When you decide to go freelance or even map out your year's goals, you need to have your end goal in mind. When I decided to go freelance a few months ago, I had three routes.
- "I want to be a full-time freelancer." This was the easiest route, giving me pretty flexible hours, a larger job marketplace (as you can pursue both direct-to-client and firm jobs). The upside would be flexibility in hours, promotion of my name, and ability to make the jump to another strategy with relatively minor resistance. The downside was lower rates (firms can usually charge more because clients assume there's a team on it :) and the fact that I could only generate as much money as I had time.
- "I want to build a firm." A little more work required here, but the upside can be a higher payout (from higher rates, employee work, and the building of a business), larger clients (e.g. more money and "bragging rights"), and the ability to support employees (which I believe is an admirable goal). The downside is that you better keep normal day hours, be ready for hard work (and many hats), and be ready to sacrifice (starting out, it's a lot easier and less stressful to make money for yourself).
- "I want to freelance, but also pursue ideas in the meantime." With this route, I would make enough money to pay the bills, save some, and buy the occasional iPhone. In the meantime, I would take advantage of my youth and take a shot at the internet business world. The downsides: I could be wasting lots of time on ideas instead of generating sure income by just freelancing. Also, this route requires a good deal of discipline since I would be tempted to just pay the bills and goof off the rest of the time. The upsides: the possibility of starting something bigger than #1 or #2, the possibility of passive revenue (much better than trading time for money), and the most appealing upside to me: the ability to spend portions of my time on my own ideas, designs, and implementations.
Lesson Learned: Working for yourself is very much about turning down good opportunities so you can pursue better ones. Think long and hard about your core plan, and don't let a little cash change your mind.
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