Ask HN: Freelancers, who are your customers?

[thomaaas]

Hi HN!

I'm a web developer, and I want to try to become a freelancer. After some research, I have found some people interested to work with me. They are individuals (not companies), and interested in small projects (blog, small e-commerce, CMS, etc.)

I think that's a good start! But now I'm wondering if it's possible to make enough money by only doing work for individuals. Should I start right now to focus on companies? Or doing small websites for individuals is enough? Can focusing only on these small projects can eventually bring me bigger customers in the end?

TL;DR As a freelancer, who are your best customers? Individuals, startups, small companies, big companies, etc?

Thanks!

[pjungwir]

My approach has been to have one 20-hour-a-week engagement at a time, typically 1-6 months long, plus a few 10-hour-a-month long-term relationships. I think of it like filling a jar with rocks: one big one, and a few pebbles. That helps me get higher utilization (i.e. closer to billing 40 hours a week), and in freelancing consistency is a massive help to your revenue. A lot of my "rocks" are startups or post-startups. Right now one of my "pebbles" is 5-20 hours a month via an agency that specializes in PHP but subcontracts to me when they need Rails or JS MVC work. They've also sent me a couple "rocks" in the past. Perhaps if you developed a specialized skillset (maybe JS MVC?) you could also let agencies know that you're available if that is a gap in their in-house expertise.

Good luck!

[sycren]

Have you considered taking the work from the individuals and getting referrals & recommendations?

[tagabek]

You can also use these first few projects as pieces for your portfolio. On top of that, building up buffer income and a client pipeline are good ideas.