Lessons from the trenches: 6 months in
When you are in paid, permanent employment you generally have 1 thing to do – the job you’re employed for, or an approximation of it. Whilst also thinking about career development, organizational politics and getting your work delivered, it’s fair to say delivering is your primary concern. You deliver, you get paid, you go home.
When you make the change to working for yourself as a freelancer, there are now 3 things to consider:
(1) Attracting clients and finding new work
(2) Delivering
(3) Getting paid, and finding repeat business
Let’s look at each one in turn, and allow me to share some insight I’ve gained…
(1) Attract clients: Your primary objectives here are to build reputation and awareness, and secure a consistent pipeline of clients and projects. Easier said than done. So how do you ‘keep the pipeline flowing?’ Recruitment agencies are with a few exceptions a waste of space. They make estate agents seem like Ghandi. I will never understand how someone paid to find people work can be so lazy and unfocused. They key to working with agencies is to engage them well, find the best, focus on specific roles and build a long term relationship. For senior roles I highly recommend Bryn and the chaps at http://www.hoggett-bowers.com/. They take the time to match make clients and potential employers. But they are the exception.
You will hear a lot of ‘Yes’ noises from potential clients. This generally means ‘Maybe’, so it’s important to remember nothing is secured until you are paid. I’ve felt generally cheesed off at potential client projects being pulled (JP), but it’s like when you are newly dating women – a number games. Get more numbers and you’ll increase your chances.
Get your website looking good, some sharp business cards and a set of doc templates with your logo. Don’t spend too long though, most contractors will tell you their business is either repeat or word of mouth.
The other way to attract clients is what I’d call ‘Give to Get’. Get yourself seen at networking events, speaking assignments etc.
I recently spoke at http://www.iqubed.biz/blog/2008/06/26/ltas-event-venture-capital-both-sides-of-the-fence/ and I am hopeful it will lead to a few more clients. A new service I will be launching soon is ‘360 reviews’, where I will do a free 1-2 page product review for a company with a subsequent paid for Skype call and more detailed analysis. This seems a good option for cash-strapped Internet startups, and judging by the feedback so far – quite in demand.
(2) Deliver: The number one tip I can share it to stay humble. You may have commanded hundreds of dedicated workers in your previous permanent role. Chances are as a contractor/consultant you won’t. In many ways you will be one of the most junior people there. So you will need to lead by influence. Get off your behind, meet as many people across the company as possible. Get known, get respected and absorb as much people, process and product information as you can. Contractors are expected to hit the ground running, so build good relationships with smart people who can help you deliver and find new projects.
(3) Get paid: If the contract is signed and you’re working on a fixed term contract, this should be no problem. But be cautious. If you are working on other types of work (non-retainer) perhaps work on 50% payment in the first time period, and the rest of completion. You are not working for charity, so be firm when it comes to managing your wealth pipeline. For retainer (e.g. 5 days a week for 3 months) the key question is whether you go Limited and pay yourself dividends, or use something like (in the UK) a PAYE Umbrella company. I opted for the second choice based on keeping it simple. After a year of contracting you can switch to a LTD, but for early days a PAYE company – which effectively means you work for an accounting-group setup company, is simpler and quicker. You can always switch. I use http://www.360-group.com/