- Working as a freelancer gives us enormous freedom in many ways, although on many occasions we have to deal with clients that are a headache.
- We must be aware that there will always be people with whom working is not exactly a pleasure. These kinds of clients are the ones we have to avoid as a freelancer.
We cannot deny that freelance work has grown considerably in recent times. This way of working allows us to obtain a lot of freedom in different aspects, leaving schedules aside and accepting jobs that we are really passionate about. However, everything has its negative side and that is why we are obliged to recommend avoiding this type of client if we are going to work as a freelancer or as a freelancer..
Those of us who write articles at Islabit.com are freelancers, we have been working on this for years and we have had experiences of all kinds; many of them have been incredible, while others, better not even remember them.
Before continuing, it is essential that you always keep in mind that your work is worth it, your time is valuable and no one can decide its value, except yourself. You have the freedom to accept or reject jobs of any kind. The Internet is a wide world, it is possible to find hundreds of job opportunities by searching a little; Don't let anyone devalue what you do. Remember that there are online businesses that adapt to trends and opportunities do not stop appearing..
Types of clients that we should avoid being a freelancer or self-employed
Those who request free samples or do not sign a contract
If you are working seriously as a freelancer, it is necessary to have examples of our work, it is part of building our own online brand. Either in the form of a portfolio, a GitHub repository or references on different websites. In this way, the client already has an idea of the quality of our work.
A client who requests a sample and does not offer compensation in return, not only shows that they are trying to take advantage of us and your time, but that it is hard for us to make a good deal. If we start with free work, we must have something for sure, they will end up overloading us with work and the payment will be the same..
In the same way it happens if we do not have a signed contract, we are working for free. Some people will go out of their way not to pay for a job when it is delivered. This is essential at all times, especially if we do not know the person requesting our services.
Customers who are not involved
We have to get the idea: if a client cannot invest the time to provide guidance and clarity on a project, how far will he go? As we always say, our time is worth a lot, if we have to stay for a week to try to have a conversation about the bases of the project, it is not exactly a good sign.
The ideal is to separate from this kind of projects, we can end up doing an excellent job, but it does not meet the expectations of the client because he did not get involved enough to make his ideas clear, here we can only end up very badly.
Those who are too involved
We go to the other extreme, there are clients who expect us to be available 24/7, every day at any time; who criticize every decision we make as if everything we are doing is too clear.
If we are hired for a job, it is because we have a set of skills that make us ideal for it, which the client needs and does not have. Out of the entire job market and all the options, they decided that you are the one for the job, because you had the best experience. So, if you are the one who knows, obviously many things will be done in one way.
Customers who lower or question the price
It is the client's prerogative to ask for clarification of what is received in exchange for what we charge. Acceptable once, if the rates continue to be questioned, we are on the way to the value of our work and, above all, our time being questioned. If they are able to tell us how much we have to charge for the work we are doing, we are showing that they think they know more about what we do ourselves.
Sudden changes in job proposal
Making change requests to a project is not something out of the ordinary either, it is something that can happen a few times depending on its complexity. However, it can happen so many times that we end up doing a totally different job, requiring more time and effort for the same price.
Let's see, reworking the button order to improve an interface is one thing. Rewriting the API bindings to accommodate a new payment scheme is something else entirely. It is important to learn to value our time and effort.
Pay attention to bad vibes
It is not bad to listen to our instincts. Is it necessary to get involved in a situation where we believe that things can go wrong? Especially if we are not in full control of the situation.
One of the great advantages of being a freelancer is the enormous freedom we have, being able to accept different jobs, work as long as we want, decide who to work with and who not to. Let's remember something: not every dollar is worth it.
In this sense we have to know what we are worth. If a client gives us bad vibes and we think we're not going to be comfortable doing this job, we just turn it down and move on to the next one.