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I have been a web-dev freelancer for 5 years and is now building a small team to make quality websites (mostly webtools). Some random things I learnt from the
by pauletienney 12y ago
I have been a web-dev freelancer for 5 years and is now building a small team to make quality websites (mostly webtools).
Some random things I learnt from the transition :
- The most interesting projects rarely (mostly never) relies on a one person "team". Big projects are important for the customer and they need to know they will have someone to contact even if it's holiday time. You want the true customer to buy from you interesting projects : don't be alone.
- Once you have a team, you will look for interesting projects. They are more complicated to get. They often come from medium / large organization. Those orgs. have important inertia. Projects can take weeks of month to start. Chase multiple projects at the same time.
- Once you have bigger project you must learn to make precise time evaluation. It is really complicated. It must be done before the project is sold but you must not spend too much time on it. It is key since you want to earn money (no brainer) but mostly to have a smooth production calendar.
In my case, we are just a team of two. I spend half time in sales activities and the other developing websites. My coworker is full time dev.
If you want to discuss in details, reply here or email me : paul@agence-donatello.fr
Good luck ! There are freakingly high mountains of demands and needs outside. You can take your piece.
- pauletienney 12y agoSorry for the multiple typos. I was on a rush.
- mooreds 12y agoThis is really interesting. So, you are basically saying if you want to work on interesting projects, your options are: * join a team (as a contractor or as an employee, and take the rate cut) * build a team (and move from development to project management, at least part of the time) * become a 'name' in an area and become a true consultant--specialize, but don't pick the wrong area, or if you do, be prepared to switch gears. (You didn't have this, but I've seen this work as well.)
- pauletienney 12y agoOr be a contractor (in this case you might only execute interesting projects, not design/think them).
- mooreds 12y agoWouldn't it be more precise to day 'or be a subcontractor'?
- ProblemFactory 12y agoJoining or building a team doesn't have to be a choice between becoming an employee or a manager of employees. A few of the most successful freelancers I know have formed 2-3 person partnerships. All of the partners were individual freelancers before, but teaming up allows them to tackle bigger projects, and reassure clients that a holiday or sick time won't stop their project. Every project still needs some project and client management, but overall it seems that the time each partner spends on "management" is actually reduced in this format.