Becoming a freelancer

HappyGamer

Hello. I am considering doing some freelance work but is this something I can just start doing? Do I need to inform anyone and if so at what point? From the start or only after getting work? I will keep a record of any work and payments that I receive.

Is there anything I need to know before I start freelancing?

I am planning to use some freelance sites and if that goes fine then I will start my own website. It will be all internet based work at home.

I will be taking payments via paypal. I am fairly well clued up on scams and can usually tell if someone is scamming but are there any scams I need to be aware of relating directly to freelancing?

I know with ebay that items sent digitally are not covered the same as physical items but does the same apply when offering a service? I would be emailing paperwork to customers. I do not want to find customers keep claiming I have not provided the service and being refunded when they have received it.

Any tips or advice would be helpful. Thankyou.

DKLS

Stage payments are your friend, say if you quote for a job at 5k. Charge 2k to kick off the project, and another 1K at an agreed point in the project and the final 2k on completion.

That way your minimising the risks to you and your client.

Register with HMRC and get a business bank account, I have never paid any freelancer by Paypal.

imoneyop

If you are using sites such as Freelancer.com then they will allow you to set up milestones for the project up front. The client deposits the full amount to the site and then when you've done the work for a particular milestone you request the payment of that part of the fee - the client either pays up or rejects the payment and then you can raise a dispute with Freelancer and prove you have done the agreed work.

InsideInsurance

You need to inform HMRC of your becoming self employed as soon as you start trading - namely when you start tendering for jobs.

Make sure you factor all your costs and time in your business plan. A lot of people I know who did freelancing via these types of sites spent the majority of their time writing proposals and discussing projects rather than actually doing the fee earning aspects of writing code or doing translations etc - particularly with programming. A fairly small percentage of projects actually get awarded to anyone - many just put projects up to see the sort of ballpark itll cost with no intent of proceeding - and of cause of those you potentially have fifty people bidding to do it.

Either you have to cut your own throat on costs to go against the $5/hr rate overseas or find other ways of convincing people why they should pay more for you than the next person

HappyGamer

DKLS wrote: »

Stage payments are your friend, say if you quote for a job at 5k. Charge 2k to kick off the project, and another 1K at an agreed point in the project and the final 2k on completion.

That way your minimising the risks to you and your client.

Register with HMRC and get a business bank account, I have never paid any freelancer by Paypal.

Thanks. I am not sure stage payments are really needed. Talking around £10-20 for a job rather than in the hundreds or thousands.

I figured, more so with my own website, that Paypal would be a good and simple option especially as it is all to be done online and not face to face.

imoneyop wrote: »

If you are using sites such as Freelancer.com then they will allow you to set up milestones for the project up front. The client deposits the full amount to the site and then when you've done the work for a particular milestone you request the payment of that part of the fee - the client either pays up or rejects the payment and then you can raise a dispute with Freelancer and prove you have done the agreed work.

Thanks. That is good to know

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You need to inform HMRC of your becoming self employed as soon as you start trading - namely when you start tendering for jobs.

Make sure you factor all your costs and time in your business plan. A lot of people I know who did freelancing via these types of sites spent the majority of their time writing proposals and discussing projects rather than actually doing the fee earning aspects of writing code or doing translations etc - particularly with programming. A fairly small percentage of projects actually get awarded to anyone - many just put projects up to see the sort of ballpark itll cost with no intent of proceeding - and of cause of those you potentially have fifty people bidding to do it.

Either you have to cut your own throat on costs to go against the $5/hr rate overseas or find other ways of convincing people why they should pay more for you than the next person

Thanks. There will not be much to discuss and my idea will not take much explaining and will not change between customers.

I am not sure that many are offering the same although I know for sure the idea is not unique. I do not mind lowering costs if need be but I can not see that it will be a problem.

InsideInsurance

HappyGamer wrote: »

Thanks. There will not be much to discuss and my idea will not take much explaining and will not change between customers.

I am not sure that many are offering the same although I know for sure the idea is not unique. I do not mind lowering costs if need be but I can not see that it will be a problem.

It all depends on what sort of service you are selling. Some things, eg translation, is fairly simple and the same pitch probably works for 75% of cases.

Some however require much more effort, particularly programming, as the majority commissioning the work are not used to the engagement process so dont give you everything you need on a plate and require more handholding through the process and explaining why when the job is simply stated as "I want to run my own version of ebay" that they shouldnt go with the person that says "Can do it in 2 weeks for $100". Obv in reality you'd avoid this one like the plague but others with more credability you'd need to establish their true requirements, scope, priorities etc and then come back with a pitch.

HappyGamer

I was ideally hoping to advertise the service on such sites rather than make a pitch or bid for jobs. It is not a service most people think to ask for but one that is very useful especially for businesses.

I do not wish to say the exact service I will be offering but what I can say is that it is fairly simple and the same pitch/bid/advertisement will work for every customer. Some may ask for a specific little task to be carried out but nothing more and it is of no trouble to me.

imoneyop

Sites such as Freelancer, Guru,eLance are designed for people to advertise projects they want completed rather than freelancers offering services (although Freelancer.com does allow advertising, but I've never had a single response from it).

For the size of jobs your talking about, you would probably be better off advertising on some of the micro sites such as PeoplePerHour, Fiverr, etc.

getmore4less

If these jobs are only getting £10-£20 that's less than an hours work.

Do you have some unique skill/experience that makes it worth while using you over just setting aside an hour and doing it themselves?

Prothet_of_Doom

HappyGamer wrote: »

Talking around £10-20 for a job rather than in the hundreds or thousands.

.

5 to 20 minutes ? That's not freelancing, that's erm....well it is freelancing, but not as I know it.

My current freelance job is quoted by the hour, and so far I'm upto £46K :rotfl:plus VAT

Ah yes VAT. Are your customers all VAT registered ? If so then definately look at the HMRC's Flat Rate Scheme.

InsideInsurance

HappyGamer wrote: »

I was ideally hoping to advertise the service on such sites rather than make a pitch or bid for jobs. It is not a service most people think to ask for but one that is very useful especially for businesses.

The sites work, predominately, by buyers posting a project and the freelancers posting proposals.

It is possible for buyers to search freelancers profiles and then post a private project which they only invite a small number of freelancers to pitch on but in my experience these are fairly small.