Hello;
I want to become a "freelance mechanical draughtsman".
Single-member service company (at least initially), which works in the form of an assignment for design offices. Field: special machine, industrial product.
My rapid curriculum: 10 years ago I set up an instrumentation company with my brother. He is the project leader and the manager.
For various reasons, I want to take off with this project (but on good terms!).
After several searches, it seems impossible to me to go back to work for an employer as a simple employee! I have tasted a certain independence, I would like to keep it!
But I asked myself the following question:
What is the hourly rate? €45 excl. tax/h €55 excl. tax/h?
Are there several hourly rates depending on the work to be done?
Do you know any self-employed workers? Do they manage to make a decent living from their missions?
What do you think makes a good freelancer? Reliable and trouble-free studies afterwards, compliance with delivery deadlines? .......
What is the responsibility of a self-employed person for his studies?
I ask a lot of questions.
Thank you for your answers.
Hello
I am self-employed. I am a designer, projector-draftsman, fitter, automation engineer, electrician, cable operator, accountant, sweeper... I'll come back to this a little later.
I'll answer your questions in order. Hourly rates, variable according to tasks to be performed. 42€ for simple maintenance to 52€ for design, I know I'm rather low in rates but it builds customer loyalty.
Do we manage to make a living from missions? It all depends on your lifestyle, if you live at your parents' house eating vegetables from the garden, without a wife or children, working 3 days a month, you are a rich man. Laughing out loud.
Unfortunately, the status of self-employed worker is one of the most taxed, they must believe that we are black and that we have a way to put aside for retirement. Personally, I make 10 k€ of turnover per month, taxed at nearly 60% between the URSSAF, RSI, CIPAV ... . Not to mention income taxes, to that you add, SW maintenance, PC credit, insurance, mutual insurance ... . You can see that you don't have enough left to go to Ibiza every month.
I've been self-employed for 4 years and I've taken about ten days off working between 250 and 300 hours a month.
The smart guys who will have calculated only 10k€ with an average of 50€ per hour, that's only 200 hours, don't take into account all the hours that are not billed: accounting, sales, journeys ... .
What makes a good freelancer? Yes, of course, reliable studies, but not only. You have to have a very good relationship with customers, if you have a character and you don't listen to your customer, it won't last. In my opinion, you need the greatest possible versatility, you have to be a jack of all trades and not bad in each area. After all, we're not supermen either, there are things we don't know how to do. In this case, do not hesitate to ask for help from suppliers, machinists or others. They will be happy to help you and you will gain more experience.
You have to be as frank as possible with clients, if they offer you a project that you feel is wobbly, at first, listen, and with diplomacy you explain the problems they may encounter and if possible provide them with alternative solutions.
For delivery times, it's not a very big problem if you don't respect them (if it's reasonable), once again just be honest with the customer, tell them what caused you difficulties and also tell them that you'd rather deliver a reliable product than rush the work and deliver a questionable product.
For the responsibility of a self-employed person for his studies, there is insurance for that that will cover you if your machine injures a third party. You should also lock in your general terms and conditions of sale by specifying that the design office is developing a prototype and that the customer must notify at the beginning of the design process if he wants the machine to be certified as a design engineer.
There you go, I guess this will lead you to ask other questions, don't hesitate.
To conclude, being self-employed does indeed bring a certain freedom (quite relative all the same) but you have to work a lot of hours to start making a good living from it. I don't regret having started my own business, but in 2016, I will try to provide more services (training, technical advice, etc.) than machine studies. Less stress and more rewarding)
Hello
Oh yes I have plenty of other questions! But thank you for your answers!
They confirm my desire to go!
Everything you explain to me, I understand: I like being versatile, I understand the relative freedom. I developed the ability to work: when you set up a company with your brother, when you take out industrial equipment, you work continuously during the week, in the evening, in the morning before leaving, on weekends...
It is on the legal form that I still ask questions: EIRL, SARL, umbrella company, etc.
I'm interested in wage portage because it's easy to set up, not too much paperwork and to test the project it seems good to me!
In addition, you have to develop your network!
The project that we carried out with my brother started in a business incubator. We were "pampered", accompanied and that's very important! You have a problem, you talk about it, you don't necessarily have the answer but talking about it already makes you move towards the solution.... How can I not find myself alone in front of my PC! I have to find a network to join. Well, of course, you have to make customer visits. You meet people but to your client, you are not going to explain your problems to him!
And finally I have to find my first client! It was important!
Hello projector78,
For my part, I created my company in January 2015 as a freelance designer (metalwork/boilermaking/special machine) Diploma level I have a bac+2 and 8 years of experience in BE. I opted for an EI (Individual Company) with the micro-enterprise tax regime to start with. Today, and after a satisfactory first year, I am changing my tax regime to that of the simplified real regime. Over 12 months I had to work 8 months accumulated and I live very well and I don't think I'll go back :p
As far as my way of working is concerned, I am currently working on a direct basis, i.e. internally at my clients' premises with their computer equipment for short and medium-sized missions. As would a temporary worker or service provider of an IT services company to put it simply. Now I'm only starting to find out about the purchase of hardware and software licenses to offer fixed-price missions, i.e. studies and the supply of plans within a given timeframe. Before offering this service, you have to make an address book through the control room.
Regarding the cost of a service under direct management, I charge a daily rate negotiated with my client. This takes into account three parameters:d type of mission expected by the client (it's very empirical, it's according to your know-how), the total duration needed by the client (decreasing rate according to time) and the geographical area of the mission (accommodation/road costs/etc.). Never detail it to customers of course! I don't have any technical speciality to offer and my biggest competitors are temporary employment agencies and design offices offering service providers. I must be more profitable than them to make an address book (because I'm just starting out..) In the provinces, you have to forget about the 10k€/month! Maybe in IdF or PACA but I doubt a little without a field of expertise sought... Personally, I already have the bananas when I exceed 5k€/month!
As for the contributions, well.. It all depends on the tax system. I'm taxed as an EI micro regime at 26% of the turnover, minus the IR, your accountant, insurance (your software license and your PC/printer equipment credit if you have any)... In short, I still earn much more than being an employee and I don't have anyone to break my *candy* except the customer. Find out according to your tax regime. I strongly advise you to get in touch with an accounting/legal firm offering the help of an AGA (approved management association).
What makes a good freelance cartoonist? His technical skills, his listening skills and his strength of proposal! You must absolutely have technical skills in industrial design, which is the ABCs of course, but also a good professional experience behind with the knowledge of customer expectations and also of production/manufacturing workshops. You will have to anticipate customer requests, quickly understand what they want and be patient with them on all last-minute changes... then very reactive to apply them! Your studies alone will be useless without experience in BE before starting as a freelancer. Without experience, you will never be able to determine a project delivery time, nor find the most appropriate and less expensive solutions. In short, everything is linked to the experience in fact. Diversity also helps!
The responsibility for your studies can cost you dearly.... very expensive... Imagine the worst, you design a structure that can accommodate a technician. It has been badly sized and is giving way. The technician falls and this injures or becomes disabled or worse dies. The user company will file a complaint against the company that manufactured the structure, which will turn against the designer... If he is a salaried technician, he is protected by his management. If it's you as an indie he won't hesitate to turn against you. If you are not protected, you can lose everything and be indebted for life. I don't want to scare you but you have to insure in addition the mandatory professional liability (100€/year) with a specific insurance (2000 to 5000€/year depending on the needs and insurers).
To conclude, there are a lot of points to see and vary according to your choice of status and tax regime. It's hard to cover everything in one post. Just a few tips to give you: 1/ Don't get discouraged, everything must be done step by step 2/ Ask yourself the real questions, what do you have to offer? Do you have the skills? etc. 3/ Be surrounded by professionals: CCI, lawyer, accountant, etc. If you plan to manage everything alone, you're wrong.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me by pv message.
For having created my company a while ago, I advise a form of sasu,
You are an employee of your company, you have no RSI so less taxed, just employee charges. (you and others)
in case you get fired and you can even receive unemployment in the event of the dissolution of a company...
The necessary an accountant at the top, a client book, and if you have all this with a certainty of work dark.
In case I go through the self-employed box like some of my former colleagues.
It's a scam but it costs less in case of a failure
opening a company costs nothing just 1500€ of BO fees etc plus having a lot of money on the account to not be ridiculous like 5000€ is of course the share capital
Then if you close and well you put back 2000€ for taxes, fees and other.but then you have no more problem.
"even if you are no longer solvent" at least if your debt is less than 2500 €
I have status if you're interested. (that's what cost me a little money)
Hello
I recently created my SASU to provide services in an industrial design office.
I am struggling to find an insurance company that wants to follow me, with whom are you insured? And do you have any advice on this?
Thanks in advance!