Project Management for

Freelancers

Jarne W. Beutnagel ( jwb@eaaa.dk) Business Academy Aarhus, IT-Days March 2013

Why are you here?

I can has freelance?

Why freelance?

Freedom? Power? Fame? Fortune?

Disadvantages

Full financial obligation Insurance Retirement Holiday fund Sick days Taxes

Full responsibility for Getting new projects Running projects Handling clients All of the product

The difficult part

Balance between work and personal life Workflow of projects Dependency on clients (avoid being

bound by a few key clients) Getting started

Getting the first job

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

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

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”

Go out there and make friends Go to conferences, talks, events E.g. Startup Weekend, Creative Mornings, Goto

Have quality business cards

Write about stuff Get a voice and start participating in

discussions Have a blog Use social media

How to get more work

You need to realize what you are and how you are perceived

YOU are the product

Freelancing is a business (making you a business owner)

Be sure to take on each role with responsibility Become competent in many areas

Hang out where the other cool kids hang out Put in bids on freelance sites Speak to your network

For most freelancers 80% of work comes from the

network

Selling yourself The all important portfolio

You can’t afford not to have one Can’t build it? Buy it. Can’t design it? Buy it. Get inspired

Running Projects

Be clever about it Understand what a project is

THE PROJECT COMPONENTS Understanding what a project consists of

Control

Environment

Goals Production Valida-tion

THE PROJECT STRUCTURE The composition of a project in phases

Simplified Uniform Project Environment for Results

‘SUPER’ PROJECTS

THE 4 PHASES

1 Initiation

2 Plan

3 Production

4 Completion

• Divided into 4 phases 1) Initiation (project setup) 2) Plan (research, ideas & concept) 3) Production (design & development) 4) Completion (hand-in & delivery)

OVERVIEW

1 INITIATION

1 Initiation

2 Plan

3 Production

4 Completion

• 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

• Have a separate project description

• Define success criteria

• Identify project stakeholders

• Determine number of revisions

• Set up online project management services (not per email)

2 PLAN

1 Initiation

2 Plan

3 Production

4 Completion

• 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

3 PRODUCTION

1 Initiation

2 Plan

3 Production

4 Completion

• Separate overall plan from detail focus

• Ensure early planning and assignment of resources

• Put focus on the confirmation of each task

DEFI

NE

Backlog

PLAN

Worksheet

1) MANAGE TASKS

Prepare

THINK

Make

SPRINT

Confirm

Finish

2) SPRINTS

4 COMPLETION

1 Initiation

2 Plan

3 Production

4 Completion

• 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

Know what you did Time Tracking

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

Try to categorize Types of Projects

Group projects together, so that you get a better overview Find common attributes Length Complexity Type

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

Try to categorize Types of Clients

Group them together to identify Profitability Need for support Amount of “friction” Level of quality expectations Size Portfolio fitness

Organize it all The Project Pipeline

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)

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

Handling Clients

Rule nr 1: The Client is always right

Rule nr 2: The Client is often wrong

Don’t look at what the client says he wants Look at what goal he is trying to achieve Work towards that goal together

Rule nr 3: You are a professional

(so behave like one)

Always communicate politely Be proactive Be confirmative Have good email manners

The clients writes you:

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.

You write:

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?

Rule nr 4: You are only as good as

your last project

Coming from a great project is energizing You are more confident during

negotiations You know that you rock!

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

S#!T Clients say

“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

“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

Don’t burn any bridges

Handling Money

Mmmm money

What to charge

1) Know your costs

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

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

Overhead costs are all the bill you have to pay, regardless if you work or not These include Rent Utilities & bills Food & Beers

What to charge

2) Set your normal rate

What is your desired profit per month? (remember taxes)

How many work hours do you have available? Calculate your normal rate

What to charge

3) Set your minimum rate

What is the minimum you need to have as income each month? You must always have this income to

survive

What to charge

4) Set your discount rates

When can you afford to give discounts? Who should get it and why? How much discount are you comfortable

giving?

What to charge

5) Calculate your rates

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?

Are you cheap or expensive

Compare your rates to other freelancers

Find their rates online Maybe write them and ask? Be a mystery shopper

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

What you are worth depends on your

Perceived Value

How are you creating value for your clients? What do they value in doing business with

you?

Getting your money

Handling payments

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)

NEVER hand over the project before the last payment has

received

It all comes down to this

Cash flow

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

Questions?

Good luck!