I'm curious, what should someone do if they are just starting out?
I'm moving into freelance/contractor/whatever soon, but have zero "official" experience. It's a complete career shift. I code in my freetime and have started to build demonstration projects to throw up on github, but I look new right now.
Should I just charge a "can't beat this price" so I can get some experience and then up my prices to what everyone suggests? Or just pretend I know what the hell I'm doing and charge those rates from the beginning?
I'm already prepared to factor in unbilled, learning time but am not sure what to do on the actual billing side.
- Make a list of the things you will do
- Announce this to your friends and colleagues saying you're looking to do small projects to get your process going and will take on larger projects later.
- 5 minutes are always free - This is the best rule that has gotten me so much work. Customers can always have 5 minutes of my time for free if they need, just don't string a ton of it together otherwise I have to charge you.
- Start your billing around 40-50/hour. When you find the things that pay, focus on those.
If you want to go through what talents you have that you don't think are valuable (but actually are) feel free to connect with me I'd be happy to share anything I know, I started doing the same in 2nd year uni about 12-13 years ago and haven't looked back.
I'm moving into freelance/contractor/whatever soon, but have zero "official" experience. It's a complete career shift. I code in my freetime and have started to build demonstration projects to throw up on github, but I look new right now.
Should I just charge a "can't beat this price" so I can get some experience and then up my prices to what everyone suggests? Or just pretend I know what the hell I'm doing and charge those rates from the beginning?
I'm already prepared to factor in unbilled, learning time but am not sure what to do on the actual billing side.