Startup based on freelancing


1

Well , as the question states , is it possible to survive on freelancing and maintain a startup as well. Basically we are working on some games for smartphones but as long as they are being developed we need fuel to get us running, so we are freelancing , but i want to know that how long can we keep on making games and earn from freelancing before we will go bankrupt. We have been doing freelancing for last 6-7 month and other then a few odd weeks , we always had projects to work on but i am not sure if this is going to last very long , Any suggestions?

Bootstrapped Ideas

asked Aug 20 '13 at 06:45
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Chossen Addict
16 points

2 Answers


2

Welcome to the world of an entrepreneur!

You may find that the money you bring in from freelancing is more reliable than the income from the games that you've developed. It will just depend on what connections you have got to generate money from freelancing, and how long it takes until games you have developed hit an app store/market.

Interestingly, QZ.com (i'm not affiliated with them at all) recently published an article that claimed there is more money (overall revenue) available developing company- or usage-specific apps than there is by having a go at sales in an App store. You might see if there are any applications your existing clients could use.

Consultants--even ones that work for big names like Deloitte--are basically businesses based on freelancing. If you see this as your main source of revenue over the next while, build a business model for it. Two options you could choose are to (1) make a point of always recommending something extra you could help with once you've completed a client's issue, or to (2) price out some kind of service you would be willing to provide as an ongoing feature.

You haven't said here what you freelance at, but if it's database management, or coding, or something like that, you might be able to build a moderate but stable revenue stream based on solving any clients' problems within a certain scope provided they pay you every month.

answered Aug 20 '13 at 20:26
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Theao
255 points
  • We work on mostly smartphone apps and you are right , freelancing is profitable , by freelancing we have been able to get a small workspace and were able to hire two internees but as we work on smartphone apps , we don't really can rely on just one source of income for life time. And then as i have heard and saw in some bigger companies that during months of economic depression , the things that kept them fueled were their products and many companies died during such times cause of lack of projects. – Chossen Addict 10 years ago

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Most bootstrapped projects in my experience start as side projects. The challenge with freelancing is that you're juggling time spent making certain income against time you need to spend shipping, promoting and iterating.

So if you have the capacity to pile up cash, it may be better to say, let's focus on freelancing until we have built up three months (or six, or whatever is realistic) of runway, so we can go full time and undivided focus on our project.

answered Aug 21 '13 at 16:28
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Jeremy Parsons
5,197 points
  • Well , at the moment 2 of us are working on games and 2 of us are doing freelancing , freelancing seems to be more profitable but not for the long run. – Chossen Addict 10 years ago

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