes:
Who are you?
What line of business are you in?
What ...
8
When I first made the jump from permanent to contract, it was more by accident than by design. I had been made redundant (again) and the next role that I got was offered as a contract-to-perm gig. It had a good day rate with the option of going permanent at the end of the 3 months on an average senior developer salary. Having made the jump it was a no ...
8
Am I being unreasonably paranoid/protective about my pricing? - Yes
Do you try to protect your price information from getting into the hands of your competitors? - No
How would you handle this? Just let it go? - Yes
Who cares if your price is public? Most IT/dev hourly rates are pretty easy to figure out. If your value is only based on your price, you're ...
7
I think your usual approach is the correct one. The vagaries of busy clients are an unfortunate obstacle to our making the best of of our freelance time. If you don't already, I would say it's good practice to send a courtesy email confirming the meeting on the day, just to ensure that it's still on the client's radar. It could be the most important meeting ...
7
This is a double edged sword:
Your business needs cash flow, so charge him, but your business also needs client relationships so forgive him.
Personally, I would strike the balance between the two. If you incurred costs (milage etc), then recover the costs through fees, but no, don't charge him for your time.
6
Having been down this path before, here are some thoughts:
Resume
Since you are not an established contractor and likely can not share
any work from your current employer, your resume is the next best
thing to show to the company that you are qualified to do the work.
While your brother may have vouched for you, the managers involved
will need to see ...
6
I found my longest term client by offering the consulting at the time they were looking for a perm. YMMV.
There is another way looking at this: if a lead is looking for expanding their business, they are not meeting their current demand with the available resources. It is a powerful trigger what makes your approach to them relevant and timely. The problem ...
6
When I receive recruiter emails, I politely respond with my situation (I work from home, do hourly consulting, won't relocate, always have people knocking, etc.) and say if that doesn't work for them, then I won't be able to help them. The responses usually come in two forms:
Thanks for your response, but my client (confirms they're a real recruiter, and ...
6
I've got 20+ years consulting within IT behind me so I would hope that counts for something. Hopefully a prior answer I supplied might help:
https://startups.stackexchange.com/questions/8576/how-to-build-a-startup-freelance-software-qa-in-the-us/8585#8585
I recommend getting a year or two in a full time job first. Anyone can work in a bar or restaurant, but ...
6
Since you have DONE work and have not been paid before, you cannot do much but wait. Check the contract between you and your intermediary and push on him. If he has screwed up, let him pay you and then he waits for the payment from this company.
I dislike such behavior and this would be a great read signal not to work with this company or this intermediary....
6
No matter how you present it, that is blackmail. And I very much doubt a bank did not let you sign an NDA which prohibits you from using this data elsewhere.
Fixed price is exactly what the name implies: fixed price.
What you can do is create an overview of the work and costs and propose a new compensation, while not in any way holding back on delivering ...
5
I understand where you're coming from: you aren't doing as much work in your opinion, so you don't want to charge your full rate. I'm going to tell you though...
CHARGE YOUR FULL RATE
Why? Because, as a Freelancer, you are the professional, and companies need to realize that. As I state in other answers, you are being hired for your expertise, not your ...
5
Consultants are responsible for the business value of their work.
If I am working for someone as a contractor, I build what they tell me to like a good little code monkey.
If I am working for someone as a consultant we discuss what the client's pain points are, define metrics to measure success, implement solutions, and then view the metrics to see if our ...
5
Tough question. Seems like the real issue here is what are you being compensated for? And what value are you providing? I find it best when those two are aligned closely.
tl;dr: I think your best bet is to bill hourly regardless of outcome, but clearly define how much of your time they're willing to pay for per board.
I'm a huge advocate for hourly ...
4
I think you will have hard time trying to charge him for "this". Ask yourself, what are you charging him for? Did you have to travel to meeting point, take a night at the hotel, and he bailed on you? In such case, it's logical you charge him for your costs.
But if you just went to a nearby coffee bar or you waited for him in your office, then you cannot ...
4
Software fees are the cost of doing business, thus overhead and not the responsibility of any client to pay for directly.
I don't charge each of my clients for Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign although I use them.
I'd be angry if my plumber charged me for his wrench every time I called him for a job. Or my mechanic charged me for his timing gun when he had ...
4
Regardless of a person is known or unknown, you should do like in any project. You connect with it, discuss all details, give your estimation, set milestones, take upfront (or not) and start working.
But you are probably asking about situations where you do all tasks until the estimation, and the clients says you're too expensive. Because of this, it is ...
4
I used to do something similar for one of my clients. They paid in advance for a package of hours. I liked it because I wasn't invoicing for such small dollar amounts all the time, and they received a small discount.
Eventually however, I moved completely away from hourly billing. Now instead I offer flat rate monthly support. This support includes ...
4
Nelson's answer is spot on. I would add the following advice:
Always have all terms in writing (I don't know that you didn't but that is paramount in any business dealing)
If you are pricing per project rather than hourly, you need a clause that handles partial payments if the project is cancelled by the client after work has been performed. The payments ...
4
I would ask them for an offer and see what they are thinking.
Assuming you only get paid when they use you, I would charge significantly more for consulting than I would for an employee type position. Roughly double because:
A consultant picks up all their own overhead (insurance, retirement, etc.).
An consultant that only gets paid when needed has zero ...
4
Why don't you hire him instead of "showing" him your clients and connecting him to them? This way you can earn a bit from his work. And of course, suffer negative consequences in case of troubles.
This seems like a lot of work and questions for all good things you will provide to your colleague: start his business, get a client immediately, gain reputation,...
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