I recently just got my first contract signed as a freelance service provider and had to negotiate the work terms, price myself, and define working hours. I've never done it before and it was not easy.
Let's get into it
My first priority going into this was getting paid a decent amount, which is highly hypocritical of me, I know. It was an automatic reaction, ok? It was also my first worry. I've been formally unemployed since December last year, so although I'm starting to actually fit into my current budget, I obviously want to make more. We live in a capitalist world that runs on money, making it a necessity.
I was also willing to get paid the bare minimum in the name of regaining control of my passions and working with them. But how much was that?
My thoughts when it came to payment
I didn't want to feel like I was asking for too little and underappreciating my experience and skills, as much as I didn't want to ask too much and feel like I was underdelivering. Besides, I had no standard for comparison as this is literally my first "client", right? So how would have proof of how much I could help with their growth and justify the payment I was asking for? How would I even know if I was asking for too much or too little if I didn't know anyone in the company like that and didn't find exactly what I was doing on Google, GlassDoor, or Linkedin? I think you can imagine the back-and-forth I went through with this company.
I needed something to base myself on, to begin to scratch the surface and start feeling comfortable with what I could provide and ask for. So we got into round after round of meetings.
The first round of meetings was purely for us to get to know each other, present our backgrounds, talk about our references, etc... I feel like this was a sort of an "interview" for me as much as it was for them. The second round was for me to get to know their growth goals and their current operation, to try and find the gap. The third round was me presenting my findings, proposing solutions, and stating where I could fit in. And then we went on to the negotiations. Between getting to know the owners and negotiating the contract, one month had gone by.
What I expect to gain from this experience
If you've been following the blog for a while, you'll know I've been on a journey to rebuild my work life and find a new sort of passion and fulfillment in my career.
I decided that it's ok if I don't make as much now as used to while working a corporate job as long as I'm happy, using all my expertise and knowledge, and feeling like my job is fun. And of course, not dreading every single Sunday night and Monday morning.
Another thing I like to go by is a gut feeling, not scientific at all. This opportunity felt good to me. I genuinely liked the people I'm gonna be working with, I absolutely love their product and the amount of thought behind it. I think their plans are just big enough to be challenging, exciting, and kind of scary and I like the part I'm gonna play in it.
Ok, finally to the payment part
What we managed to reach as common ground is the following:
I'm gonna be working half the usual full-time period, that being 4 daily hours
I'm gonna be paid the bare minimum I need to keep afloat and if I am to go full-time (which might happen in six months to a year), I'm gonna be paid half as much as I was in the first start-up company I worked at.
The owners don't even pay themselves what I first asked for as they are fully reinvesting what they make back into the business to grow it.
Mostly, I was ok with it because of the many reasons I gave before, but also because I trust their plan. I can actually see the investments, financial and otherwise, they make into their brand and I believe in their vision.
I'm not gonna lie, I was grateful for them opening up their own salaries with me to further justify their answer and it made the lower payment easier to understand and accept. It came to be not as much as had first asked for but not as low as they first offered.
How we negotiated
If you are anything like me, you've probably seen this type of situation as being something far from you, something that demands convincing someone to agree with you, that demands expertise in business, negotiating, contracts and whatnot, and something that you've only seen big corporate people in black suits do, right?
One of the aspects that made me comfortable from the get-go was the number of meetings we had before even touching the subject. I felt safe to be fully honest with them as to what I could and could not offer as they were with me. I got to take a look at their current operation, how they did stuff, where they did it from, etc...
I understood that for their moment, my expertise was gonna be enough, which helped to grow my confidence. I think, for me, that was the main thing: seeing if we had a match.
And at the end of the day, what I learned is that this is nothing more than a conversation to reach common ground. Both parties have to feel comfortable so you talk and talk and talk until you get to that point. I also felt safe to walk away at any moment if their final offer didn't sit well with me, which gave me peace of mind. That comes from building confidence in what you bring to the table and valuing your skills.
They couldn't afford to keep me full-time, but I didn't want to let this project go, so we compromised on part-time, for example. You get the gist, right?
So yeah, I don't think this was bad at all for my first try, but let's see how it unfolds.
Did you learn something new? And how was your first time?
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