Should freelancers form a partnership with another freelancer or developer?
I recently had a skype conversation with my web and tech developer. He asked me, ‘should I form a partnership with another developer’?
It is an interesting question whether a freelancer or developer is better off on his own – or with a partner.
So, to kick the debate off, we thought we’d show our conversation below and ask you what you think? Replies at the end of the article please…
[16:09:20] Sean Barton: just toying with the idea of a partnership with another developer. thoughts?
[16:09:25] Neil Lewis: 
[16:09:26] Sean Barton: in your experience do they work
[16:09:42] Neil Lewis: yes and no…
[16:09:50] Sean Barton: ha. thanks
[16:10:04] Neil Lewis: loose partnerships – I’ll pass work your way – you pass work my way (if overloaded for instance) work well
[16:10:21] Sean Barton: we have that now
[16:10:31] Neil Lewis: rigid partnerships – we both charge our costs and split revenue 50 / 50 require much greater trust
[16:10:38] Neil Lewis: and this often breaks…
[16:10:54] Neil Lewis: because one person will always have more work – or do more work – than the other
[16:11:04] Sean Barton: yeah sure. inevitable i suppose
[16:11:09] Neil Lewis: are you both – essentially – offering the same skills?
[16:11:14] Neil Lewis: or different skills?
[16:11:16] Sean Barton: yes and no
[16:11:30] Neil Lewis: 
[16:11:44] Neil Lewis: it is just easier with different skills
[16:13:10] Sean Barton: both programmers but he dabbles with design and languages like asp although mainly php. he does work on bespioke systems mainly for clients who work daytime hours. i am a wordpress specialist but very much a jack of all trades and my clients are really mainly agencies where people work the hours needed to meet deadlines. so a good mix there which i feel is complimentary without overstepping or declaring one better than the other etc.. im ‘having a think’ as is he.
[16:13:19] Sean Barton: would be semi rigid i suppose
[16:13:51] Neil Lewis:
[16:14:07] Sean Barton: profit and work sharing whilst keeping each other going thorugh peaks and troughs at the same time attempting to grow the business into somewrthing bigger. but not as one ceo and one lacky etc..
[16:15:11] Neil Lewis: may be you need to think about how you’d like to ‘break-up’ or ‘divorce’ – if you can work out how you’d want that to happen – and the circumstances under which you’d want it to happen – then you can probably be confident that you’ll either sort any challenges or have a quick and easy walk away…
[16:17:30] Neil Lewis: yeah – its a bit lonely being a freelancer on your own – and its nice to share – especially if you are in the same field but dealing with different sorts of clients…
Written by Editor on January 17, 2012 and filed in Co-founder, Entrepreneurs, Freelance Jobs, Freelancers, Innovative Entrepreneur, News, Opinion developers, Freelance Jobs, partners
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Anonymous
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http://www.redundancyrescue.com/ Steve Waters
Manchester's 'Equity Free' Startup Accelerator
