The Ideal Client and Project – Freelance Introspection

I’ve realized there’s a surprising amount of introspection required when you decide to go freelance. One is to figure out “the ideal” client and project.

When working at a company we don’t get the luxury of considering these ideals, you’re assigned a project and that’s that.

Getting Started#anchor

Now that I’m actively looking for opportunities, it’s important to have those ideals in mind so I can try to target those companies and projects that would be the best fit for me.

I’m gonna be honest, I still don’t have a great answer to this yet. Since I committed to sharing more of my process of going freelance, I’m posting my process now and hope to have an update soon with a clearer answer.

Here’s some questions I’m mulling over so far, I feel like the answers of these will help me get there:

• What are some recent projects that made me feel the most proud when it was completed?
• What kind of project teams did I tend to gel with the best?
• What technologies were in use that made me the most fulfilled as a developer?
• What kinds of clients inspired me to give my all every day?

Taking it Social#anchor

An earlier draft of this went out on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Mastodon. I got a couple of very interesting replies that I’m going to add to my own process, sharing them below so you can give them a go as well.

Alistair Shepherd#anchor

Many thanks to Alistair for sharing this gem via Mastodon.

It really makes sense to focus on the people and industries that resonate and provide more satisfaction. Something I’ll be keeping in mind in the work ahead.

Jon Gibbins#anchor

I’ve certainly found the focus that comes from such introspection to be beneficial to also focussing my marketing efforts and value proposition.

One exercise I did a few years back was to put a line down the middle of a piece of paper, then write the things / values that matter most to me personally on one side, and the things I think matter most in my work or even the main kinds of projects / clients I’ve worked on / with. Then draw lines from one side to another to connect items that are linked to find common ground. These are areas of focus. Anything else should show where your work is not meeting your personal values.

You can do something similar with Ikigai exercises.

Jon Gibbins via LinkedIn comment

I really like this mentality of starting with my own values and letting that guide the process of finding common ground for clients and projects.

I had recently shared my personal and professional mission statement that I’ve been iterating on for over 5 years, I’m going to try this suggestion with that as my starting point.

How About You?#anchor

Have you done an exercise like this before? If you have some ideas to help me bring this more into focus I’d love to hear it!

By the way, I’m still looking for freelance web dev opportunities so if you have something coming up I’d love to hear more about how I can help bring it to life!