Finding the right client

I’ve started to take a broader approach to building a solution that guarantees work for freelancers. We know that the marketplace will serve two audiences. Freelancers and clients.

The ubiquitous problem for freelancers is inconsistent work. But what I’ve still yet to figure out is the client problem. A problem that matches the same intensity for freelancers. Something equally substantial. I’ve seen that massive businesses have been built on the simple idea of fast shipping. FedEx with overnight, or Amazon with 2-day prime being two examples.

Why can’t that be the same in the world of freelance?

Project management

I started asking the question, “Who in businesses are concerned with shipping a fast product?” CEOs? Maybe project, product, and or program managers?

This is leading me into the project management world, trying to figure out what problems could be solved by a really fast delivery time. The nagging feeling in the back of my mind though is that, while fast shipping is a value proposition which has worked in the past, it feels like a solution in search of a problem in my case.

I think I’ve limited myself to the assumption that lots of freelancers on a project = speed. That might be true, but it also might not be the full picture. What other benefits am I not aware of?

1. Fast delivery?
2. ??
3. ??
4. ??
5. …

A better process

I was taught in school that the discovery phase of a design project is absolutely essential. Otherwise you come up with what you think is a good idea, and it hardly ever is. (The only exception I can think of is if you’re also the user of a product you’re creating. I’ve been a freelancer for 4+ years, but I’ve rarely ever been a client). There’s research and insights gathered which should elegantly inform different solution types. These can be tested, ranked, iterated on, and finally delivered in a product which meets consumer needs.

So, like going back to my roots, I’m really going to take the time to discover. Discover what specifically? Clients. In my process of wanting to get something out of the door and into customers hands so I can make my first dollar, I think I’ve rushed this discovery phase.

(But maybe it’s just because we never spent more than a month on discovery in school. I’ve been working on Bedrok for a year at this point and it’s like… “Speed it up, Isaiah!”)

Now what do I do?

I love processes, systems, or whatever else that tells me to do things in logical steps. The real world doesn’t have that built into it, so I turn just about everything I do into steps because it makes sense for my brain. What this means is that I’m listing out all the potential clients that a freelancer could possible help, and one by one, discover as much as I can about each:

• Mom and pop shops
• SMBs (small medium businesses)
• Fortune 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000, etc… (how different are they from each other really?)
• The government (gross, bureaucracy!)
• People just starting a business
• LLCs

I’m sure there are more, but this is what I’ve got right now.

The idea is to systematically go through each and every client archetype and find the major problems, looking for those few problems which match the level of frustration that inconsistent work does for freelancers.

And ideally, after finding those couple problems which are an absolute pain for a specific type of client, it will then be time to come up with ways to solve both the freelancer and client problem in one fell swoop.