Okay, you’ve seen the headline so maybe my question is a bit pointless, but what would you guess is the #1 objection clients have with freelancers?

Is “lack of reliability” high on the list? It should be, because that’s exactly what your prospective clients think.

If you need proof, here are a couple of quotes from business owners about their dealings with freelancers (and this is only the beginning… plenty more quotes later in this post):

“Firms have relatively more to lose (reputation, lawsuit), so while freelancers are cheaper, quality and reliability are also lower with freelancers.”

-Vlad Solodovnyk, business owner in web and mobile development

“Firms are more process oriented which means that there are checks and balances in place and the delivery is not dependent on skill or mood of individual.”

-Sameer Jain, business owner in software development

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock or something, but for me, seeing these opinions was somewhat a surprise. I didn’t think we had such a shady reputation. And the rep itself isn’t even the worst thing here. The worst thing is that it almost certainly has an impact on the success of our businesses.

Some business owners simply don’t believe that the average freelancer can be trusted with a project.

This opinion hasn’t been dreamt out of thin air. The people who think this way have been burnt by freelancers in the past — or heard horror stories from someone whose freelancer let them down — and now they’re afraid all freelancers are the same.  [Read more…]