Business - 02 - Freelancer: it is not about the money but getting your dreams fulfilled

The reason why I signed up to freelancing interface company is because I assumed this as type of sub company. Most of you know that creating and running a company in any country when you don`t have money could seem very risky. 

And you feel that risk more if you don`t have enough experience. I thought working as freelance could help me getting known in my country`s national and also in international market. 

So I decided to work with an online bidding-freelancing company. The way they worked was to get a job via their interface by bidding. Once your bid was selected by the client you got the job. Then when you finished up the job you made the delivery via the interface to the client.

Then I learned many things wile completing the following jobs : Architectural drafting using Autocad and Sketchup, interior architectural design using sketchup, industrial product and parts design using Sketchup, and 3d rendering works. I am multi skilled so I also did software design using Microsoft Access,  and finally I did marketing research and reporting on multiple areas. For example research on accommodation and facilities existing in airports in USA. 

With these work I did not earn much money, because I had to compete against third world country workers. Do not think I underestimate them, they are good, and really good, disciplined, and very flexible, they know well what they are doing and they provide good quality jobs. The important thing in all these is me! I want to get something from freelancing, and I had to find a way to get it. SO whatever these third world country get as money was not a big deal to me. The most important thing is that I get something.

So this was not a problem to me.By freelancing, I was expecting to get / looking for, to get experience and accumulate knowledge and self confidence, and I got it! This opened me the gates to open my own company. I did not opened it yet, but I am approaching this target. 

Anyway imagine if even I earned some serious money would it be enough to pay off office rent, electricity and furniture bills ? Surely not. But having a client portfolio, and having experience in doing business can pay your bills and office rent very quickly. That was my objective. So do you understand now why I am not talking about money? There are many important things then money, and which are more valuable then the money you got in your wallet. If you don`t have a client portfolio, no experience, no accumulation of knowledge  then you will get poor very quickly. Because paying bills comes every month and it eats your money out slowly but surely. I give you tips here to avoid mistakes that I did many times and to do the right things. Don`t let your poverty suck out your dreams. Don`t let your actual unemployment, or your robot kind of employment, or your bad manager get you frustrated. 

Go after your dreams! There are many people like me wanting to help the other. I saw many great company owners losing their company because they thought having money is enough to run a company. I was one of their employee. And now I am stronger then my managers: I don`t have more money then them, but I have great potential to get it, and once I thought I don`t have this potential! 

In here I will give you advantage and disadvantages that I saw in freelancing. and then I will give you my thoughts about the market and why you should work as freelancer. 

Advantages

There are great advantages to work via these kind of interface company. 

• Once your bid is selected by the client, the client had to deposit the whole money to the bidding interface company. 
• You have to prove to interface company that you finished the job as the requirements and not to the client. Because client can cheat saying the work is unfinished to not pay you. So never use shortcut by sending the work directly to client. Use always the intermediate freelancing company to submit your works. They are there to protect you and the client.
• The interface company use judges advocates in case of disputes as mediator/negotiator. If in case the both parts could not get in a settlement then this mediator decides on who is right. And this is done in full equity. 
• The final advantage is that it allows you to get experience in things that normally you can t find a job as employee working in full time. Thanks to these company I got experience at drafting and at 3d rendering in architecture. Also I got advanced experience at software coding . I am multi skilled.

Disadvantages

• First problem is that the third world countries are really cutting the price off. For a work that I would bid an amount like 500 usd, they bid as 50 usd. So for competing with them, I need to align my bid amount with them or bid lower. That makes the amount of money earned very low. The work can take 3 weeks, and the price you get is 50 usd.
• Another problem is that the customers don`t allways describe their project well. And so it makes you waste a big time or work, or most of the time, you can`t get the money.
• The customers are hiding behind their bidding some missing information about themselves. On job completion they can be stealing your work. Here is how they do it: They get the work done, and they say, "sorry it is bad work, it is not what I asked" and you simply don`t get paid. Even if you get in dispute and you win, nothing can stop them on violating my copyrights and more over, I don`t have any way to control if they violated it or not. So they can use, or sell my work to a third party customer, and I can`t know it. The non payment hapenned to me 3 times, and wining in dispute happened to me once, and all of the 3 works were really made with important manhours.
• As the amount of bid is very low, there is no big deal in pursuing the employer in court. Because it can be a great waste of time if the bid amount is low. 

 What all these disadvantages mean?

If you start to feel these disadvantages then this mean you are ready to open your own company physically. Because now freelancing is not enough to you. It is simple as this. 

Freelancing can be a temporary company structure to some of you. At the beginnings, you will feel these disadvantages in no way at all or just a bit. When the client number and experience number increase you will feel them a lot. 

What to do?

The solution to these disadvantages is to work in team: you can not go forward working alone. You have to find people around you where you can divide the job. While you pursue client  communication and bidding things, the technical person will continue to do the job in the background, and on the other hand a lawyer will be following all the problems in the work. Doesn`t this seem you familiar? Remember he companies you were once working as employee: they had all these as departments inside the company.  

You can do all this as freelancer team, and it can work well for a while. But remember the more work you get and the bigger you get ,you will feel the need to transform this job in a physical company. Nothing can last forever, everything needs to change. So don`t be frustrated facing the disadvantages.

Thoughts:

When I look back I feel that I have fulfilled my internal desire of doing things that I control the process. What this means is that when I worked as employee, your boss and your colleagues may know less than you, and you can not prove yourself that you are better then them or neither you can not prove it to them too. This is a frustrating thing happening to all workers in a company. I had enough of this feeling and working as freelancer showed me that I can do things  that I believed I have knowledge and capacity on them. So the result was really good. 

Many people on internet talk about freelancing as a way to earn money. I am not feeling comfortable about this way of thinking. 

In my case working as freelance was a way to prove me that I have great capacity and knowledge and I can create a company and get a client great satisfaction. 

So ask yourself what you are really waiting from this way of working. Just remind yourself that earning money must not be your first target/objective. Because whatever the work you do you, the money you earn will never be enough. 

About the Market:

Money is not an objective or an accomplishment it is just a result of your work, your product and the market situation. Even if you create a great work market situation may cause you to get few money.  Market is many things around you: your life story, your clients mind, the companies selling a type of thing in store or in internet, the standardized products. These all are not given and may not last forever, if someone makes a move and change them. Market is a dynamic thing and it is all the influence making things around you. So what you are in the market, here is my description:

• Your country or even the area you are living in may be poor. You may be living in USA, UK, Germany or in France but in a poor village. Game changing in this part of the market is using the internet and do international works. You don`t have to live in Wall Street to sell your service or products to a company in New York or in Paris
• Your education in school may not be successful and so you may have accumulated not much knowledge through school. And that happens to many people. Game changing here is : Forget about your past and look to the future. I was far from being a successful student at school but I made my way. Just listen to your heart and your enthusiasm, your dreams and your passion. "What you want to be" is your strategy to change the game, and so the market. You can be it! A game changer, and changer of the market. Look at Starbucks, Mc Donalds or many other companies around you. Their boss was not five star students and neither brilliant at school. But they changed the market because they worked hard, and "believed" that "hard work" get back always with a success to you. Do not underestimate yourself, you are worth of your dreams.
• Your employee career may not be brilliant. And this shows something very positive: you have dreams! Go get your dreams! Ask for help on how to get to your dreams in forums, to people around you, to me! There is always someone willing to help a person get better in business. You may even get crowdfunding and get the money so as to create the job of your dreams. 
• Write down your dreams! The sacred power of writing is limitless. Believe me! The more you write and the more you get closer to realize physically your dream.
• When you write just make a planning: what will you do at first, second then your third step
• Money money money! It is a fake a trap to idiots! Money is not what you need to create your dreams. Lets suppose you want to sell hamburgers. So logically you suppose that you need to open a fast food restaurant, and so you need money. Hey no! Imagine you are a child and your mom cooks at home great food, and you also see employees at work who are really unhappy with the fast food around them! So what if you just deliver the great "mom food" to unhappy people working in companies? Start with people around you! Freelancing means to work without having a fixed shop. 
• You may think shop owners may be angry against freelancers. Who said it! Some great business owners work with freelancers as subcontractors for anything: food, software, car hiring, delivery of goods. Only those with bad mind are always showing unhappiness against all things around them. There is no way to satisfy them. Get away from them or if you can fight using a lawyer go get your rights in the court. Don`t let them make stop your business and so make you unhappy!
• Always beware of laws and local regulation to any work you do. If you have to pay taxes pay it! Go and talk with the municipality about your business. They may tell you what to take care about, or what more things you may need etc. Human health and quality of life of all, is the  most important thing here: whatever you do, do it with quality control. Bad quality means bad and failing business. 

Finally

Do you need more information? Then the internet will get you all the answers you are looking for. But sorry not all, some answers are inside your heart. Internet can not show you your dreams or your thoughts. 

Write write and write first, everything you have in mind. Then if you need to ask questions or to talk, take your writings with you, and consult your friends, your parents or any other people around you. Then write again what they said to you. 

Writing lets you actively remember your thoughts and your friends or parents thoughts.

Talk to businessman, to company owners, but always with a paper and a pen in your hand. This is called interviewing. Ask questions even if they seem stupid. If these questions were as stupid as you thought, then this was not as big problem as you thought. And that is good.

I wrote here everything just to share my experience

my coder profile 

International Coder reference

• Available at:  http://www.rentacoder.com/RentACoder/SoftwareCoders/showBioInfo.asp?lngAuthorId=1757296  -- Rentacoder.com is dead it became freealancer.com

My portfolio

Turkey Software developping reference:  

• Enka Insaat ,  
• Turbosan Ltd ,  
• Belgi Insaat A.S.

International Coder reference

• UK  Government – Pensions and Amendments department - Helpdesk  database, and Document Control database.
• Smart Forms Corporation - USA:. Construction permits database design.
• Diving SA - Australia  - Sport School Project
• Belgi Construction Company for Algeria  - Warehouse, Logistics and Finance database for Saida project  and Skikda Project 

Codes I knew when I worked as freelancer 

Software Developping Visual Basic PHP / MYSQL ASP ASP.NET                      SQL MS Access and all office applications

Web design and Database                   Javascript HTML CSS     Dreamweaver               Flash