Freelance 101 Archives - OdeBlog

NetSuite Consultants – The OdeCloud Vision For The NetSuite Community Is Coming To Life.

Osar Iyamu — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 08:48:37 +0000

Fellow NetSuite Consultants and members of the OdeCloud NetSuite community,

It’s only Tuesday, but feels like Thursday already . First of all, it’s really exciting to be part of a thriving global NetSuite community and to be connected with so many NetSuite consultants here on the OdeCloud platform. It’s truly incredible the journey this has been, from a our little community Slack account in 2020 to fully featured and proprietary technology platform. I can definitely tell you we took the longer route. However, we weren’t alone.

We have had NetSuite professionals and business clients since day-one of this platform. We continue to grow in numbers each day, however we remain an exclusive community open to the most experienced NetSuite consultants, and now invite more business technology professionals to join us (Salesforce, SAP, Infor, MS Dyamics and more).

Our Purpose

Business Technology Consultants transitioning to independent consulting seek the freedom and flexibility that freelance work provides, leveraging their expertise and experience for autonomy. However, these professionals often harbor concerns about securing consistent job opportunities, avoiding employment gaps, engaging in vetted projects, and handling large-scale assignments without support. These anxieties underscore the importance of a platform that not only understands their needs but also exceeds expectations in addressing these key fears.

Enter OdeCloud, an acronym for On Demand Experts Cloud, positioned as a reliable marketplace, community, and technology platform. OdeCloud effectively alleviates the apprehensions of independent consultants by matching them with curated hiring managers, projects, and co-workers, exceeding expectations in the crucial aspects of job acquisition

In contrast, traditional alternatives like Anderson Frank, dealing with a large volume of job seekers, fall short in providing the deep technical expertise and personalized support that consultants crave. While Anderson Frank may handle occasional projects, OdeCloud shines by offering a more comprehensive and personalized experience, caring about the success of independent consultants and providing assisted placement services that significantly ease the process of running a freelance business, making it not only more manageable but also more enjoyable.

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We are also pleased to have with us many software partners highly recommended in the Business Technology ecosystem by NetSuite consultants.

Lastly, the party would not be complete without the clients we absolutely love! What is more powerful than seeing your consultant call upon his community of over 500 top experts to crowdsource the best solution for your NetSuite projects or help resolve pressing issues, quickly? We are happy to have you here.

Where are. Where are headed

For those who just joined us and have not meet with Ahad Arain, Vanielle Lee and myself (Co-Founders) yet to chat about OdeCloud, below is the vision we have for this platform

We want to upgrade the experience of technology consultants, better connect them to their peers, promote camaraderie, community and collaborative learning for a greater personal and professional growth, and help them achieve their entrepreneurial goals as freelancers.

Our vision is to be the world’s most human-centric, community-driven and knowledgable talent marketplace where the highest value jobs find their talent match.

Our mission is to improve people’s lives by helping them achieve a more fulfilling and joyful independent career and a greater work life balance.

We have achieved part of this vision with the launch of our social feed “OdeSocial” and our freelance marketplace for NetSuite Consultants. But it’s just the beginning. There is more to come .

Thank you all for your support to OdeCloud and to each other!

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Building A Freelancing Platform for Digital Nomads

Angelo — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Digital nomads — look no further than OdeCloud for all your long-term freelancing needs.

Digital nomads are individuals who, often due to the technological nature of their job or career, freely roam the world and move from place to place while still being able to access and complete their work.

But as any freelancer would know, the freelancing lifestyle can be fairly unpredictable, and it can be difficult to plan for lengthy trips around the globe when work loads and finances change rather often.

PREVIOUS POST — Just In Time Inventory: Keep Inventory Stocked Without Overspending

OdeCloud CTO and co-founder Vanielle Lee is one of these digital nomads. Having already visited over 20 different countries over the course of her relatively young lifetime, she currently works out of Seoul, South Korea as a freelance software engineer.

According to her, seeing so many of her close friends traveling the globe is what really inspired her to make a significant life change. Working a conventional 9-to-5 job as a Silicon Valley techie was great financially, but she knew she needed to change the direction of her career if she was going to achieve a much more desirable work-life balance.

“As a millennial of this generation, that 9-to-5 just wasn’t working out well — especially when I was maybe on the train scrolling through my Instagram, seeing my friends traveling to like, Bali,” Vanielle said. “I said, ‘Hey, c’mon, that could be me!’

“So I wanted to find a way to make this possible, of how I could fit in what I love to do, my job as a software engineer, and also, how do I end up getting hired by a company to get there?”

She initially attempted to search for a company that would immediately benefit her work-life balance as a software engineer, but eventually came to terms with the fact that there are few businesses that are actually built to allow for such needs.

It was at that point that she began her work as a freelance software engineer, which provided her with more time to do what she wanted, but unfortunately cost her the financial security of a full time job. She recalls splitting her time between finishing up work for clients and frantically scrolling through freelancing platforms like Upwork in hopes of securing next week’s paycheck.

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Happening across Osar Iyamu and her current long-term gig with OdeCloud, she considers herself very lucky to now be provided with more opportunities to “explore the world,” as well as the “comfort and security of being in a 9-to-5 job.”

OdeCloud, she says, removes the usual unpredictability that comes with being a freelancer, allowing her to much more accurately plan out her time.

“I could eventually go to maybe somewhere like Singapore, or maybe even go to somewhere in Brazil, and know that I still have the same amount of income next week — while also still having a stable work load coming in.”

“It’s hard to plan for the future when the short term is still so unpredictable; but the main plus of being a part of OdeCloud is it gives me a lot more leeway to be able to think (about) the future.”

Additionally, she appreciates the freedom that OdeCloud has given her to create, allowing her to realize her dreams of creating a platform aimed at helping other freelancers find long-term gigs.

In my next post, I’ll detail just how Vanielle came to be involved with OdeCloud, as well as how she knew the company would be such a great fit for her desired lifestyle.

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OdeCloud’s Primary Community Goal: Growing Together in NetSuite

Osar Iyamu — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 00:27:43 +0000

NetSuite consultant Minh Bao Le discusses why he joined the OdeCloud community, as well as his hopes of growing together in NetSuite.

Growing together in NetSuite is one of the foundational ideas behind OdeCloud’s online community of freelance NetSuite experts.

As an individual consultant, it can be exceptionally difficult to reliably and rapidly improve our craft. At it’s core, freelancing can often be a rather lonely way to work.

PREVIOUS POST — NetSuite Freelancers: Where Do We Go When We Need Help?

Knowing this, we at OdeCloud set out to create a platform that would allow NetSuite freelancers from all walks of life to directly assist each other on projects and easily exchange high-level knowledge.

And that’s exactly the reason why freelance NetSuite consultant Minh Bao Le thought it was an absolute no-brainer to join the OdeCloud community.

“I’ve always wanted to be part of something that that was growing together — not something that you know, you had one leader at the top where they just profit off everyone at the bottom, they’re all working for that person, etc.
“I’ve always wanted to be part of something that allows people to help each other out, that allows people to grow together.
And since NetSuite touches my work, it was kind of the perfect opportunity for me to help out others or others to help me out, and also be part of something that links everybody together.”

With the OdeCloud community, the days of working alone as lone wolf freelancers are long gone! Embracing the power of crowdsourcing, we take the expertise of one consultant and multiply is tenfold.

And it’s because of freelancers like Minh that we continue to focus on building up the OdeCloud community, hoping to revolutionize the way we think about work.

RELATED POST — The Secret to OdeCloud’s Fast NetSuite Services

It’s because of freelancers like Minh that we remain motivated in our endeavor to create the best freelancer community in the world.

Transcription

Angelo Mendoza: You have such a unique perspective that you bring to the community. I’m so happy that you were able to join us. Which brings me to my very last question for you today: Osar very much likes to pinpoint people within this sphere and bring them together, but what exactly was the selling point for you? Why exactly did you want to join the community?

LLC or Sole Proprietorship: How Should I Structure My Freelancing Business?

Angelo — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 06:40:42 +0000

Should I start as an LLC? A sole proprietorship? What’s this about an s corp and a c corp? I’m confused, so let’s work this out together.

Welcome back to our series “In the AM,” in which you follow me, Angelo Mendoza, on my path from independent freelancer to fully organized freelancing business! Last time we spoke, we discussed my past working as a sports writer and my inevitable transition to tech writer, laying the foundation on which we’ll build this new business.

I understand that I set up this post to be our opportunity to flesh out my business plan, but part of that process — as I learned from the Economic Development team in Fremont, CA — is figuring out how I want to structure my business. The choice came down to two clear options: Did I want to establish myself right off the bat as a limited liability company (LLC), or did I want to start my business as a sole proprietorship?

Speaking to other freelancers with their own DBA, the consensus is LLC. The reasoning for creating an LLC as opposed to a sole proprietorship was two fold: (1) an LLC provides personal liability protection, and (2) it allows for more flexibility when it comes to taxes.

Protect yourself before you wreck yourself

Serving as a formal business entity, an LLC essentially separates you from your business. As an owner in an LLC, you’re simply considered a “member,” of which there can be an unlimited amount. In layman’s terms, an LLC differs from a sole proprietorship in that the latter doesn’t separate you from your business. In a sole proprietorship, you are the undisputed owner.

Falling into debt in a sole proprietorship can be absolutely disastrous, as creditors are capable of taking your house, your car, and other personal assets. An LLC protects your personal assets from seizures relating to any business debt, making it very popular among freelancers.

Personally, my mother (also a business owner) was adamant I should file as a sole proprietor (like her). She explained that it was by far the easiest way to structure and the path of least resistance. For a person looking to immediately start their business, this would make sense.

However, I’m looking to make this more of a marathon; not a sprint. Time is my most valuable resource, but I’m in no rush. I figured we might as well do this the right way the first time around. But let’s move on to tax implications!

Death & Taxes!

We didn’t get too much into it at the time (which means I’ll likely be making a more in-depth follow up to this post in the near future), but from what I understand, an LLC allows for more tax flexibility because you become capable of filing as a sole proprietorship OR a corporation.

And that’s where the terms of “s corp” and “c corp” come into play! Both are different tax classifications available to LLCs, and each have their own implications. Put simply, an s corp seems to be the more popular choice considering it makes the owner/member exempt from federal corporate income tax; instead, the owner pays taxes on specific dividends.

Conclusion

Like I said, we can get more into tax implications another time, but I’m pretty set on starting out as an LLC as opposed to a sole proprietorship. That being said, I’m not ENTIRELY sure about HOW to get started with filing an LLC! There’s a few options out there that have come across my desk over the past couple days, such as ZenBusiness, Incfile, and Tailorbrands.

We’ll take a look at all three in my next post. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and be sure to comment below with your thoughts. Talk to y’all next time…In the AM!

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Starting Your Own Freelancing Business: Where Do I Even Begin?

Angelo — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 17:42:58 +0000

No one really has any idea what they're doing...and that's ok!

I had always wanted to be my own boss. I just didn’t know where to start.

If we’re being perfectly honest, I’m STILL really unclear as to where I should start – and that’s probably the main reason why I’m going to be writing every step of this adventure down.

Maybe I’ll find some tips and tricks to share on my way to success, or maybe I’ll just completely crash and burn. Either way, I’m in for the journey, so I hope you are too.

To give everyone some context before we get into the weeds: I started writing my own blog back in 2011 on a little site called Tumblr. Building up a considerable following on both my blog and Twitter, I was eventually roped into writing sports pieces for a startup that eventually grew to be quite distinguished.

But it was with them that I got my first taste of being a freelance writer, and let me tell you: it tasted like ASS.

Back then, anything that had to do with freelance journalism was considered a poor career choice, and my first writing gig had only confirmed that. I unfortunately found myself having to work multiple minimum wage jobs to help support my dream of being a sports writer (albeit a severely limited and underpaid sports writer).

What I didn’t realize until late in my adulthood was just how much EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS valued good writing. So, I shifted gears and started looking at simple contract work, eventually signing a handful of long-term clients.

But with some clients now looking to scale back before 2023, the fountain of wealth has apparently dried up, and I find myself at a crossroad: Do I continue to seek out freelance gigs with more and more clients, or do I finally settle down and put roots down with a single business?

Naturally, I chose to try to get the best of both worlds and start my own business. And the best part about this: as a freelancer, I already have access to multiple CEO’s ready to share their respective perspectives (all of which I’ll share with you).

Which brings me back to my original question: Where do I start?

I suppose where you start actually depends on where you live, which in my case is Fremont, CA. Going to the official site for my city, they advise that I completely draw out my business plan to help determine any preliminary strengths and weaknesses.

We should also keep in mind that this brainstorming session can also be beneficial when looking for potential investors. Highly unlikely considering it’s not necessary for my particular business, but we’ll nevertheless note that for later.

Now that I know where to start, it’s all a matter of where to go from here. I know I have to register my business and get a business bank account. I know I have to start thinking about its legal structure and get business insurance. I also know I have to starting preparing for my initial tax report (which I’m already dreading).

But one step at a time; we’ll cross that bridge if or when we get there.

For now, let’s save that brainstorming session for our next go. Until then, see you next time… In the AM!

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