 |
|
|
|||||
I had to submit my résumé for a role. Then I went through three interviews, with nearly identical questions each time. The problem? The role was for a freelance writing position. Not to become a company employee. I got all the way to the third interview only to learn that the role paid a fraction of my usual rate, even though Id provided my rate up front. Im experienced enough as a solopreneur to know that going through three interviews was a bad sign. The potential client wasnt communicating internally (as confirmed by the fact that my rate had been overlooked). Multiple interviews are incredibly uncommon in my line of work, and indicated to me that the company didnt know how to work with a freelancer. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/11\/work-better-1.png","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/11\/work-better-mobile-1.png","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Work Better\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn\u0027t suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.workbetter.media\/\u0022\u003Eworkbetter.media\u003C\/a\u003E.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"SIGN UP","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","theme":{"bg":"#f5f5f5","text":"#000000","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#000000","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91457605,"imageMobileId":91457608,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} When youre a solopreneur, bad clients cost you time and money. They also crowd out better opportunities and put a strain on your bandwidth. Client selection is a core business skill. And if youre not in a position to turn down work, you at least need to know how to handle sticky situations when they come up. Red flags during the sales process The best time to spot a problematic client is before you sign anything. Thats when you can decide whether the client will be worth the hassle or not. Here are some of the most common red flags Ive experienced talking with potential clients. Vague project scope. “We’ll figure it out as we go” sounds flexible, but it usually means the client hasn’t thought through what they actually need. That ambiguity becomes your problem once youve signed a contract, and it can be hard to rein in. Requests for free work or unpaid test projects. There are very, very few scenarios in which I believe a solopreneur should do any unpaid work. I’ve seen unscrupulous companies use submitted test work without providing any compensationessentially, free labor for them. If a client needs to evaluate your skills, point them to your portfolio or testimonials. Or negotiate a paid project. Unrealistic expectations on timeline or rate. If a potential client lowballs you, the relationship will always be lopsided if you accept. Many solopreneurs juggle multiple clients, so saying yes to low-paying work or expedited timelines can impact your other clients. Simple script to use: “My rates start at $XX. If that doesn’t work for your budget, I’d be happy to recommend someone else who might be a better fit.” Red flags during the engagement Sometimes you have no idea that a client will be a nightmare until after you start working with them. But before you know it, some red flags tell you that the client relationship isnt going well. Scope creep. You identify the scope of the project and put it into the contract, but the client continues to come back to you with additional requests. If you accommodate the client, this erodes your effective rate when you “donate” extra timeand requests can add up, fast. Simple script to use: “This wasn’t included in our agreement, but I’m happy to do that for $XX additional amount, and it will take YY additional time.” Framing it this way clarifies that additional work has additional costs. Poor communication. Some clients expect instant replies, treating you like an employee who should be available whenever they need something. Or they take forever to reply, and you cant move forward. In both scenarios, you need to be proactive. Let clients know your expected response time (like you will respond within 24 hours). Make sure they are aware that a delayed response on their end will have a negative impact on the project. Delayed payments or ghosting on invoices. These are the clearest signals that a client relationship isn’t working. Drop that client, fast. You shouldnt have to chase a client for money thats owed to you. Protecting your business Every solopreneur says yes to an imperfect opportunity or has engagements with difficult clients. Its part of the business. You dont have to say no based on red flags, but you do need standardsand the language to enforce them. The earlier you learn to spot red flags and respond to them, the more options you’ll have. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/11\/work-better-1.png","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/11\/work-better-mobile-1.png","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Work Better\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn\u0027t suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.workbetter.media\/\u0022\u003Eworkbetter.media\u003C\/a\u003E.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"SIGN UP","ctaUrl":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","theme":{"bg":"#f5f5f5","text":"#000000","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#000000","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91457605,"imageMobileId":91457608,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
Americans go to great lengths to ensure they are financially set for their later years. But if you’re asking Elon Musk, you really needn’t bother. According to the world’s richest man, whose net worth is estimated at well over $700 billion, saving for retirement will soon be obsolete. Musk aired this view on a recent episode of the Moonshots With Peter Diamandis podcast. Musk let listeners in on his vision of our financial future, a world where technology, specifically artificial intelligence, creates such an abundance of resources that anyone can buy anything they want. The entrepreneur said that within just a few years, we will live in a world marked by a great surplus, where better medical care than anyone has today” will be “available for everyone within five years.” He also said that there will be no scarcity of goods and services” and you’ll be able to learn anything you want. Musk continued, explaining that there will be such a surplus that life will no longer require people to save in order to ensure they are taken care of later on. One side recommendation I have is: Dont worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years. It wont matter, he said, adding that he believes “saving for retirement will be irrelevant” and that the future will bring abundance.” Overall, Musk’s view of the future seems decidedly optimistic about AI. He talked about the power of AI to break barriers and using it to harness the sun’s energy. And he said he believes the “future of currency” will be measured not in money, but in “wattage.” But he also acknowledged that during what are bound to be years full of change, the road to the future he envisions will be “bumpy” and filled with obstacles. Musk said he doesn’t just foresee “universal high income,” but also major “social unrest” as the result of so much change in a short period of time. The prediction seems eerily similar to one made by John Maynard Keynes, known as the founder of modern macroeconomics, in 1930. In his essay, “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren,” the economist wrote that by 2030, technology would enable workers to adopt a 15-hour workweek. At the time, the workweek was estimated to be about 50 hours. In one sense, Keynes was correct: The average number of hours fell in the years following the prediction, as the 40-hour workweek was established soon after. However, today full-time work hours hover at about 8.4 hours a day or 42.5 hours a week, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While many of Keyness predictions about technology proved to be correct, such as how vastly technology has reshaped certain industries, working hours have yet to fall as drastically as he predicted. At the moment, Musks comments are hard to swallow, given that many Americans struggle with basic expenses like childcare, let alone saving for retirement. According to a 2025 report from the National Council on Aging, most older adults don’t have enough money to financially survive “a financial shock” triggered by a death, the need for long-term care, or illness. “Eighty percent of those 60 and older have little to no assets and would not be able to weather a financial shock without falling into poverty,” the report said. Researchers added: “The future of aging in America will likely be defined by an ever-widening inequality in both financial status and mortality, deepening the divide between the majority of older Americans (the 80%) and the top 20%.” Musk did say there would be bumps along the road to utopia.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its that time again. The calendar has flipped, the resolutions are written, and youre probably sitting in your office chair at your office desk looking at a lukewarm cup of office coffee, wondering if youve really got another year of fluorescent lights and serendipitous coworker interactions in you. Lets make a pact: No more. Its time to find a great remote job. Unfortunately, you cant find 21st-century work using 20th-century methods. If youre still scrolling through the generic “Big Box” job boards and getting buried in 5,000 applications for one role, youre doing it wrong. Instead, here are the five sites you should check first when youre looking to work from home. We Work Remotely We Work Remotely is the “Old Reliable” of the remote world. Its been around since 2011, which in internet years makes it roughly as ancient as a stone tablet. But its still the heavyweight champion. Its simple. Theres no bloat. You get a clean list of categories, and the jobs are actually remote. Because companies that post listings here pay a fee, youre far less likely to run into the pages and pages of filler that plagues the free boards. FlexJobs I know, I know: Its a subscription service. Asking someone whos looking for a paycheck to pay money feels a little backward. But heres the thing: FlexJobs has an army of humans who hand-screen every single job posting. If youre tired of clicking on a “Work from Home” ad only to realize it’s a pyramid scheme or a high-pressure sales gig, this is your sanctuary. They filter out the junk so you don’t have to. Remote OK If We Work Remotely is the elder statesman, Remote OK is the cool, tech-savvy younger sibling. The entire vibe is built for people who want to work from a laptop, whether thats in their living room or a café halfway around the world. The sites filters are fantastic. You can sort by salary ranges (yes, actual numbers!), tech stacks, and even benefits such as health insurance or four-day workweeks. Its fast, transparent, and updated constantly. Remote.co Remote.co was started by the same team behind FlexJobs, but while FlexJobs is a paid, curated list, Remote.co is a free, high-quality resource that goes beyond just job titles. One nice feature: They don’t just list a job; they interview the companies. You can read Q&As from more than 100 remote-first outfits to see how they actually handle things like time zones and communication. Its perfect for job seekers who want to know the vibe of a company before they even hit the apply button. Working Nomads If your dream is to emphasize the remote part of remote work, this is your home base. Working Nomads curates roles specifically for the digital nomad crowd, meaning these companies are usually comfortable with you working from pretty much anywhere on the map. The categorization is incredibly clean, and the site uses a color-coded system for different industries, making it very easy to scan. It also has a premium tier with 10 times more listings and advanced search filters. And its daily email alerts are a great way to stay in the loop without having to constantly check the site.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||