Where to look for official customers?

Question

Freelance

Hello. I have been working as a freelancer for a long time, both through oDesk and directly with old trusted customers. As usual, all relationships are oral, without contracts, I receive payment on a Payoneer card.
After some time, thoughts began to visit that it would be nice to legalize, open a legal entity. person (PE for starters), work under contracts, etc. There, the pay is higher, and there is room to expand (your own staff, grow into a web studio, etc.), bigger projects.
But, unfortunately, I have no idea where to look for clients. Those. for an ordinary freelancer, there are all sorts of exchanges where you can find a customer, but what about legal entities. individuals who need web development services? I doubt that such offices will place orders on the same exchanges.
Yes, I heard about tenders, but where are they announced, how to participate in them? First of all, they are interested in foreign customers, since prices are higher, and there is work experience (at the level of a lone freelancer). And just do it, is the game worth the candle?
PS Is it possible to work officially with exchanges like oDesk? Those. to draw up a contract, to support foreign exchange income with acts of work performed, etc.?

Answer 1

I thought about it a little, and realized that I worded the question a little wrong.
If you look at it, if you work as an enterprise (PE, or LLC), there are a lot of excess expenses, from innocent taxes in the event of an emergency, to paying for an office, an accountant's salary, etc. in the case of an LLC. Therefore, the price tag for development decently returns.
So, are there and how to find such customers who pay performers so much that they have enough to hire programmers, maintain offices, etc. My common sense says - such a minority, because why pay more if you can pay less. But I have very little experience in this matter.

You are mistaken about IP or LLC. You can have an office with an individual entrepreneur, a bunch of employees. And if you have an LLC, stay at home and work as a freelancer. It all depends on the needs and volumes that you need.
You operate the price tag. You can make websites while sitting at home for 4000 rubles. Eating pasta. Or also make websites at home for 300,000 tons.
There are companies that take little for work, but take the number of orders. Conventional conveyor and stamping.
I don’t remember exactly, but the IP seems to have limits on the movement of funds per year. Which LLC does not have. At the same time, there are no problems with withdrawing money from the IP account. At the same time, it is difficult to withdraw from the LLC account for yourself, only either as a RFP (but here the tax of 13% from the RFP goes + to the pension) or, as some do, buying expensive property on the balance of the LLC. For any movement of LLC funds must be reported to the tax office. For individual entrepreneurs, only income, well, and expenses if we want to deduct it from taxes.
Usually, IP / LLC issues are not bothered when there is a problem of growth. And when you start accepting orders from legal entities and you need contracts, invoices, certificates of delivery / acceptance, payments by bank transfer.
In your initial path, I would personally advise you to develop in the role of a leader (manager). If you want growth. And do not hire performers in the office. And delegate tasks to the same freelancers. Take on the role of a project manager. The one who negotiates with the customer. At the same time, start small. For now, do the work yourself, but try to order part of it from third-party freelancers or if you find someone permanently on a freelance basis. If it is possible to simply take more orders, just try to shift such orders to other freelancers, taking a percentage for yourself, albeit less than you give to the freelancer.
If you really want to try yourself offline, then nothing prevents you from being a freelancer and working under a contract, and at the end to submit (or not to submit) a tax return. As a last resort, open an individual entrepreneur with minimal taxes. And to complete the documentation for submission to the tax office, hire an outsourcer-accountant at the end of the quarter. Which, for a small money, will sum up your activities and prepare reports for the authorities.

Answer 2

On odeska, you can act as a team (studio), and not as a freelancer.
You can look for customers there on the stock exchanges if you want to work with foreign countries.
You can hire managers for cold calls and let companies in your city call and offer services. But here most often there will be small things, although when.
You can advertise yourself, highlight your company at all sorts of trainings and business seminars.
But do you need it? Isn't it easier to try to grow on the same freelance, just gather a team around you. If there are more orders than you manage to fulfill, transfer them to co-executors for a percentage.
About the legal entity and reports from Odessa, I know what is possible. Acquaintances so "officially" work through individual entrepreneurs with clothes.

Answer 3

Reporting, taxes and deductions will kill you. If you really want to become the general director of an LLC, then you need to at least communicate closely with an accountant, a lawyer and a person who resolves issues with inspections (labor protection, firefighters, etc.). It seems to me that it is enough for you to conclude civil law contracts with legal entities, and at the end of the year to submit an income declaration to the tax office on your own. You can hire "assistants" as before or through the same contracts. At the very beginning of communication with the customer, tell him that you need recommendations and you are interested in doing everything in the best possible way. When the volume of written recommendations on letterheads of organizations with the signature of the management becomes large, you can already “make” many LLCs, including those at tenders.