Managing clients is a part of solopreneurship that many prefer to outsource. While it's possible, it comes with trade-offs and potential pitfalls. However, if you can navigate them and find the right partner(s), you can enjoy the freedom of being a solopreneur with no client interactions.
Freelancing without dealing with clients
Many people like the idea of freelancing, but they find looking for clients, negotiating, and communicating with them unpleasant, uncomfortable, or simply something they don't want to do. It's true that client acquisition requires certain personal characteristics and skills to go smoothly and can sometimes be frustrating. Some decided to become freelancers nonetheless but would still love the possibility of completely outsourcing this part of the job and never having to deal with the business aspect of it. Fortunately, there is a solution: establishing partnerships with agencies or other freelancers.
Agencies like working with freelancers because of their flexibility, the absence of fixed costs, or the lack of in-house expertise for certain projects. Established freelancers may need some help with projects because they lack time or qualification or are expanding their business and accepting more clients.
Losing the essence? Yes and no.
There is a very valid objection from the more entrepreneurial freelancers that would never consider this option - you're losing a certain amount of freedom hard-core solopreneurship brings. To some extent, this is true - you won't have complete control over the projects and people you'll work with, you will effectively have a boss (apart from the client himself) you'll be accountable to, you may not be fully in control of your working hours, your paycheck or hourly rate may have a limited ceiling, and depending on your occupation, the clients may never know you worked on the project. You may still be able to use the references, though - you won't be able to say you worked WITH Adidas, but at least that you worked ON a project for Adidas.
💡 Keep in mind
Your contract with the agency or other freelancer can include an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that may prevent you from publishing even the names of the companies you worked for. NDA that says you can't publish details of the project itself is common, but not being able to mention even the names is.
Freedom
The main reason for becoming a solopreneur is often freedom, so let's look at how this aspect would be impacted if you depended on agencies and other freelancers for work. Your ability to refuse to work on a project - or choose the ones you want to work on - will depend on your agreement with the agency or freelancer. When you think about it, even if you were completely independent and working directly with clients, circumstances may force you to accept projects you won't enjoy very much, so it's not like direct-to-client freelancers are completely shielded from the boring or unfulfilling work.
The agency or freelancer you'll work with may need you to work at certain hours at certain places. Is this a loss of freedom and flexibility? Yes, but direct-to-client freelancers are also subject to these requirements from their clients.
Being anonymous
The biggest long-term drawback of this approach is that you're never ultimately responsible for the output delivered to the client, which means you never get full credit, if any. If you work with freelancers, there's at least some possibility of the client knowing about you, but if you work with an agency, the chances aren't great. You may have an advantage if your profession requires you to work directly with clients. However, there's still a question of whether the clients will see you as an individual professional or, rather, as a nameless agency representative.
Low pay
Here's something we'd like to warn you about. Many agencies like to work with freelancers because they're cheaper than regular employees, and it helps them to circumvent unfavorable laws. This is especially true in countries where high taxes make it expensive to employ people or where employees are perhaps too well protected from wrongful termination, which means that even a rightful termination is expensive, difficult, or risky. The same goes for successful freelancers who want to scale their operations, but instead of hiring employees, they simply contract the work to freelancers.
Make sure that whoever you work with wants you because you're good at what you do and will compensate you accordingly, not because you're a cheaper alternative to a regular employee. Don't become a low-paid employee with no employee benefits.
Temporary or part-time solution
Even if you'd prefer to be a direct-to-client solopreneur, working with agencies and other freelancers can make perfect sense when you're just starting. If being employed would make it impossible to launch your solopreneur career, working for someone as a freelancer can give you the flexibility you need to get things going while providing you with at least some paycheck to stay afloat financially. Once you start getting your own clients, you can gradually ease out of the work for the agency and go solo.
Even if you're already an established solopreneur, finding an agency or a freelancer you can help occasionally is a great way to fill any voids in your calendar.
Magician’s apprentice
We have one tip for you that can totally flip the script and change the dynamics of everything - if you can pull it off. Find a well-known freelancer (a star of your industry) who needs some help and is already so well-established that he won't feel threatened by you or be worried you'll steal his clients. These people are often in the stage of their career where they want to give back to the community and like helping up-and-coming talent to break through - the younger you are, the better. They will have no problem introducing you to the clients they work with and will gladly give you a great reference or recommendation that will help you open many doors when you decide to venture out on your own. Yes, it's a long shot - you have to be really good at what you do, the person has to like you and be willing to work with you, but it's worth trying.
The best way to do it is to simply email the person and ask for an opportunity to prove yourself. At first, you don't want them to dedicate any time and money to you - all you want are three sentences with a test assignment. Keep the emails short and on-point. Attach your CV, portfolio, and any recommendations you have. If you get no response, try following up—and make it interesting.
💡 Keep in mind
The people you'll be emailing get tens of emails like yours every day. You must distinguish yourself - how, that's yours to figure out. But there's no point in sending something generic.
Remember
👉 Partnering with someone will cost you some freedom, but it's a matter of perspective.
👉 You can get recognition even for the partnership work.
👉 Agencies sometimes hire freelancers for the wrong reasons.
👉 It's not all or nothing. You can do partnership work part-time.
👉 Alternatively, it can be a gateway to transitioning into direct client work.
👉 Working with stars of your industry can open many doors and opportunities.
Homework
1️⃣ If you prefer to avoid dealing with clients or have problems finding them on your own, search for agencies and freelancers in your industry (and ideally your country, too) you'd enjoy working with.
2️⃣ Reach out to them and lay out your proposal.
🎉 Onward and upward!
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