
Ask HN: Best way to get started freelancing? - k00b
How did you or someone you know get started? Why did you choose freelancing (so I can see if I&#x27;m doing it for the right reasons)? If you could go back would you pick that career path again?
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imsky
I got started on Freenode IRC channels - someone had a question and it turned
into a couple of years of freelance work. I went through marketplaces, but
even 10 years ago, the race to the bottom made them an unprofitable channel.

Freelancing lets you build up a portfolio of work, build relationships with
people who can give you work or referrals, solve problems in different domains
with different tech stacks, and test yourself as a sole proprietor. It helped
me get a lot of experience in a short time.

Times change and these days I would only recommend freelancing for people
starting their careers or for people who need some income quick. There are a
few issues: you usually won't be trusted to work on mission critical parts of
the business, clients care less about quality than you do, sometimes you have
to take work that's incompatible with your career goals, and price-sensitive
clients can be difficult to deal with when it comes to payment. Looking back,
I'd likely do it again, though I'd charge more and be more selective about
projects.

~~~
k00b
> solve problems in different domains with different tech stacks

I find this aspect most appealing.

> build relationships with people who can give you work or referrals > I'd
> charge more and be more selective about projects

These are probably harder to do when just starting I assume. I have near 0
tech network other than old employers. But maybe that's a good place to start
though.

Thanks for the comment. It gave me some new things to think about.

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Jugurtha
One way to go about it is to:

\- Start a company

\- Contract with enterprise clients as a company

\- Charge appropriately

The money you can charge as a "freelancer" vs as a company is not the same.
You will be able to build a brand around that company in a way that's
different than a physical person, who may be unstable, disappear, etc.

If you go that route, please have an attorney write your contract drafts and
never sign anything without your attorney looking at it.

