More capacity to respond to my job opportunities

[boveriopablo]

Hello,

I am a very successful Industrial Designer here at Upwork and I have many job offers, in addition to everything I am currently doing.

My idea, some time ago, was to see if I can hire people and manage each project being the project manager myself and thus be able to absorb all the opportunities that arise.

To achieve this I need people, who I already have available and who are helping me today to carry out each project, but I am still an independent professional and not as a company.

I would like to know if, based on my needs to expand more and more, moving from Freelancer to Company or directly creating a company here at Upwork would be of any use. Could you explain this to me please? Since I am ruling out many offers due to lack of time and I would like to take advantage of most of them.

I await your comments.

Best

[d_samuel_udokpok]

You can create an agency Pablo and manage your contacts using your agency accounts. Make sure to read and understand Upwork agency account

[boveriopablo]

Hi David,

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

Beyond that I know that there is information about having an agency or being a freelancer, what I would like to know is if I am on the right track.
I mean, is it really necessary to create an agency? Should I keep my profile as a freelancer? What about my achievements? Top Rate Plus? Upwork Talent Cloud? etc...
It is still not very clear to me what my benefits would be in creating an agency and providing my services with a team of people that I already have today and I do it from my profile as a freelancer.

I wonder if the job opportunities or invitations that come to me, would also come to me as a company? Where do I see the publications of each job being an agency?

What other benefits could I have being an agency and having people in charge?

I have many doubts and I would like if you could clarify them for me because I am very busy and I would like to take advantage of everything.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to your responses.

Thank you!

[feed_my_eyes]

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Pablo Ariel B wrote:

It is still not very clear to me what my benefits would be in creating an agency and providing my services with a team of people that I already have today and I do it from my profile as a freelancer.

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There isn't supposed to be a team of people working under your profile; a single freelancer profile is only intended to represent you alone. Subcontracting is against the rules on hourly contracts, and only permitted with fixed rate contracts if you have the client's permission. So, if you're working with a team, the proper way to proceed would be with an agency account.

However, I would never start an agency account here because it's set up in such a strange way - each member of your team would need to set up their own profile, and your clients would have to hire each individual member of your team and work with them directly. Apparently there's no way to act as a proper project manager and be the client's sole contact, as in a real agency. Also, some people only set up agencies so that they can farm out work to cheaper freelancers and pocket the difference; many clients have had bad experiences and now stay away from agencies entirely, knowing that it's just a rip-off. So you may find that you don't get as many projects as you're currently getting as a [supposedly] solo freelancer.

[prestonhunter]

I have hired 178 freelancers.

On a few rare occasions, I have hired an agency of "team."

Very disappointing experiences.

I always try to be careful to not hire an agency or group of people using a single freelancer account.

[boveriopablo]

Hi Christine,

Thanks for your detailed answer.

In the first place, of my three current contracts that I have, only in one of them am I working with a colleague of mine and in specific cases. My client knows and agrees.

In the other two contracts, I am working alone. What I wanted to express that, perhaps it was misunderstood, is that I have many invitations and I would like to be able to respond to all of them, I do not see anything wrong with that as long as I comply. As you can see, my profile is more than excellent and that speaks for itself about my reputation.

As for creating an agency, I totally rule it out. I am never completely clear and, now with your comment, less so.

Cheers!

Thank you very much Preston for your answer too.