Day 5: I need more competition

I’m an embedded freelancer, and I need more competition.

Yes, you read it right. More competition.

Here’s why:

As I grew my freelancing business, more clients reached out via DM asking for help.

• I have project A, can you help me with that?
• I have project B, can you write firmware for it?
• I have project C, can you guide us to certification?

Believe it or not, I had to reject all of them (and many more).

Not because the projects were not interesting (they were interesting). Not because of budget issues (they had money).

But because of time, energy, and skills. I only handle 2 clients max in parallel.

Look, my focus is low-power design. But the projects they offered?

• End-to-end Industrial IoT
• Certification and regulation
• Automotive protocol
• Embedded Linux (big budget but big scope and long commitment like 6 months)

Even though the above topics are interesting. Honestly, I believe someone out there (maybe you?) has the capacity to handle them better than me.

But unfortunately, many skilled embedded engineers smarter than me don’t get to work on such interesting projects, simply because they don’t know how.

That’s why I wrote the book “Becoming Embedded Freelancer” so I can make more competition.

I don’t believe in zero-sum game (meaning someone’s gain equals someone else’s loss).

I believe in positive-sum game.

One finished freelance project will bring several other projects (I know because I’ve met clients with such projects).

Interested in being an embedded freelancer? Check out my book “Becoming Embedded Freelancer”.

PS: Don’t be mistaken. I’m not looking for someone to offload those clients’ projects. My point in this article is to encourage you to master client acquisition on your own (aka teach a man how to fish, so he can eat every day).

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Becoming Embedded Freelancer Book. Learn how to earn more money (even more than your main job) working on freelance projects using a proven path explained from an embedded engineer's point-of-view.

2. Firmware Development Workflow Guide. Upgrade your workflow to achieve efficient development, consistent code quality, robust firmware, and skyrocketed your productivity as an embedded engineer.