Interview With An Experienced Freelancer

The Good Old Days

When you started out, were you planning to make freelancing your sole source of income? In what timeframe did you become self-sufficient?

I have been building sites for a couple of years now. I always had the intention of starting my own business one day and making it my sole source of income. I was lucky to win a big name company as my first client, which sort of made the decision for me to start a company. I have been self-sufficient since day one.

How much industry experience did you have before you went out on your own? Did you have a strong folio of work before you started freelancing, or did you have to build it up as you went along?

I had 4 years of industry experience under my belt. And before that, there was another 4 years’ experience in a different industry. I build my folio as I went along.

I must admit that getting a large big name client really helped get things started for me. I noticed that if you have one or two big names on your client list, it opens doors that were locked before.

What were the biggest challenges you faced as a new freelancer? How did you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges for me is to be patient while waiting for clients to give you a job. The fact that you run a small operation, which makes you pretty flexible, does not necessarily mean that they’re as flexible. Especially in the case of bigger companies, it can take months before you land the job.

This just happens, and there’s not much you can do about it. The only thing you can do is to try and keep yourself top of mind with your client.

The Business

How do you manage the business end of things -- keep your books, figure out taxes, pay your contractors etc?

It’s very important to keep you books in an orderly fashion: you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding out how your business is doing at any given time.

The most important thing is to make sure your clients pay in time. You have bills to pay as well. I’m very fortunate that my brother works for an accounting firm. He takes care of my tax returns and gives me advice on the financial side of things. I’d recommend that any freelancer get professional help with the financial side of things.

Has freelancing required you to become interested in fileds or disciplines you wouldn't have cared about, or didn't have to worry about, before?

There aren’t many things that I don’t enjoy. I can think of more interesting things to do besides legal stuff and putting proposals together, but that, too, is an important part of my business. For me it works best if I reserve a certain amount of time to do these “chores”, close my mail client, shut down instant messenger, switch off my phone, and just get it done.

How much time do you actually spend designing Websites -- and how much on the rest of the business and the various roles it requires you to fill?

That’s hard to tell. It depends on the job I’m doing at that moment. Sometimes I don’t design at all for a while, but instead I’ll be in meetings, brainstorm sessions or attending network events.

How much do you rely on the advice of other professionals? When looking for advice do you mainly use the Internet, or do you prefer to pay for professional advice from business advisers, accountants, lawyers etc.?

Of course I use the Internet. I wouldn’t know what to do without Google!

It’s very important to be able to get advice from other professionals. For that purpose, I sort of put together my own team of advisors (that sounds more official than it really is). As I said before, networking is really important here as well.

I have someone I discuss business matters with, I direct legal questions to a lawyer I know, and I mentioned I speak to my brother for financial matters. Then, there’s a graphic designer whose opinion I really value. He doesn’t know much about Web design specifically, but that’s very refreshing. I keep in touch with these contacts by phone, mail or icq, and I meet all of them in real life on a regular basis.

Outsourcing

You use other freelancers to provide skills that you don't possess. What skills do you outsource to these specialists? And how do you find good contractors that you trust?

I outsource all Flash work. Next to that, I outsource jobs involving programming in languages I don’t use myself (asp and java, for instance). I find good contractors through my network. If I don’t know anyone personally, then I ask around and talk to people my contacts recommend.

How do you manage the relationship between yourself, the client, and your contractors? Does the client ever meet the contractors, or are you the middle-man, relaying information between the two sides?

I’d like to control stuff myself, so I act as a project manager.

For some simple Flash animations there’s no need to introduce the Flash specialist to the client -- a good creative briefing is enough. For programming jobs, there’s often a need for direct contact. I make sure I’m there at every meeting, and that I’m cc’d on all communications about the job.

Ultimately, as the person who owns the client relationship, the work of your contractors reflects on you. How do you manage that? For instance, has a contractor ever let you down on a timeline or presented a poor quality product? If so, what did you do to rectify the situation?

Fortunately that has never happened to me. I always ask if the contractor has time for the job, and make sure they can deliver before the deadline.

What advice can you give about working with other freelancers? What’s the secret to success?

I don’t know if there’s a secret to success. There are a few important factors, though:

• Make sure that you know the work of the other freelancer, and that they have the same (high) quality standard as you.
• Make sure it’s a pleasure to work with the other person.
• Make sure that you can trust him or her. Through reference checking, for example.
• If you have a job to outsource, why not give it to someone from whom you can expect a job in return sometime in the future?