Starting milestones as a part of workbasehq tools
Why did I start milestones
Besides building my own businesses, I have also taken up a few freelancing projects. I did not actively look for them. All of them came through my existing network. Whenever a project came my way, I would ask about the requirements, what needed to be built, and so on.
In the beginning, it was all about finishing the project. But as I progressed, I understood that building the features is only one part of freelancing. There are many soft skills needed to execute a project successfully.
I did not know the challenges I would face when I started. Eventually, I began noticing recurring patterns. Here are a few of them:
- Not understanding why the client needed the project.
- Not understanding who was responsible for what.
- Not understanding that payments might not come when or how I expected.
- Not understanding that timelines might not work out as planned.
- Not understanding the deliverables clearly.
- Not understanding what was included and excluded from the project.
- Not understanding the acceptance criteria.
- Not understanding the scope of the project.
I faced these issues partly because I was new to freelancing and had no one in my circle doing this kind of work. I had zero experience beyond building things. I assumed people would behave the way I would. I assumed clients would understand things the way I did. I assumed everything would go as planned. I assumed there would be no additions to the requirements.
Looking back, I realise that I made these assumptions without understanding how freelancing actually works.
It took me a long time to understand my mistakes and correct them. Sometimes, I was already too invested in a project to walk away. I did not want to abandon something I had built. I had an emotional connection to the code I had written with my own hands, and I felt responsible for it, even when I was not rewarded as I had expected.
With every new client, I adjusted my process. I tried to bring more visibility and clarity to the client, the requirements, and the work involved. It was a gradual learning process, and I learned something new from each project.
I would have done a lot of things differently. I would have carefully addressed every point I mentioned above before starting a project. I would have prioritised payments and established clear boundaries from the very beginning.
After all, we all do this work to make a living.
I thought there must be other freelancers facing the same struggles I had experienced, and I wanted to help them. I want to remove, or at least reduce, the fear and uncertainty that come with doing freelance projects.
My goal is to empower 10,000 freelancers to do their work peacefully.