

Should I quit my job and go freelance? - jlc2

I am fed up with the constant bullshit that goes hand in hand with being an employee and am thinking about going freelance. I usually have a job or two on the side, so I am used to dealing with clients.<p>I am 30 now and have been developing professionally for nearly 10 years. I am experienced in PHP, Python, Javascript and a load of other things. I know I have the skills needed to make this happen.
The only thing that holds me back is the fear of being able to pull in a steady stream of clients. 
Ideally I would like to pair up with someone who has a solid idea but needs a tech guy to make it a reality.<p>Does anyone here have advice? Should I maintain a full time job while building clients on the side, or quit and put myself into a sink or swim situation? Am I making a poor decision by going freelance?
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samlev
Going freelance isn't in itself a poor decision. Quitting a paying job without
a steady stream of work already lined up is.

Start trying to build a customer base on the side. Once they're bringing in
enough to cover your expenses with a reasonably healthy percentage over that,
then consider quitting your regular job.

Freelance work is not steady work, so you have to be sure that you can cover
your expenses with regular work before you should be thinking about dropping a
regular income for it.

You will need to build up a steady base of regular clients, and build up word
of mouth. If you're not a designer, then it becomes really hard for people to
discover you in any way other than word of mouth.

tl;dr: Don't quit your day job. Work extra hours until you're earning enough
regularly and reliably to cover your expenses, then consider dropping your
full-time job.

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toumhi
what works for some doesn't work for others. I quit my job without stream of
work lined up and am not thinking of going back to a regular job.

IMO, It depends on whether you have enough savings or not (6+ months seems a
minimum, I had more like 2 years) and whether you have a solid network
already, and a few other parameters (your risk aversion for example).

Working a day job + having another salary worth of client work before you can
leave seems like a recipe for burnout to me - but again, everyone's different.

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mmisu
Do you have in mind a list of potential clients ?

Basically you can go freelance two ways:

* Use a dedicated service like vWorker, oDesk etc ... You will compete with coders from all over the world, so expect some rough time until you build yourself a reputation. If you go this route I will strongly suggest to keep at least a part time job.

* You already have a list of potential clients and you intend to work for them directly. This is the preferred direction from my experience.

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jlc2
Good advice. I do have a few jobs in progress right now and have been working
with a small but established local design firm to pick up more clients.

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hcho
How much runway do you have? If you have enough savings to survive without
bringing a dime in for, say, 3 months, give it a shot. If things don't work
out, you can always find another job.

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kls
3 months is light, I had a client not pay when I was using the 3 month rule
and it was a bad situation. 6 is a better rule of thumb. I would not jump with
at least 6 in the bank.

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teedeem
Where are you located?

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jlc2
Chicago

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teedeem
I might fit your scenario as to pairing with someone with a solid idea. I'm
currently looking to have my idea built. I have zero technical skills (started
Codeyear) and I will use my own money to get started. Just finished a
fireworks click-through prototype only after learning about it here on HN.
Either way, I am interested in paying to have it built or hopefully find
someone interested enough to be a partner. Would love to find a competent and
trustworthy person to move things forward.

~~~
jlc2
Awesome I'd like to hear more. You can contact me at jlccc81@gmail.com (new
email address set up for HN... trying to maintain anonymity for this thread).

