Ask HN: How do I bootstrap a freelancing business | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I bootstrap a freelancing business

5 pointsluke_s7 comments

I'm currently trying to move into freelancing part time and I'm struggling with a bunch of thorny problems. Everything I have read suggests looking for customers amongst existing contacts I have. However everybody I know works for big corporates and my existing employer would not be happy with me approaching them.

Similarly the few people I have spoken to would like to see a portfolio, but everything I have worked on for the past few years is locked away on various company internets.

With no contacts and nothing to show, how do I go about bootstrapping?

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I have been freelancing for 6 months, and managed to secure a decent, but underwhelming income. The biggest breakthrough I had was finding Patrick McKenzie's blog posts on Freelancing and Consulting. I started here:

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/09/21/ramit-sethi-and-patrick-...

For background about me, when I started, I had a decent runway, have been able to save while freelancing, and have even gone on a few trips. But money is always tight, my girlfriend and I eat the cheap, discounted meat & veg that is about to go past date. I worked constantly for 6 months, and felt like I was flailing.

When I started freelancing, I was focusing on web development/design. I tapped into my network in a way that I thought was reasonably well. I got a few good clients, and was charging about 2-4k per project. But I still wasn't enjoying the work or my life (which was the reason I started freelancing!!) On top of that, I would follow up with previous clients, etc, but the word of mouth just wasn't spreading.

Listening to Patrick McKenzie's blogcasts and following up by reading some of Ramit Sethi's material has recently pushed me in the right direction. Ramit gets some guff from some critics on the net, but he did an interview with BJ Fogg (@bjfogg , http://captology.stanford.edu) that really changed the way I look at my business.

The most important part is to PICK A FOCUS. Once you pick a focus, you will much better know who your customers are, and then you can talk to them without even talking about work, just learn their problems and how to solve them. That is the step I am on right now. I have yet to see a fical payout from these efforts (its been 2 days); but I already feel as though I am not flailing and incredibly focused - like a surgical laser. As a result, I am working less, less stressed and am much more confident that I will be able to deliver real value within 1-2 month's time.

I hope that helped. If you want to carry on the conversation in private, you can always tweet at me @SalvatoChris.

Go to a meetup in your area. Go to a bunch, in fact. Some focusing on an industry you'd like to freelance for, some focusing on a technology you are familiar with.

Talk to people at said meetups.

When you find someone looking for what you are offering, do a small project with them. That lowers risk for you and for them. Make sure you have a written contract and set of requirements, and that you know if you are billing hourly or per project.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

I'd stay away from odesk/elance because you'll be competing on price. I met one client from Craigslist, so you could check there, but I'd limit it to your area, because face to face communication is important. Especially for your first couple of contracts.

Also, I'd look for a more senior freelancer to take to coffee for advice on this kind of stuff.

If you don't have contacts then make contacts. If you don't have anything to show, then make something to show.

If you are a developer/designer, here are some suggestions:

1. Don't leave your existing job unless you have enough money in bank to sustain for a year or two.

2. If you don't have projects to show in your portfolio, then do some projects. There are endless possibilities. You can make and sell themes(wordpress/shopify/etc), html templates, plugins, mobile apps, etc. You can also offer free development/design services to some startups in need[1]. You can take some existing popular website and redesign it for better UX.

3. Get your own website. Put your Projects/CV/Blog on it. Write blog posts related to your area of expertise. e.g., on UX design, how to do <something> with <xyz> language, etc.

4. Answer questions on sites like stackoverflow, quora, HN, reddit. Build your online reputation and contacts. Don't hesitate in sending mails and communicating with people you meet online. Ofcourse, don't spam.

5. Attend meetups. Not only technology meetups but any meetup that you can attend and possibly find clients.

6. Share your business card with people you meet. Tell them about what you do(freelancing). Ask them what they do. Think what you can do to make their life a bit easier.

7. Still if you don't have any projects, if possible, make small SAAS or Open Source products that can be of any use to someone.

It may take time. You need to toil hard. So have patience and keep working. :)

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[1] Here are some examples :

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1842768 and its follow up : http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1860130

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1838273

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1838033

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1836998

How much did each of those steps actually help you earn income as a freelancer?

When I tried, most of them didn't help much at all. I am convinced, more often than not, that making a good wage as a freelancer/consultant is to have expertise in an area of interest - like using Ruby on Rails to increase sales of early stage startups through their online store; or using Visual Web Optimizer to increase conversions in enterprise businesses. The more specific the better.

Granted, I am still learning my place and getting my bearings, but my experience and the experience of others seems to point me in that direction.

None of them help much, but all of them together can help.

As I think to myself sometimes: Not a single step will be significant on a thousand mile journey.

I have earned a little more than 10k from freelancing in 2 years, (Still at university), but here are three places I got clients from: University job board, HN freelancer posts, profile on a freelancer website. I also had someone contact me on LinkedIn once but I didn't make it.

You probably have done it already, but just in case: setup a personal website and create various freelancer websites. You wouldn't get called everyday but its likely someone will find you through one of those channels over several weeks. I have found that most people who contact me through those channels aren't from big corporate companies but rather people who currently hold a job and got an idea to implement. I am always doubtful of their success, but they can be more prepared and persistent than you think.

Shoot me an email, my contact info is in my profile. I'm in the market for a freelancer, and I'm always happy to talk to someone from HN.

As a more general response to the question, I find that freelance developers I've worked with who don't have portfolios they can show typically have some code examples that they'll give instead. So that's one possible starting point for you.

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