[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How do you get started as independent consul...
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Ask HN: How do you get started as independent consultant or
contractor
Hello HN, I do plan onto pursue independent contracting in
feature. I would love to hear the thoughts of the community on how
to pursue independent consulting. For instance, how do you find
clients, how do you pursue a niche and keep yourself updated as a
contractor
Author : mr_o47
Score : 29 points
Date : 2022-02-06 21:23 UTC (1 hours ago)
| fmitchell0 wrote:
| From someone who started this journey a few years ago before the
| pandemic:
|
| 1. (for now) Ignore all the "read this, study that". If your goal
| is to be "independent", then I take that to mean you want to make
| money. "Reading this, study that" does not immediately make you
| money. It's important, but not THE most important thing right
| now.
|
| 2. Network with other independents and get on jobs they are on.
| Focus on getting paid and making money as quickly as possible so
| you can start to get a feel for how much you can charge and how
| steady an income you get.
|
| 3. Let go of your fear of putting yourself out there or getting a
| "no". Don't worry about telling "everyone" you are independent.
| Focus on telling people / circles / influencers who are most
| related to your client base.
|
| Again, I'm not saying the "read this, study that" advice is not
| important. My advice is that there is a lot out there and your
| single most important focus should be on your goal: getting paid
| for your work.
|
| Keep running experiments, different rates, different jobs,
| different emails, different job boards and get hired. See what
| works, get paid, rinse and repeat.
|
| If you're just looking for a quick and dirty solution, find the
| full-time posting of the job you want to do, and apply to the job
| with your cover letter being honest about how you want to help
| and work with them, but ask if they are open to a freelancer.
| You'd be surprised how many people will kick those tires and get
| you off and running.
| Haydos585x2 wrote:
| I started doing a lot of contracting through recruiters which
| could be anywhere from a few days work to 6-12 month longer
| contracts. This allowed me to meet a lot of different people in
| my industry/city and build a reputation as someone reliable.
| After that's done then it's a matter of growing those
| relationships and once the recruiter lock-in period ends you can
| start to approach them directly and offer your services. This can
| be either independent if you want or it could be with a team.
|
| The most important thing in contracting is being reliable and
| showing up. So many contractors just don't show for work or leave
| before the signed end date so if you avoid that you're already
| ahead of the pack.
| lifeplusplus wrote:
| I saw someone give speech on how to make your ux better and
| increase user retention then they were approached by few people
| asking to hire their services
| JoeMayoBot wrote:
| I started by getting a contract with a recruiter and resigning
| from a full time job. I had done a lot of research to find out
| different ways of getting clients, such as writing, presenting,
| networking at user groups. Essentially, doing things for other
| people to enhance the community around your specialty. These
| types of things result in referrals. Over time, the people you
| meet move on to other companies and the source of referrals
| grows. The important thing to remember is that you're running a
| business and doing things like finance, marketing, and continuous
| training to keep up with technology are as important as the time
| you bill.
| strzibny wrote:
| I think the best is to transition from current role to
| contracting role or by going for a long-term contract, often
| presented as salaried position. One way to do it is to offer the
| current company a contract with less hours. If you were an
| important contributor, they will say yes.
|
| You can slowly get used to it, learn how to invoice, build a
| network, present yourself as independent while actually having
| work and not starve to death.
| sidarok wrote:
| Hi, an independent contractor who helps others to become
| independent too. Congratulations on this life changing journey, a
| difficult decision to make.
|
| Before COVID when I was more active I wrote a comprehensive free
| guide on this. It's titled for project managers but it really
| applies to a lot of independent consultants. Here's the link:
| https://iqoach.com/ultimate-guide-to-becoming-a-well-paid-in...
|
| I tried to distill my experiences from myself and my clients,
| hope you find it useful.
|
| Good luck!
|
| Sidar
| rizkeyz wrote:
| My advice would be to target a situation where clients search for
| you, rather the other way around (everything else I find
| unsustainable). For that you need to put your work out, like
| breadcrumbs - so the interested party gets curious and reaches
| out.
|
| Has worked for me for the past seven years. The cost of putting
| your work out is basically zero these days - all you have to do
| it put the time in, which you have to do in one way or another
| anyway.
|
| Not my field of expertise, but if I were a data science
| consultant I'd make sure I'm a top ten (%) kaggle person, and so
| on.
| nvr219 wrote:
| Start by working at a consulting firm to get used to that sweet
| consulting life without having to worry about finding clients.
| Then transition to hang your own shingle.
| mpfundstein wrote:
| first step. develop a first idea of your value proposition. then
| tell EVERYONE about it. third, begin reading alan weiss :-)
| anna_leijon wrote:
| Hello, i have written "the freelance guide", which unfortunately
| is written in swedish and is adapted to the swedish system and
| how things work here, but many parts are probably general as
| well. There are essentially 17 steps you need to take in order to
| become a freelancer and i explain them all here:
| https://annaleijon.se/frilansarguiden-hur-du-blir-frilansare...
|
| I was a hired it consultant, but have now been self-employed for
| four years, which has been truly great! I create a lot of content
| on the topics of freelance, self-employment and tech. I have also
| started a forum in which anyone can ask questions around these
| topics: https://annaleijon.discourse.group/
|
| Best of luck!!
| hankmander wrote:
| Try to get your first client before even starting. Call people
| you know that might need help. Once you actually take the plunge,
| make sure you tell everybody you know and be visible where it
| counts, online and offline. Try to build a name. It takes time. A
| consultant broker or similar could help you find gigs at the
| start too. Good luck!
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