Question About Running A Freelance Business
Mon, 08/17/2009 - 10:49am
So, here are some of my concerns about diving into the freelance field after I officially lose my job (which seems to be taking longer than expected, which is a good thing, while at the same time quite frustrating).
Here are some questions I have:
- Do I get a vendors license, do I incorporate, or do I just report the extra income on my personal taxes???
- What program do you use to do your invoices? (I've found some descent invoice templates for OpenOffice 3)
- Do you list the web hosting in your own name, or do you put it in your client's name and let them take care of the hosting themselves (after you have set it up for them?)
- What all do you include in your agreement contract?
Thanks and God Bless,
Joshua
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 8:50am
#2
Having been somewhat involved
Having been somewhat involved in a startup business, I have learned this. Start with the least amount of money, use the most inexpensive tools, everyone will try to sell you everything and say you "need" this, no you don't! Do invoices on a piece of scratch paper if you have to. And what ever you do, do not go into debt doing it. Pay cash for everything as you go.
Learned this the hard way, so that you don't have to.
John
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 10:33am
#3
Great advice John! Thanks
Great advice John! Thanks : ) *This could turn into a great thread*
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 1:24pm
#4
Sorry I haven't been able to
Sorry I haven't been able to chime in sooner ;-)
It should be fairly easy (depending on where you live) to set up an LLC (Limited Liability Company), and all you really need to do is find a lawyer who will help you through the simple process (you can do it without, but for a hundred or two dollars, it's worth it!). Once you get your 'Articles of Organization' approved, use your new LLC name to do everything - get a bank account/business credit card, make business cards (VistaPrint is my favorite place for this), and make sure you have a good domain/site, at least a landing page.
For invoicing, I have a simple system in place:
- Use a cool included invoice template with Pages, and increment the 'PO number' by one each time I make a new invoice.
- Keep an Excel spreadsheet that basically tracks the invoice's status and amount (makes accounting easier).
- Keep a timesheet or buy a cheap time tracking app for your iPhone. This makes it easy to bill if you charge on an hourly basis.
Best of luck! It's exciting to freelance, and can be very lucrative if you market yourself well.
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 8:41pm
#5
I started freelancing about 8 months ago...
I started freelancing about 8 months ago...here's what I've been doing...answers inline
Do I get a vendors license, do I incorporate, or do I just report the extra income on my personal taxes???
If you have an accountant, you may want to solicit their advice based on your situation. For me, I just set up as a sole proprietorship DBA (Doing Business As). Think I used ZoomLegal or something like that. My accountant told me to set aside enough money for taxes.
What program do you use to do your invoices? (I've found some descent invoice templates for OpenOffice 3)
I'm still experimenting...I've used Pages, PayPal invoices, and Google Apps. Meh. They work.
Do you list the web hosting in your own name, or do you put it in your client's name and let them take care of the hosting themselves (after you have set it up for them?)
Most of my customers couldn't care less about hosting...blah, blah, bandwidth, blah, blah, RAID, blah blah blah. They just want to know that their site is up and running and performing well. I just started using a VPS with Rochen and charge the customer for their slice of it based on usage.
What all do you include in your agreement contract?
Pretty much everything. I googled and found a very thorough one (template) and paid the $20 to keep/re-use it. Can't afford a lawyer to write one from scratch...and if I had to write it myself, there'd be loopholes so big you could drive a tank through them.
RE: that last question...don't skimp on the front-end. If you want to do this as a hobby...fine, otherwise to be in business and protect yourself get it all in writing...which leads to...
Really try to be upfront and manage expectations before you begin. I've seen too many people promise the Sun and Moon to a client and come nowhere close to delivering and their reputation is shot. Make sure you know exactly what they want and that you can deliver the goods.
Well..that's it for now...good luck.
Craig
Mon, 10/12/2009 - 7:20pm
#7
just a point
Do small steps, and get them signed off, much better than "finishing the project" to find out that's not quite what was wanted.
Try to build in payments through the project at project points (complete functionality for some subset)
Put the customer contact and what is expected of that individual in any contract.
Get up a prototype asap.
If the customer doesn't want to play, ie. wants a complete project without mid points and signoffs -BAIL
Nothing??? I know their are people on these forums who are building websites for other people. Either you are doing it under the table and don't want to get caught or you have lots of advice and are gathering your thoughts before posting a response ; )
Why does starting a business have to be so difficult? What is it, like 80% of small businesses fail within the first year or something like that? I can see why. I don't remember that old school apple game "Lemonade Stand" being all that difficult : )
What do you guys do? Give me something... Anything?
"I'm a PC (practicing Catholic) and I'm only 30 years old."