My “little” freelance firm has just reached S$1 million in revenue since I began early 2013. Feeling just a little proud, and encouraged.
At first my goal was just to keep moving forward after my firm retrenched me. I thought I would put myself on the market as a freelancer to let my network know I was available at a fraction of the rates they would have paid before. I was job hunting but wanted to keep working as well. With 7 years consulting experience, I knew what to do.
Same me, at about a fifth the cost.
A hundred and seventy invoices later, ‘I’ has become ‘we.’
A hundred and seventy invoices later (and still a fraction of big firm cost), ‘I’ has become ‘we’. With the help of my Director and Advisors and Associates—including consulting partners, training/event partners, registered freelancers, informal freelancers, in-betweeners, career breakers, and a few moonlighters—I have been able to pull together teams ranging from 2 to 6 people to deliver great work for my clients, addressing rewards issues in more than 20 countries.
In addition to consulting, training is about one-third of my revenue, and I’ve had the privilege to train over 1,000 HR professionals and about 500 line managers on pay topics. I’ve created MOM-approved, funded courses and done custom in-house programmes for many organisations. I have great training partners, such as SNEF, HRMBSi, Beyond360, WorldatWork, Lighthouse, HRMAsia and others. I’ve even collaborated with HayGroup (now KornFerry HayGroup).
With help from an Associate in Indonesia, I’ve conducted two studies on “Ending the Use of Ratings in Asia”, now incorporated into my class on Managing Performance Without Ratings.
The average associate on my client teams has more than 15 years real-world experience, mostly corporate, in multiple industries. I gladly pay my associates well for their great contributions, whether they are client-facing or behind the scenes. (Hey, let me know if you’d like to do some consulting!)
Who knows what tomorrow will bring? No one really knows for sure. Peter Drucker said the best way to predict the future is to create it. For me, I only want to create a good income for my family doing what I’m best at and enjoy doing, in a place where I am happy to be, which today is Singapore.
Come meet me and my key associates and partners at our Open House event on Thursday, 25 May, after work from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Royal Plaza on Scotts. It’s free, and you will be fed! Find out more about Freelance Total Rewards, a smart alternative to the big firms. Meet Fermin A. Diez, CCP, SPHR (my Director and advisor) and Dr. Mark Bussin, Chairman of 21st Century Rewards, who is my partner for compensation data and technology tools. They will be signing (and selling for $40) copies of their new book, Remuneration Handbook–International Edition. Click here for more information or to register to attend our Open House.
Well, time to get back to work!
Thank you, Singapore. A million thank you’s.
Tom
Congratulations, Tom! You have helped thousands of people! Cheers and more success!