How to build a Startup from freelance projects ?

Mastero · Aug 1, 2015

Hello Guys, I have been freelancing for like 2 months from now, my hourly rate is like 20$ per hour which is REALLY REALLY good in my country, I could get higher rates but I still don't have big projects as portfolio to ask for like ~40$ per hour, and also I have a day job which takes 8 hours from my time, and it pays like 3$ per hour, which is really terrible.
What I was thinking about is when I achieve 3000$ I would quit my job, and just do freelance full time, but I'm afraid if I quit my job, other clients could just disappear or they just want to work with me, I know this is not the mindset that I should have if you want to succeed in your life, but I want to take the safest path, I thought I would work for another like 5 months as a full time freelancer after I quit and then build a startup where I get projects from clients and hire other people to work on them on-office, so I'm asking you guys do you have any experience in this type of work, and how I can sign a contract with the clients to have long term relationships, or any advice you think it would be helpful for me in this situation.

Thanks.

SkyrocketSEO · Aug 1, 2015

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elfgirl · Aug 1, 2015

Establish a good working relationship with your clients and get recommendations from them. I have done this before, for a time I had like 8 clients who paid me for most of my work. These clients also referred me to their colleagues. Between them, I was able to make a good amount of money for some time.

Mastero · Aug 1, 2015

elfgirl said:
Establish a good working relationship with your clients and get recommendations from them. I have done this before, for a time I had like 8 clients who paid me for most of my work. These clients also referred me to their colleagues. Between them, I was able to make a good amount of money for some time.

Do you still have these clients ? are you expanding the business ? or you just stop ? if so why ?

fstephen07 · Aug 1, 2015

Just curious, are you getting freelance jobs through bid sites like Upwork, Freelancer, etc? And if so, are you planning to continue getting jobs through these channels, and then hire or sub-contract out the work to someone else that can complete it, and then you deliver it back to the client? I could be totally off base, and if so ignore my comment. But if this is what you are trying to do, my advice is don't. I've been there and it's a tough way to go. It's very difficult to manage effectively for so many reasons. You're way better off going out and getting the clients yourself by marketing.

Getting clients in a long term relationship is not hard. Provide a good service that brings a lot of value to their business. Offer the service at a good rate that they can afford. Then simply draft the contract and put it in front of them and ask for what you want.

Also, if you're making $3/hr, and you're planning on saving up to $3000, then I think you should be fine. That's 6 months salary and you're already making money through another avenue. But then again I'm a risk taker. If you can get clients at $20/hr you'd only have to work 6 hours to profit as much as you would in a 40 hour work week at your current job. Make sure before you quit that take into consideration your employers benefit packages, any retirement plans, vacation time, etc. that they offer. It's easy to forget about that stuff and only look at and compare the hourly rates.

Anyways your question was a little generic so my answer is too. If I knew more about what you were doing I may be able to help more. I quit my job at a Fortune 500 company to freelance and it was one of the best decisions I've made!

Mastero · Aug 1, 2015

fstephen07 said:
Just curious, are you getting freelance jobs through bid sites like Upwork, Freelancer, etc? And if so, are you planning to continue getting jobs through these channels, and then hire or sub-contract out the work to someone else that can complete it, and then you deliver it back to the client? I could be totally off base, and if so ignore my comment. But if this is what you are trying to do, my advice is don't. I've been there and it's a tough way to go. It's very difficult to manage effectively for so many reasons. You're way better off going out and getting the clients yourself by marketing.

Getting clients in a long term relationship is not hard. Provide a good service that brings a lot of value to their business. Offer the service at a good rate that they can afford. Then simply draft the contract and put it in front of them and ask for what you want.

Also, if you're making $3/hr, and you're planning on saving up to $3000, then I think you should be fine. That's 6 months salary and you're already making money through another avenue. But then again I'm a risk taker. If you can get clients at $20/hr you'd only have to work 6 hours to profit as much as you would in a 40 hour work week at your current job. Make sure before you quit that take into consideration your employers benefit packages, any retirement plans, vacation time, etc. that they offer. It's easy to forget about that stuff and only look at and compare the hourly rates.

Anyways your question was a little generic so my answer is too. If I knew more about what you were doing I may be able to help more. I quit my job at a Fortune 500 company to freelance and it was one of the best decisions I've made!

Yes, That's what I'm doing right know, You are correct about most of what you have said about the strategy that I thought about it, I'm a Web Developer, and currently getting two projects both on 20$ per hour, but it's really hard to work like 16 hours a day, so that what I thought of moving to the next level.
As for the resources to get clients from Upwork, It's just temporarily till I get like 4 to 5 loyal clients that I think I could agree with them to have a partnership contract for my business and theirs and to get a great portfolio, and then go the wild way, as you suggested by marketing myself or my company.

So you think, that the goal that I'm setting for 3000$ is realistic ? Could you give me things I consider after quitting my job ?
Btw, I live by myself and renting a apartment with my coworker, there are some bills to pay, I really want to stay independent and not to go back to my parents home as a loser, I'm really confidence in my skills and most of people that I was working with always appreciate my work.

fstephen07 · Aug 2, 2015

I would move away from those freelance sites as quick as possible. Find a client in the US and offer to build them a site for free. Put that in your portfolio. Ask them to give you a referral. Build the site for the referral super cheap. Ask them to give you a referral. Keep doing that until you've got about 5-10 sites. Just do this on the side as you build up to your $3000 or whatever. Reach out to all of your clients again asking for more referrals. Create a blog and start giving advice on your blog and making daily/weekly posts. After 6 months to a year you'll have good clients coming in. Freelance Web Developer you should be charging $50-$150/hour. Dont even think about outsourcing the work. Would you be happy with making $150/hour and working 40 hours a week? I think that should be your goal instead. Just keep building sites, learning, blog about what you learn, and pitch new businesss owners all the time. If you are in India/etc then improve you English. Learn it very well, even if you already speak good English. Then get on the phone and cold call clients, find leads through LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Make connections. Save up enough money to go to some conferences and network with your target audience. Being a fresh web developer without a portfolio and already looking to outsource work is a recipe for failure.

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