Thank you Alain, I had already read these different subjects. But not enough to reassure me!
In fact, I've been reading several times on various forums that for a freelancer it is possible to work with a minimum of investment. Using CAD licenses and customer hardware...
But honestly I don't really believe in it! Let me explain:
If a big company calls on a freelancer, it's because it has a punctual overload of work, so everyone in the company is at full throttle, and all the licenses are used. I know how it goes, you can never have enough license when it's a rush! I've never seen a company with excess licenses yet!
If a small company calls on a freelancer it's because it has no CAD means, or even no design office at all...
In short, I have the impression that the purchase of a solidworks license is essential (maybe I'm wrong...). Knowing that one of my skills, which I would like to exploit, lies in sizing and calculations by infinite elements, I would therefore have to move towards a Premium license with Simulation option to which I must add annual maintenance.... glups... if I add a good workstation that holds up... re-glups! I'll let you do the math, you need a hell of a budget to get started!
Why not take out a loan, but I imagine that at the level of the banks it becomes complicated when you don't have a fixed salary every month...
The versions are not really a problem since SW (unlike others) is managed via a serial number common to all versions. It's possible (and almost easy) to install all the versions you need as the need arises.
The problem that can arise is possibly finding the install files for a version older than the n-2 (n being the latest commercial version) but it can be arranged with the client.
But before talking about material investments, I think you should focus on more essential points such as the target market (niche or volume sector), the sustainability of your business, try to have customer contacts interested in a collaboration...
Also think that you will compete with service companies that will be more reactive, more aggressive and more autonomous than you...
All these points should be taken into consideration well in advance that cash flow problems for investment should not be possible.
24 licenses for 13 cartoonists? :o How do you explain this organization? Is it better to use subcontractors? Temporary work rather than hiring? (interesting feedback)
We agree that these are not my only questions! Far from it! It's just that as we are on the Lynkoa forum, I asked my questions related to this environment;)
@ sbadenis : it makes us dream what you tell us... We're on the other side (the service providers), it rarely happens that we use the customer's machines. So it's the customer's IT guy who installs the paths, the domain... on our machine (this is a source of long-term problems, there are always leftovers from one customer to another). So, we have to plan a clean HDD with an image/clone system but it's just a little management to plan (SW license to transfer, windows update...).
For the rest (drawing method, numbering) it is the basis in subcontracting in principle.
To come back to the basic question: finding customers is always difficult. Your problem will be time and schedule management. Time management: I have a lot of work > I don't have time to look for clients Scheduling management: I have a client who feeds me, I am offered another contract, there is a rush on deadlines
And I'm not talking about family problems related to fatigue or stress.
There is also the method department which draws a little, the managers of the 2 BE who open the assemblies for validation, and some people in the costing department who regularly draw 3D layouts. As a result, there are only 3-4 free licenses left for subcontractors, interns and apprentices in work-study programs.
Being a freelancer is generally a good thing, as long as you maintain a decent income. A big advantage of this solution is that we can spend a lot of time on household chores. Which is very important to me...
The above image of @Maclane represents: 1- A freelancer who is waiting for orders 2 - a forumer who is waiting for an answer before launching 3 - A freelancer after 3 years of activity 4 - a generative AI that bugs
So following this digging up I feel obliged to respond to my own post! My status has changed, so has my Lynkoa profile! So it's been more than 7 years since I took the plunge by leaving the world of salaried employment for that of the self-employed.
When I reread my post from 2016, I see that my questions and fears in 2016 were relatively well-founded. First of all, I am lucky enough to work in a field where there is work and I have kept in touch with former trusted collaborators. Some of my former employers, colleagues, friends, or schoolmates have become my clients. In terms of workload, I'm even lucky enough to be able to choose my projects and I guess it's not given to everyone! The crux of the matter is the almost impossible management of the schedule! Every customer imagines his project more urgent than that of others! So you have to be able to handle the workload. I rarely have visibility more than 15 days into my schedule. In the long run it's ultra stressful! (we have too much work => stress / we no longer have visibility => stress) Of course, on paper I can manage my schedule as I want, but in reality customer exchanges are all done between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. There are billable services but there is also everything else: administrative, banking, accounting, computer maintenance, quote writing... Time-consuming unpaid tasks that often go unnoticed by an employee. In the end, I often find myself at the office in the evening after dinner and regularly on weekends. When I go on " leave " (which is not paid!) I always have the computer with a connection under my arm! So you need a companion who is understanding on the subject! In terms of working time, it's almost double that when I was an employee! The proof is that I hardly hang out on this forum on which I was active! Indeed, at times we feel alone in the face of a difficulty. (some examples encountered: a crashing PC / a software conflict / a customer not paying / a health problem...) So I learned to delegate and to seek help, especially from other freelancers like me.
I purposely started with the negative aspects! The positive points are that I work in an environment that I choose, on problems that I am passionate about and that make me discover new things every day. The satisfaction of the work done is good for his ego. Working with pleasant and trustworthy people is priceless. Having managed to limit travel time and the time lost daily in traffic jams as much as possible (in 2016, I spent 2h30 a day in the car) is a real improvement. This status also allowed me to leave a big city to settle in a house in the countryside. From a financial point of view, I have also improved my situation significantly.
In short, not everything is rosy, you have to be autonomous, motivated, know how to face stress and fatigue! If I had to do it again? I will do it again! Would I do it for a long time? The future will tell! I have other business ideas in mind to test but mechanical design is still a real passion for me!
Hello @icome Thank you for the feedback, and delighted to see that you are thriving on the path you have chosen.
I conclude that to have the best of both worlds you have to know how to refuse projects. I know all too well that there is nothing more frustrating, with the added fear of losing a client, but it is the price to pay to reduce the workload and stress. Another compensation for this frustration is having more time to devote to the selected projects, contributing to more efficiency, and therefore to increased reliability of the final result.
For my part, I took the opposite path and paradoxically to gain freedom. But also in time to devote to my children. That said, it was after 30 years of liberal + craft teacher In any case, nice feedback
