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Project Management for Freelancers

Project Management for Freelancers

How do you handle life as a freelancer? How do you deal with clients? How much should you charge?
Are you thinking about becoming a freelancer? Or are you already one? This session will offer you some hard-learned advice, some tips and tricks from the trenches and some insights into the life of a freelancer.

Jarne W. Beutnagel

March 20, 2014
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  1.  Full responsibility for  Getting new projects  Running

    projects  Handling clients  All of the product
  2.  Balance between work and personal life  Workflow of

    projects  Dependency on clients (avoid being bound by a few key clients)  Getting started
  3.  Work for friends or family  Find a small

    project  Non-profit projects always look good and you feel less bad about not getting paid much
  4.  Finish one of the prototypes you build for a

    client here at school  Arrange a small fee for finalizing a school project so that the client can use it
  5.  Make use of referrals  Ask people to refer

    you to their network  Focus on problem solving, not on tools or techniques. Say “I make small web sites that are simple to use”, instead of “I do HTML5, CSS3 and awesome jQuery effects”
  6.  Go out there and make friends  Go to

    conferences, talks, events  E.g. Startup Weekend, Creative Mornings, Goto  Have quality business cards
  7.  Write about stuff  Get a voice and start

    participating in discussions  Have a blog  Use social media
  8.  Be sure to take on each role with responsibility

     Become competent in many areas
  9.  Hang out where the other cool kids hang out

     Put in bids on freelance sites  Speak to your network
  10.  You can’t afford not to have one  Can’t

    build it? Buy it.  Can’t design it? Buy it.  Get inspired
  11. • Divided into 4 phases 1) Initiation (project setup) 2)

    Plan (research, ideas & concept) 3) Production (design & development) 4) Completion (hand-in & delivery) OVERVIEW
  12. • Communicate terms and conditions • Know what the client

    wants, not what they say they want • What are the client’s expectations? • No contract, no project • Use a standard contract • Set up payment terms
  13. • Have a separate project description • Define success criteria

    • Identify project stakeholders • Determine number of revisions • Set up online project management services (not per email)
  14. • Ensure you know what to build and the client

    agrees • Lets the client see what goes into a project • Control the amount of client feedback involved • Get sign off before production
  15. • Separate overall plan from detail focus • Ensure early

    planning and assignment of resources • Put focus on the confirmation of each task
  16. • Prepare a high quality delivery • Get the final

    approval from the client • Give the client a chance to see it through, find mistakes and for you to correct them • Ensure that success criteria achieved
  17.  Use time tracking software. Always  Lets you communicate

    with the client  On the invoice so the client can see what you did and what he is paying for  You will know how effective you are  Improves your future estimates
  18.  Group projects together, so that you get a better

    overview  Find common attributes  Length  Complexity  Type
  19.  Which ones do you value the most?  How

    much of your time would you like to spend on this?  How profitable are these types of projects?  Map them out
  20.  Group them together to identify  Profitability  Need

    for support  Amount of “friction”  Level of quality expectations  Size  Portfolio fitness
  21.  Put all this info together in a visual representation

     See which type of projects you currently have  See what is coming down the line  Plan accordingly  Tip: Use some services for this (e.g. salesforce.com)
  22.  Use this to identify dependencies upon companies  E.g.

    if 40% of all your income is from one client, you are too dependent on this client
  23.  Don’t look at what the client says he wants

     Look at what goal he is trying to achieve  Work towards that goal together
  24. Hi there, This is what I want for the website.

    It should be simple to use and very light in color, no heavy. There are going to be many subpages which also need to have the same look. I would like our logo to be in the upper left corner in all pages (except on firstpage). Don’t use moody colors and don’t clutter the pages. Visual look is important. Also, if I go to the page I want to know where I am.
  25.  What you write: Hi Mr Client, Thank you for

    your email, it was very informative. From this I suggest to include the following in the project: • Implementation in a CMS system that is easy to use when updating the site • Consistent look between all of the pages • A design that is light in look, not too heavy and with a minimal of elements However I do have a few questions: • What do you mean by “I want to know where I am”? I was thinking about implementing a breadcrumb style navigation. Would that be sufficient? • Do you have any existing design guides (such as colors, fonts, etc.) that you use for your current visual look?
  26.  Coming from a great project is energizing  You

    are more confident during negotiations  You know that you rock!
  27.  You mentally feel bad when you do a bad

    project  It leaves a dark cloud after it  Your approach to new clients and projects is less passionate
  28.  “It’s just a small thing, won’t take long at

    all”  “We will give a reference and more jobs down the line. Think of this as an investment.”  “Normally my [random family member] does this, but he is busy right now.”  Meaning: Do it cheap
  29.  “I’m not sure what exactly we are looking for,

    so could you come with a few suggestions?”  “Submit a design and we will choose the best one.”  “We would like to test it for a few weeks before we make a final decision.”  Meaning: We don’t want to commit and we see your product as a commodity
  30.  Direct costs are the amount of hours that go

    into a project  This is typically what the client is expecting to pay for  These could include project handling & support
  31.  Indirect cost are all the work you do for

    a project, which is not included in the actual bill for the project  These costs can be a substantial part of your costs  Indirect costs could be:  Negotiating with the client  Support  Shopping for new projects  Learning new things  Finding solutions
  32.  Overhead costs are all the bill you have to

    pay, regardless if you work or not  These include  Rent  Utilities & bills  Food & Beers
  33.  What is your desired profit per month?  (remember

    taxes)  How many work hours do you have available?  Calculate your normal rate
  34.  What is the minimum you need to have as

    income each month?  You must always have this income to survive
  35.  When can you afford to give discounts?  Who

    should get it and why?  How much discount are you comfortable giving?
  36.  For a particular project, look into  How much

    income do you have scheduled the coming period?  How many hours are left?  Which benefit will a discount give you?
  37.  Compare your rates  If you are cheaper, is

    that a benefit for you or can you raise your rate?  If you are more expensive, is there a good reason for this?  Else try to decrease your costs or increase the perceived value
  38.  How are you creating value for your clients? 

    What do they value in doing business with you?
  39.  Divide the payment into sub-payments  Get a sub-payment

    at mile stones in the project  Could be a 25%|25%|50% split  Or 50%|50%  Find natural payment point in the project (e.g. design approval)
  40.  How to balance out payments to reduce reliance upon

    clients paying in due time  They often do not pay on time  Trick: Offer a discount (e.g. 5%) if they pay within 3 days