Tiếng Việt
Not long ago, I was working on a freelance project in Korea when something interesting happened.
The client made a simple request:
“Can you create a banner that moves left and right on the screen?”
It was a straightforward task, so I assigned it to Developer A — someone I trusted, who had great technical skills and a solid work ethic.
Honestly, I thought it would be done in just a few hours.
But by the end of the day, there was still no result.
When I asked what was going on, A told me:
“I’m building a scalable, reusable banner system. I want it to be truly robust and future-proof.”
And I totally respect that.
It’s the kind of mindset that turns developers into top-tier engineers over time.
A passion for code quality is admirable.
But… here’s the thing.
This Wasn’t R&D. It Was a Freelance Project.
We weren’t working at a product company.
We weren’t part of a long-term, internal team.
We were freelancers, hired to deliver a result — with a fixed budget and a deadline.
So, I reassigned the task to Developer B.
He finished it in two hours. The banner looked great, worked perfectly, and the client was thrilled.
Ironically, A is actually more skilled than B in many ways.
But in the real world of freelance projects, technical skill alone doesn’t guarantee success.
3 Mindset Shifts Every Freelance Developer Should Embrace
1. Know Where You Are
Context is everything.
Are you building a long-term product? A quick prototype? Or a short-term client project?
In freelance work, especially outsourced projects, your top priority is simple:
Deliver what’s requested, on time and within budget.
Polishing and refactoring come afterward — not before.
2. Done Is Better Than Perfect
We all want to write clean, elegant, reusable code.
And yes, code quality matters. But…
In client work, results come first.
Clients care more about whether something works — not how beautiful your architecture is.
If you chase perfection from the start, you risk delays and losing trust.
Finish it first. Improve it later.
3. Build Trust, Not Just Code
In the freelance world, referrals are everything — especially from PMs or Tech Leads. And referrals come from one thing: trust.
If you become known as the developer who always delivers — who gets things done on time without drama —
you’ll be the first name they think of for future projects.
Clients may not understand all the technical details,
but they definitely notice when a project runs smoothly.
The Bottom Line: Skill Alone Isn’t Enough
Developer A is still an incredibly talented engineer.
But for that specific project, his mindset didn’t match the reality of the job.
As freelancers, we need more than raw coding skills. We need:
- Situational awareness
- The ability to solve problems under constraints
- A sharp sense of what matters most right now
If you want to be the kind of developer clients ask for by name,
don’t obsess over perfect code.
Focus on building trust through delivery.
That’s the real path to becoming a pro.
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