Thank you for your suggestion. Your site seems very intersting.
But I was not looking for contracts to work as a web developer. Technically I think I could do it but I have no experience in the field. I was rather looking for projects in pure programming, databases, Unix administration...
Johnthecoach > Thank you for proposing to send me the guide you wrote. I will send you my e-mail in a private message.
I would like to start as a freelancer in IT but finding customers is extremely difficult.
I tried networking but it did not help much.
I saw sites where you have to bid for projects. I have already done that in the past and it was a bad idea. I ended up doing small projects and working a lot for a tiny fee.
I saw agencies that advertise freelance contracts. But these are like regular jobs where you have to go everyday to the office. I don't mind doing so but working from home (and commuting or even travelling frequently to see the customer of course) would have allowed me to search contracts further away from where I live, in places where there are more opportunities.
Would you have some advice or some sites to recommend?
This is a very basic question but I would like to begin as a freelancer and I would like to make sure I understood correctly how it works.
The rates you require are VAT excluded. The customer have to pay us + VAT and we have to give it back to the state minus the VAT we paid on our expenses. Am I correct?
Many jobs are advertised by agencies. In my case (IT), I find that most of the contracts I come across are advertised by agencies and for work that is suppossed to take place at the premises of the company that hires you. I would have preferred to work from home and interact directly with the customer however I don't see any way to do so, at least for a start. I have tried networking but it did not help much.
When you work with an agency, the customer pays the agency which pays us after it took a commission (usually 20 %). After that, you can pay your own company (I preferred to set up a company rather than be self-employed) with the remainder. The other drawback of working through an agency is that they can prevent you to work directly in the future with the same customer. Is all this correct?
