4 ms·

Why trust in freelancers is so low?

When I tried freelancing it took me months to land first client, the job was around 30$ so I gave up soon after that. I took another path and ended up in startup world. Long story short my startup grew to the certain point at which we had some issues in operation and development so we decided to go with outsourcing. I was definitely up for hiring freelancers to do the job but my co-founders did not really support the idea, they preferred to go with an agency as more reliable option. Since the company was funded we had that option to pay extra buck for some decent outsourcing company to do the job, I was still voting against it, but we end up paying 6 figures for ridiculous stuff. I know, it sucks... I could hire 100 amazing freelancers for that amount. The project end up failing and we had to throw the towel in. That 6 figures left the scar on soul :) everyone left the company and I ended up with the product in my hands but it needed major overhaul since the digital agency and my co-founders ruined it. With my last money I decided to hire some freelancers to help me do the job as I couldn't complete it alone. I even took a major move and moved to India to cut the cost of life and development. I met a lot of freelancers on my journey, and I successfully assembled the small team of freelancers who did a great job with the product! A 100 times better than the overpriced agency. I managed to sell the product and exit with some decent amount of cash. Could we do it better with the company and went with the freelancers at first place? Yes. Was it better to give 5 figures to freelancers instead of 6 figures to an agency? Yes. But why people have so low trust level that freelancers can not complete major projects? I would try to solve that question with my new startup, so lets see how it goes...

bombcar 3y ago
There's a very special skillset to working with freelancers, and not every one has it. Also the best freelancers either start their own outsourcing company or get snapped up.
- VladimirCcrrr2 3y ago
  Yeah I totally agree, but there seems to be no trust in freelancers when it comes to big projects.
gregjor 3y ago
Any unemployed programmer or designer can call themselves a freelancer and start trawling Upwork and Fiverr. Customers usually can't evaluate skills and choose based on price, so they get what they pay for. And the freelance marketplaces teem with low-skill/low-cost people from around the world, along with plenty of scammers. That creates the trust problem. I have freelanced for almost 15 years. I work through a reputable agency. I have never used a freelancer marketplace, relying on word of mouth and reputation, and the higher-end customers the agency caters to. No trust problem for me or the other successful freelancers I know, but I understand why businesses approach freelancing with skepticism. I wrote some articles about freelancing and working with freelancers on my site typicalprogrammer.com. Free, no ads or popups.
- VladimirCcrrr2 3y ago
  The word freelancer seems to be wrapped in this gig thing, when you say freelancers to people they immediately think of low cost few days job. Yes it's true that web is flooded with tons of random people calling themselves freelancers and they are ruining the reputation of others by upselling low skills for low price. I am working now on a platform to actually build trust in freelancers and enable them form teams to take on bigger projects as teams so let's see how that will work out.
  - gregjor 3y ago
    Incompetent and unscrupulous freelancers don't ruin the reputations of others, but they do poison the well - Gresham's Law in action. Once a customer has a bad experience or two they very reasonably hesitate to make the same mistake again. Most of my freelance relationships started because the customer needed someone to take over and fix the problems left by the last crew. My reputation improves in contrast with the other goofs out there. I have seen so many proposals for freelancer platforms that try to ensure trust, I don't know I'd even look at another iteration on that idea. They always get gamed, or they fail to reach a critical mass of freelancers and gigs. I think the agency model works better but it has its own scaling problems. Disclaimer: 10X Management (agency) represents me in my freelance work.

bombcar 3y ago

There's a very special skillset to working with freelancers, and not every one has it. Also the best freelancers either start their own outsourcing company or get snapped up.

VladimirCcrrr2 3y ago
Yeah I totally agree, but there seems to be no trust in freelancers when it comes to big projects.

gregjor 3y ago

Any unemployed programmer or designer can call themselves a freelancer and start trawling Upwork and Fiverr. Customers usually can't evaluate skills and choose based on price, so they get what they pay for. And the freelance marketplaces teem with low-skill/low-cost people from around the world, along with plenty of scammers. That creates the trust problem. I have freelanced for almost 15 years. I work through a reputable agency. I have never used a freelancer marketplace, relying on word of mouth and reputation, and the higher-end customers the agency caters to. No trust problem for me or the other successful freelancers I know, but I understand why businesses approach freelancing with skepticism. I wrote some articles about freelancing and working with freelancers on my site typicalprogrammer.com. Free, no ads or popups.

VladimirCcrrr2 3y ago
The word freelancer seems to be wrapped in this gig thing, when you say freelancers to people they immediately think of low cost few days job. Yes it's true that web is flooded with tons of random people calling themselves freelancers and they are ruining the reputation of others by upselling low skills for low price. I am working now on a platform to actually build trust in freelancers and enable them form teams to take on bigger projects as teams so let's see how that will work out.
- gregjor 3y ago
  Incompetent and unscrupulous freelancers don't ruin the reputations of others, but they do poison the well - Gresham's Law in action. Once a customer has a bad experience or two they very reasonably hesitate to make the same mistake again. Most of my freelance relationships started because the customer needed someone to take over and fix the problems left by the last crew. My reputation improves in contrast with the other goofs out there. I have seen so many proposals for freelancer platforms that try to ensure trust, I don't know I'd even look at another iteration on that idea. They always get gamed, or they fail to reach a critical mass of freelancers and gigs. I think the agency model works better but it has its own scaling problems. Disclaimer: 10X Management (agency) represents me in my freelance work.