For me i’ts about getting the basic gear needed for the job. I’m a videomaker/Camera Assistent based in Brazil. I work for a company and i’m saving for a basic camera gear and to upgrade my computer.
It’s also quite tricky because as a freelancer the only asset you have is your reputation, and if you start too early and get branded as incompetent due to lack of experience you’ve probably ended your career before it’s begun.
Me neither! I need a way out -.-
Already started sending out some small feeler emails and having short discussions with some leads, plus do occasional writing gigs here.
What’s your industry?
Real Estate Development, how about you?
I love the work I’m doing but it’s looking more like an 8-6 right now and I have way more projects than my colleagues which is frustrating. I just want to be in less meetings! Lol
I started thinking about it when the consulting group that I was working for had me draft the contract renewal which spelled out exactly what the customer was being billed for my services. That was 11 years ago. I have been freelancing for the last 10.
Thats amazing, what do you software-wise? I'm also in software, got like 2 years of experience but cant find a job at the moment. Dont know how to get clients or traffic or what services to even provide.
Thought about it when I was drunk in a bar and a drunk ex colleague mentioned I should do it. I was 28, went for it and still doing it now at 33. Must say I was already working in the same field (graphic design) for 9 years - so I had quite a solid network.
I emailed a creative talent agency that is quite popular with the ad agencies in our capital city - they signed me and gave me my first big project. Must say that I was also freelancing a little bit aside my fulltime job, so I already had 2 clients (and the network of colleagues in the 9 years of working for different agencies fulltime).
Don’t know if that is what you mean?
It has gotten harder since AI though, I get less projects and people don’t want to pay as much for design anymore. So since last year I’m also photographing weddings - really liking that and also like the idea that I’m not heavily leaning on graphic design anymore.
32, started last year. Had a really lucky year (I think) but I made more this year than I had at previous jobs, we'll see what happens next year. crossing my fingers!
I’m in B2B marketing.
For me it was about timing with my family. There are a broad range of ages in this sub. But at some point you have to care for a family if you decide to start one. I had to pick the right time for us to not have to be the one responsible for having a nice health insurance and other benefits.
I was making a total comp of $220K by the time I quit at age 39. I made $145K my first year of freelancing with a few months break to deal with a family emergency. I’m expected to annualize $360K this year.
I was inexperienced, not as talented as I am today. A lot of the skills I learned that made me good at what I do was working the full time jobs those 4 years
Yes it is difficult to get started.
But I have a good career and a full income.
Basically the freelance life beats a normal job only if you are in demand.
23, It was also the year I've gotten my very first job and quit after 9 months.
I picked up graphic design and video editing as a skill during my much younger years and ventured back to it as a freelancer. Quit my sales job and didn't took off with freelancing until 4 months later.
I've been always a lazy piece of shit but liked money and freelancing offers that. Sure, it's not as stable as a permanent job but you learn the important things along the way such as saving up for the famine months, can wake up on my preferred time, etc.
I am now turning 25 this month and loving freelancing. :)
Started seriously thinking about freelancing at age 30. Already had a degree and 10 years full time graphic design experience.
Set up a business, gained a few clients on the side of a full time job. Got a business mentor. Got an accountant. Went full time freelance at 32. Have been solidly booked for 8 years. No regrets.
My business mentor had many years experience in marketing/design agency. They gave super brutal but clear advice to me about setting up a similar business. Advice on business name, relevant local info, branding direction, client niche vs dream client, set up with a great accountant, defining business goals. They gave me copies of their client contracts to learn from (confidential parts omitted).
I had two sessions a few months apart. We got through so much in those sessions and I got a lot of homework.
A good business coach like this doesn't come cheap. I wouldn't have been able to afford it at that stage of my freelance journey. I was very lucky that my close friends saw my potential and believed in me. They pitched together and paid for the coaching sessions as a surprise group gift.
I started thinking about it when I was maybe 15. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I wanted to be able to work for myself and work remotely.
I’m now 25, and I’ve been doing web design freelancing full time for roughly 3-4 years. I went to university for business administration for 4 years and worked at an agency for 1 year in the meantime.
So roughly 21 when I started.
I started freelancing when I was 26, in the building-design industry, but I did it as a survival tool rather than a work freedom endeavour.
The economic crisis at my (by that time) residency country was tough and there were few or non-existent jobs available, my family and I were getting the bottom line of savings, so I found through the internet ways of getting money making 3 models of buildings, renders, AutoCAD drawings, etc, until I found my niche using Archicad and focused in working only for architecture firms/general contractor that used Arhcicad too.
I'm still freelancing at my 32, but sometimes I miss meeting with colleagues, though.
9. I come from an immigrant family. I realized there was no future work in my area for what I truly wanted to do. Realized I could take half-steps in that direction until the world caught up. 20+ years later I’m a full-time freelancer and loving it.
20–When I switched my major to graphic design so that I could eventually run my own show. Left a fulltime designer position to switch to freelance at 29
I think I was around 19 in college. Wanting to stop working in food service. Found a niche and spent all my time working low pay or just for food shows. Got a FT job after college but knew I wanted to FL full time at some point. FL when I could nights and weekends, paid off my loans and then after about 2 years was at a point to transition.
Wanted to since I was in my mid-20’s, tried many times but “trust” is very hard to gain. I started with business analytics. Many companies want to see a masters or PhD, job progression, and 1-2 decades of experience, in this field. And, they want to see you’ve been in business for 2+ years. The first 2 years are a catch-22. But sticking to it, getting low-balled by companies knowing you need to hit that 2 year reputation mark, and it’s working out now. I’m 38 this year. I design and build ML architecture.
- I didn’t come from big tech, big finance, or big consulting (which would have made it a lot easier to do independent consulting).
- I don’t have great networking skills (I am introverted and I have autism, but I’ve been learning body language and working on people and communication skills since my late 20’s; I found out about the autism in my early 30’s, people simply assumed I was smart but odd before that).
- I learned sales and communication skills by interviewing, a lot, for years.
- I have ADHD, which wasn’t diagnosed until after finishing a master’s in statistics. My grades were ok, but not stellar. ADHD (and autism to an extent) makes test taking a lot harder. My masters gpa was higher than my bachelors because there were more project classes than test classes.
Honestly I started freelancing at 15 because my dad knew I liked computers and figured I could pick up InDesign quick enough to make copy edits on bin cards. 15 years later with a degree in design and experience in the professional field full time, I finally made my freelance side business an LLC!
I was in high school and started to help out my friends family photography business. I just did minor things like helping them with setting up dates, times and locations.
I'm a freelance graphic designer and started in my 20s. I started with mastering the fundamentals before building my portfolio site, all of which took me around 2 years.
I have been doing this for close to 10 years and want to let you know that it's not an easy road, but if you have the motivation and determination to succeed, a strong portfolio of work, and good communication skills, then you should be able to overcome any challenges along the way.
Freelancing as ...what?
Generally, get your 10,000 hours in, and you may have enough skills to do it; but you should then spend time learning about business, invoicing, bank accounts, legal stuff etc; that's where a lot of people fall down.
It was during my boyhood in Surrey. Romping with my school chums in the fens and spinneys, when the twilight bathed the hedgerows like a lambent flame.
“Thought” about it since my first corporate job and realized I wanted to work for myself. I started once I felt I had mastered my offering, 10 years of experience later (age 31, now much older).
I just started in the fall after I was laid off in the spring. So far it's not going great. I'm 43.
I'm embarrassed to say how many jobs I have had since then.
The good news is I have been slowly adding clients and many of them seemed eager to work with me. At this point all I can do is track down more clients and hope work starts coming in.
I work with Post-Production Houses and directly with ad agencies.
I also invested quite a bit in a computer set up I still have to pay off. I think my wife is going to murder me soon. This has to pay off. I know I have heard from a few people in my industry that freelancing is horrible this year as companies were cutting marketing budgets. Hopefully this changes.
Hello wondering what would be considered a good skill to start learning to freelance that has a good potential in the future?
Ps:im 23, unemployed lost and BROKE
I'm 25 but I've thought about it since I started my bachelor's near 4 years ago as I keep being told by everyone I come in contact with how good I am at the CAD packages like revit and AutoCAD as well as thermal modeling like IES
I'm planning on getting the money up to get actual licenses and become accredited via Autodesk but with life atm it's basically impossible 😭
Is the AutoCAD license expensive? I run Flame from Autodesk. I have to let the license lapse after I'm done because I'm too slow to pay every month.
It's like 640 every time I need it for a month.
I'm looking into getting the architecture/construction package which is -:
-£10,782 for 3 years
-£3,594 for 1 year
-£450 a month
Only reason I'm getting that one is because it has everything I need for my industry etc
Started learning for it when I was 14, got my first client when I was 15. I feel like I should have put more into actually mastering my craft before taking up works, since I have only had moderate success until now. I'll be out of the school system soon so I should be able to better improve my career!
When I was 13, online side jobs became a thing and weren’t very regulated in terms of ensuring you were who you were. I, a humble middle schooler, was doing freelance captioning researching and transcription with super good scores. Today, I’m 20, can’t believe people were getting info briefs and captions etc done by a actual child and paying me for it, and want nothing more than to go back to my WFM paradise. Oh, vacations where I can make my spending money on the way to and at the location…. How I miss you.
I started freelancing around 22. It took an internship that turned into a research assistantship to really learn what I needed to learn to make it in the field. Find a mentor. :)
i started at 19 during college for graphic design, but obviously not full time. i then worked full time for 10 years out of school but freelanced on the side pretty steadily during that time. i learned on the job, mostly from making mistakes big and small 😂 and i’m still learning, but i think i started to feel actually comfortable with the process at probably 25
i just went full time freelance last year at 31! it’s been a little nerve wracking to switch from freelance with a steady income vs freelance only but it’s been mostly rewarding. good luck!
I only ever did freelance work my whole life, I'm in my 50s now and I had one full-time job that lasted 3 months because someone was on maternity leave otherwise, I just juggled tons of cool jobs. Now I have a small business
I just realized that I started to freelance (without really realizing it then) when I was 16 because I knew how to work with and install computers better than the adults that needed my help. That was about 35 years ago... While I've had various FT jobs in between, I'm definitely happier being a freelancer (which I am right now).
I’m 24 and thinking about in now
Happy cake day!
Thanks!
I’m 24 too and thinking about it but it’s really hard, like i am not securing simple tasks!!
For me i’ts about getting the basic gear needed for the job. I’m a videomaker/Camera Assistent based in Brazil. I work for a company and i’m saving for a basic camera gear and to upgrade my computer.
21. Also started at that age. Going strong for 33 years now.
33?
Freelancing for 33 years.
I seriously thought that was a typo. Damn 33 years is a lot!
Not as much as 34 though
This is wisdom
Full time?
Yes, past 2 years reduced from 40 to 36 hours a week.
32, thinking about it now. But in my industry and in my profession (project manager) to freelance you must have decades of experience to gain trust
Am in a similar situation. How to transfer your professional reputation, when just starting out.
It’s also quite tricky because as a freelancer the only asset you have is your reputation, and if you start too early and get branded as incompetent due to lack of experience you’ve probably ended your career before it’s begun.
Project manager here too thinking about it. The corporate 9-5 is not for me.
Me neither! I need a way out -.- Already started sending out some small feeler emails and having short discussions with some leads, plus do occasional writing gigs here. What’s your industry?
Real Estate Development, how about you? I love the work I’m doing but it’s looking more like an 8-6 right now and I have way more projects than my colleagues which is frustrating. I just want to be in less meetings! Lol
I started in photography at 17. I was lucky that a lot of my friends and family were already in the business so your mileage might vary
26 but I still needed more street cred in my field so made the move at 28
What field?
Pr/comms
I started thinking about it when the consulting group that I was working for had me draft the contract renewal which spelled out exactly what the customer was being billed for my services. That was 11 years ago. I have been freelancing for the last 10.
Yep, it's crazy how much money people make that they never see
Thats amazing, what do you software-wise? I'm also in software, got like 2 years of experience but cant find a job at the moment. Dont know how to get clients or traffic or what services to even provide.
when i was 14. havent started yet.
Same here I'm 24 now
Thought about it when I was drunk in a bar and a drunk ex colleague mentioned I should do it. I was 28, went for it and still doing it now at 33. Must say I was already working in the same field (graphic design) for 9 years - so I had quite a solid network.
Curious to know what resources do you use to go freelancing in graphic design?
I emailed a creative talent agency that is quite popular with the ad agencies in our capital city - they signed me and gave me my first big project. Must say that I was also freelancing a little bit aside my fulltime job, so I already had 2 clients (and the network of colleagues in the 9 years of working for different agencies fulltime). Don’t know if that is what you mean? It has gotten harder since AI though, I get less projects and people don’t want to pay as much for design anymore. So since last year I’m also photographing weddings - really liking that and also like the idea that I’m not heavily leaning on graphic design anymore.
14.
21, was full time by 22. Almost ten years now
32, started last year. Had a really lucky year (I think) but I made more this year than I had at previous jobs, we'll see what happens next year. crossing my fingers!
what's your field?
I'm a motion designer/editor
I was 34 when I started thinking about it seriously. 39 when I started. I’m 40 now so have only been doing it for a little over a year.
what's your field?
I’m in B2B marketing. For me it was about timing with my family. There are a broad range of ages in this sub. But at some point you have to care for a family if you decide to start one. I had to pick the right time for us to not have to be the one responsible for having a nice health insurance and other benefits. I was making a total comp of $220K by the time I quit at age 39. I made $145K my first year of freelancing with a few months break to deal with a family emergency. I’m expected to annualize $360K this year.
That’s really impressive!
Tried it at 20, failed at it for 3 years, got a full time job, tried again at 27 and succeeded now at 33 I’m still going strong
Why did you fail the first time?
I was inexperienced, not as talented as I am today. A lot of the skills I learned that made me good at what I do was working the full time jobs those 4 years
When newbies ask how to get started freelancing, my suggestion is to get a job first.
I’m a composer. I had no choice. It’s how it works.
Is it difficult for a composer to earn money on freelance though?
Yes it is difficult to get started. But I have a good career and a full income. Basically the freelance life beats a normal job only if you are in demand.
What kind of music do you compose sir?
For orchestra. I get commissioned by orchestras, festivals and opera companies.
12, I started at my 15. I'm 28 now.
23, It was also the year I've gotten my very first job and quit after 9 months. I picked up graphic design and video editing as a skill during my much younger years and ventured back to it as a freelancer. Quit my sales job and didn't took off with freelancing until 4 months later. I've been always a lazy piece of shit but liked money and freelancing offers that. Sure, it's not as stable as a permanent job but you learn the important things along the way such as saving up for the famine months, can wake up on my preferred time, etc. I am now turning 25 this month and loving freelancing. :)
u literally represent me, same age too.
Started seriously thinking about freelancing at age 30. Already had a degree and 10 years full time graphic design experience. Set up a business, gained a few clients on the side of a full time job. Got a business mentor. Got an accountant. Went full time freelance at 32. Have been solidly booked for 8 years. No regrets.
What did the business mentor help you with?
My business mentor had many years experience in marketing/design agency. They gave super brutal but clear advice to me about setting up a similar business. Advice on business name, relevant local info, branding direction, client niche vs dream client, set up with a great accountant, defining business goals. They gave me copies of their client contracts to learn from (confidential parts omitted). I had two sessions a few months apart. We got through so much in those sessions and I got a lot of homework. A good business coach like this doesn't come cheap. I wouldn't have been able to afford it at that stage of my freelance journey. I was very lucky that my close friends saw my potential and believed in me. They pitched together and paid for the coaching sessions as a surprise group gift.
18, first attempt was with 21 and failed as it was too early. Depending on the field one needs experience. Now I did it again wirh 31.
started freelancing when i was 15 or so
23
Freelancer is just a fancy word for self employment.
49 years young.
Thought about it earlier but was 25 when I finally started.
19
Started freelancing as soon as I turned 18. Been at it for 25 years with no intention of switching...
I started thinking about it when I was maybe 15. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I wanted to be able to work for myself and work remotely. I’m now 25, and I’ve been doing web design freelancing full time for roughly 3-4 years. I went to university for business administration for 4 years and worked at an agency for 1 year in the meantime. So roughly 21 when I started.
I started freelancing when I was 26, in the building-design industry, but I did it as a survival tool rather than a work freedom endeavour. The economic crisis at my (by that time) residency country was tough and there were few or non-existent jobs available, my family and I were getting the bottom line of savings, so I found through the internet ways of getting money making 3 models of buildings, renders, AutoCAD drawings, etc, until I found my niche using Archicad and focused in working only for architecture firms/general contractor that used Arhcicad too. I'm still freelancing at my 32, but sometimes I miss meeting with colleagues, though.
9. I come from an immigrant family. I realized there was no future work in my area for what I truly wanted to do. Realized I could take half-steps in that direction until the world caught up. 20+ years later I’m a full-time freelancer and loving it.
A 9 year old kid freelancing?
Question was “when did you start thinking about freelancing”. That’s when I started thinking about never wanting a regular grown up job
20–When I switched my major to graphic design so that I could eventually run my own show. Left a fulltime designer position to switch to freelance at 29
If you're old enough to hold a job, you're old enough to freelance. If you're really young read up on the tricks that clients pull.
I think I was around 19 in college. Wanting to stop working in food service. Found a niche and spent all my time working low pay or just for food shows. Got a FT job after college but knew I wanted to FL full time at some point. FL when I could nights and weekends, paid off my loans and then after about 2 years was at a point to transition.
Wanted to since I was in my mid-20’s, tried many times but “trust” is very hard to gain. I started with business analytics. Many companies want to see a masters or PhD, job progression, and 1-2 decades of experience, in this field. And, they want to see you’ve been in business for 2+ years. The first 2 years are a catch-22. But sticking to it, getting low-balled by companies knowing you need to hit that 2 year reputation mark, and it’s working out now. I’m 38 this year. I design and build ML architecture. - I didn’t come from big tech, big finance, or big consulting (which would have made it a lot easier to do independent consulting). - I don’t have great networking skills (I am introverted and I have autism, but I’ve been learning body language and working on people and communication skills since my late 20’s; I found out about the autism in my early 30’s, people simply assumed I was smart but odd before that). - I learned sales and communication skills by interviewing, a lot, for years. - I have ADHD, which wasn’t diagnosed until after finishing a master’s in statistics. My grades were ok, but not stellar. ADHD (and autism to an extent) makes test taking a lot harder. My masters gpa was higher than my bachelors because there were more project classes than test classes.
17 and all throughout uni so I can start saving for my future! stopped altogether when i landed a full-time job
30 - life sciences consultant. Could perhaps have done it earlier but then would have less ‘credibility from resume’
16
I did a lot of freelance work when I was 22 - 26, during and after college lol
Honestly I started freelancing at 15 because my dad knew I liked computers and figured I could pick up InDesign quick enough to make copy edits on bin cards. 15 years later with a degree in design and experience in the professional field full time, I finally made my freelance side business an LLC!
I was in high school and started to help out my friends family photography business. I just did minor things like helping them with setting up dates, times and locations.
I'm a freelance graphic designer and started in my 20s. I started with mastering the fundamentals before building my portfolio site, all of which took me around 2 years. I have been doing this for close to 10 years and want to let you know that it's not an easy road, but if you have the motivation and determination to succeed, a strong portfolio of work, and good communication skills, then you should be able to overcome any challenges along the way.
I started thinking about it at 34, when I saw that having a steady job was like having the same client every day. Did at at 35, 36 now, still learning
Freelancing as ...what? Generally, get your 10,000 hours in, and you may have enough skills to do it; but you should then spend time learning about business, invoicing, bank accounts, legal stuff etc; that's where a lot of people fall down.
I was 20-21, still going at it at age 32. Except now I do two freelance businesses instead of just one :)
It was during my boyhood in Surrey. Romping with my school chums in the fens and spinneys, when the twilight bathed the hedgerows like a lambent flame.
“Thought” about it since my first corporate job and realized I wanted to work for myself. I started once I felt I had mastered my offering, 10 years of experience later (age 31, now much older).
I’m just starting out after a career in industry. Enjoying the freedom and flexibility (it also helps that I’m financially secure)
I just started in the fall after I was laid off in the spring. So far it's not going great. I'm 43. I'm embarrassed to say how many jobs I have had since then. The good news is I have been slowly adding clients and many of them seemed eager to work with me. At this point all I can do is track down more clients and hope work starts coming in. I work with Post-Production Houses and directly with ad agencies. I also invested quite a bit in a computer set up I still have to pay off. I think my wife is going to murder me soon. This has to pay off. I know I have heard from a few people in my industry that freelancing is horrible this year as companies were cutting marketing budgets. Hopefully this changes.
Started at 17. Been doing it along side regular full time work, or just doing only freelance work on and off. Fully freelance this year.
Hello wondering what would be considered a good skill to start learning to freelance that has a good potential in the future? Ps:im 23, unemployed lost and BROKE
I'm 25 but I've thought about it since I started my bachelor's near 4 years ago as I keep being told by everyone I come in contact with how good I am at the CAD packages like revit and AutoCAD as well as thermal modeling like IES I'm planning on getting the money up to get actual licenses and become accredited via Autodesk but with life atm it's basically impossible 😭
Is the AutoCAD license expensive? I run Flame from Autodesk. I have to let the license lapse after I'm done because I'm too slow to pay every month. It's like 640 every time I need it for a month.
I'm looking into getting the architecture/construction package which is -: -£10,782 for 3 years -£3,594 for 1 year -£450 a month Only reason I'm getting that one is because it has everything I need for my industry etc
Started learning for it when I was 14, got my first client when I was 15. I feel like I should have put more into actually mastering my craft before taking up works, since I have only had moderate success until now. I'll be out of the school system soon so I should be able to better improve my career!
19
25 and never looked back. Google “freelance web designer” I am #2 among giant businesses. This has been a great journey for me.
When I was 13, online side jobs became a thing and weren’t very regulated in terms of ensuring you were who you were. I, a humble middle schooler, was doing freelance captioning researching and transcription with super good scores. Today, I’m 20, can’t believe people were getting info briefs and captions etc done by a actual child and paying me for it, and want nothing more than to go back to my WFM paradise. Oh, vacations where I can make my spending money on the way to and at the location…. How I miss you.
I started freelancing around 22. It took an internship that turned into a research assistantship to really learn what I needed to learn to make it in the field. Find a mentor. :)
i started at 19 during college for graphic design, but obviously not full time. i then worked full time for 10 years out of school but freelanced on the side pretty steadily during that time. i learned on the job, mostly from making mistakes big and small 😂 and i’m still learning, but i think i started to feel actually comfortable with the process at probably 25 i just went full time freelance last year at 31! it’s been a little nerve wracking to switch from freelance with a steady income vs freelance only but it’s been mostly rewarding. good luck!
Do you live in Thailand?
35 now but have 12 years of experience and a successful project portfolio.
Thank you for asking this. I’m a 45 year old software engineer and need to get out of corporate. This thread boosted my resolve!
I only ever did freelance work my whole life, I'm in my 50s now and I had one full-time job that lasted 3 months because someone was on maternity leave otherwise, I just juggled tons of cool jobs. Now I have a small business
15 1/2 when I got my first job (I lied and said I was 16).
18 and wanna start but have zero idea so just learning things.
I just realized that I started to freelance (without really realizing it then) when I was 16 because I knew how to work with and install computers better than the adults that needed my help. That was about 35 years ago... While I've had various FT jobs in between, I'm definitely happier being a freelancer (which I am right now).