[demircancelebi]

After freelancing for a few years, I decided that it was not making me happier, since:

- It is not possible to create significant wealth by freelancing

- I work on things I do not care. I want to think/spend time on important things

- Chasing down payments is stressful

- Finding new clients requires some effort

Therefore, I decided that it would be much healthier for me to get a job that pays well and not work as a freelancer.

[pault]

Have you considered going hourly with a staffing agency? A senior developer can charge a three figure hourly rate and if you aren't known in the industry an agency can place you at companies that can afford to keep you working full time. I've always gone above and beyond at my salaried jobs because I find the work gratifying, and I've been thrilled being able to charge for those extra hours. I doubled my yearly income when I started contracting. Providing your own benefits can be stressful and cost more when your employer isn't subsidizing it, but if you are making over $200k/year medical insurance is a relatively minor expense.

[demircancelebi]

Right now, I'm thinking about applying to the largest companies of our industry in a few weeks, but can you please briefly share your experience on staffing agencies, because making $200k/year without an office sounds appealing.

[pault]

I haven't worked at home since I started contracting (after a 10 year stretch of all remote work). In my experience most jobs that you get through a staffing agency are for big lumbering corporations that are completely out of touch with the industry and think that all employees are thieves and villains that must be supervised at all times. These companies are also the ones that have enormous budgets for contractors (for accounting reasons, I guess) and very little oversight (institutional inertia can keep you on a contract for much longer than it takes to finish a project, and projects take significantly longer than they should because of all the above factors). I've been fortunate that I'm mostly working on projects where I'm the sole front end developer and I get to dictate all of the technology decisions, and building something from the ground up is very gratifying, even if you have to work in a soul sucking office park in the middle of the suburbs.

[mtberatwork]

> medical insurance is a relatively minor expense

Many more "expenses" than just health insurance. Retirement, health insurance, business insurance (e.g. E&O), federal/state/county taxes, accountants (you need one), lawyers (perhaps), etc...that $200K/year salary dwindles fast (assuming you can maintain that year after year).

[sacado2]

Don't know if the equivalent exists where you live, but in France you can work with a contractor that does all the administrative work and just pays you a salary. You don't have to worry about accounting, tracking payments, business insurance, health insurance, retirement, etc. as you technically don't own a business, but you're still a freelancer, choosing who you work with, for how long, at which rate, etc. You have a salary without having a boss. I've used this system a few years ago, pretty cool.

[photoguy112]

If you charge a lot, you end up getting better clients, the kind that don't mind paying for a service that makes them a good return. Naturally, these smart people who know that good work comes at a price, are much better at paying invoices. You do great work and usually end up working with larger teams - where some members of the same team become a source of referrals.

Also, the perks of making good money as a "freelancer" is that you can pick who you work with and the types of projects you want to work on. Contrary to having to work on whatever comes along, you can enjoy your work.

[herewego]

> It is not possible to create significant wealth by freelancing

You aren’t charging enough.

[stevage]

That's interesting. My experience has been the opposite on all four points.

- My total pay in the first year was about 30% higher than when salaried, and will probably be 50% higher this year.

- Most of my projects are way more interesting than when salaried.

- I've never had to chase down any payments. I've instead been chased down to invoice a couple of times!

- I have never put any effort into finding clients.

[OJFord]

> My total pay in the first year was about 30% higher than when salaried

With or without benefits/bonuses/... factored in?

[gk1]

Not the person you asked, but... Yes. If you do things right and get a little lucky, you can make much more as a freelancer or consultant.

[mtberatwork]

> If you do things right and get a little lucky, you can make much more as a freelancer or consultant.

In the short term, but is it reproducible for the long term? How does the 10, 20, 30 year outlook look like? From my vantage point, it seems that most freelancers have pretty short shelf life.

[vitaflo]

When started contracting (I never use the term freelancing cuz I don't work for free) I was making 4x what I made as a salaried employee. I've been contracting for 10 years now, and have averaged about 35 hours per week billable over that time. It has been very lucrative.

The problem for most folks is they just don't build the network to get gigs, especially long term ones. The freelancer that takes 2 week projects is going to flame out quickly because there's too much churn. My minimum contract length now is 3 months and that almost always turns into a 6-9 month gig in the end. And my network is large enough now that I never have to look for gigs. I turn down way more gigs than I take.

I realize I'm in the minority, but it is possible, especially if you carry yourself as a business and not just as a hired hand. When you do that, companies look at you differently, and your value to them increases.

[gk1]

I am at 5 years and still going strong.

Does anyone know what they'll be doing in 20 or 30 years?

[OJFord]

I'm sure one _can_, I only meant to hint that '30% more' isn't obviously better. 30% more than base (and nothing more) would not be a good deal for a lot of people.

[justaguyhere]

This makes sense, if you got a job that you care about and like. If not, you're working 100% of your time on something you don't like.

At least with freelancing, there might be a chance that you might enjoy an odd project here and there ...