There are two types of freelancer: contractor and consultant, know which one you are
Are you a contractor or a consultant? For a freelancer it’s an important decision to make. It’s worth thinking about why a client hires a freelancer (or an agency for that matter). Generally it’s for three reasons
- They don’t have the skills to do the work themselves
- They don’t have the time / people available to do the work
- To say something they can’t say
Contractors
Contractors do regular 9 – 5, five days a week work, often on site working on a specific project for a number of weeks with a defined deliverable. They fit into option I or II, the client doesn’t have the skills or time / people available to do the work. Great contractors look for clients who match type 1 and don’t have the skills needed. Making this work challenging and fun.
It’s easier to set yourself up as a contractor working on type II work where client does’t have time to do the work. There is a lot more of that work around and it’s easy to get; often from recruiters or working for an agency. The inverse of availability of the work is that often it is filling in gaps the client has or doing work employee don’t want to do. This can make that kind of work less fulfilling.
A contractor might work on a responsive site redesign. A consultant on the other hand will help define the solution to a problem, is this case the client needs a responsive site as opposed to an app.
Consultants
Consultants fit very much with option 2 and 3. They work on specific problems rather than projects and have shorter engagements, sometimes only a few days. Consultants are specialists bought in to solve an issue and typically define the best way to approach that problem.
Consultants need to be bringing in more client work as they have to do a few projects a month. They rely on their network to recommend them and to find the volume of work they need. Typically, it’s challenging work which only suits certain people. You need to be able to confidently talk about what you do.
Knowing which you are will help you talk better about the work you want and ultimately attract the clients and the projects you want to be working on.
You can’t be both
If you are working five days a week on a 6 month contract you can’t take on a consulting give. Similarly if you are engaged on a consulting gig you can’t easily take on a large contract.
The two are not compatible. You need to choose one.