Taxes, contracts, revenue: Anyone who wants to go self-employed hears about the problems first. My advice: Forget all of that for now. The only question that counts is whether you really want to go down this road. Everything else can be solved.
I am Umair Zaffar, founder of SIFAMO, an IT services company from Frankfurt. Today I am telling you how it all really began for me, unfiltered and honest. Everyone at some point has the idea of going self-employed. And the first thing you hear is the hurdles: taxes, problems with setting up, are you sure, where will your revenue come from, your contracts? I will be honest: Forget that. First work out for yourself whether you want to go down this road. Everything else can come afterwards.
Recorded in Frankfurt am Main, June 2026. At the end of the video there is a short look inside our office.
Why a permanent job is not as secure as it looks
Looking back, my thinking in my permanent job was simple: Being permanently employed is nice, is good, is secure. But the employer can go bust at some point, and then that security is gone. You always carry that risk, just without any control over it. You have to become aware of that. So I decided: You are simply starting now. And as a freelancer.
Learn first, scale later: Why I did not start with a product
I come from IT, so I had to work out what freelancing meant for me. I wanted to develop software. I could have built my own tool, but selling a tool is a different challenge, and I did not know the game yet, I did not know how the market works. So I set myself three goals:
Learn how to build really good software, above all at corporate level.
Understand how to apply what I learned later, in projects and eventually in my own company.
Earn good money along the way, to be able to finance the next steps at all.
Applying for a tax number: Less than five minutes
What do you have to do to be a freelancer? It is easy. Open Google, type in “become a freelancer”, register, apply for a tax number. For me it took less than five minutes. At some point the number arrived, and off I went. On that day I had no idea what a tax number meant, VAT, profit, income statement, no clue. I told myself: I will deal with that when the first revenue comes in. And that was the right call. You do not have to be ready on day one.
The tax office is not as bad as you think. Nobody comes along and says, you started something in your head, now pay tax on it. Once the first income is there, you get yourself a tax advisor, and they explain everything to you from A to Z. Mine was excellent. We even grew together: first the advance VAT return the following month, then the income statement at the end of the year, all without any rush. Over time you understand what deducting and depreciating mean. How I later came to found a GmbH and why is in my post My first client and why I founded a GmbH (German).
Find a niche, chase the first client, accept a bad hourly rate
The hurdle to starting something is far too big in most people’s heads. Just start and find yourself a niche, that is very important. I picked a clear one: only software in the B2B space, large platforms. And then the most important thing of all: Find your first client. Go on Google, search, email people like crazy. I have an idea, I can do something, I am good at it, I am offering it as a freelancer. Just keep going until the first client comes.
My first hourly rate was dreadful. So many people took a cut of it. I did the job anyway, because I wanted to get going. After that, everything built up from there. Concentrate on how you get revenue and projects and how you build yourself up, instead of on whether you are missing something or doing something wrong.
Nothing happens overnight
I did not grow from freelancer to holding structure overnight. The holding came much later, more on that in separate posts, for example about our trip to Dubai (German). The only important thing to understand: Everything happens over time. And everything that comes overnight can be gone again overnight. So: just get started. At the end of the video I take you on a short tour of our office in Frankfurt. Where are you stuck right now, at the decision or at the first client? Tell me on LinkedIn or below the video on my YouTube channel.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to start as a freelancer in IT?
A tax number from the tax office, which you apply for online, a clear niche and the first client. Bookkeeping, VAT and a tax advisor come with the first income, not before.
Should I start with my own product or as a service provider?
If you do not know the market yet, you learn faster as a service provider, earn money sooner and build the expertise that makes a product possible in the first place. That is how it was for me.
How do I find my first client?
Search, post, reach out, until someone bites. A bad hourly rate on the first project is not failure, it is the price of admission. After that, everything builds up from there.
Taxes, contracts, revenue: Anyone who wants to go self-employed hears about the problems first. My advice: Forget all of that for now. The only question that counts is whether you really want to go down this road. Everything else can be solved.
I am Umair Zaffar, founder of SIFAMO, an IT services company from Frankfurt. Today I am telling you how it all really began for me, unfiltered and honest. Everyone at some point has the idea of going self-employed. And the first thing you hear is the hurdles: taxes, problems with setting up, are you sure, where will your revenue come from, your contracts? I will be honest: Forget that. First work out for yourself whether you want to go down this road. Everything else can come afterwards.
Why a permanent job is not as secure as it looks
Looking back, my thinking in my permanent job was simple: Being permanently employed is nice, is good, is secure. But the employer can go bust at some point, and then that security is gone. You always carry that risk, just without any control over it. You have to become aware of that. So I decided: You are simply starting now. And as a freelancer.
Learn first, scale later: Why I did not start with a product
I come from IT, so I had to work out what freelancing meant for me. I wanted to develop software. I could have built my own tool, but selling a tool is a different challenge, and I did not know the game yet, I did not know how the market works. So I set myself three goals:
Applying for a tax number: Less than five minutes
What do you have to do to be a freelancer? It is easy. Open Google, type in “become a freelancer”, register, apply for a tax number. For me it took less than five minutes. At some point the number arrived, and off I went. On that day I had no idea what a tax number meant, VAT, profit, income statement, no clue. I told myself: I will deal with that when the first revenue comes in. And that was the right call. You do not have to be ready on day one.
The tax office is not as bad as you think. Nobody comes along and says, you started something in your head, now pay tax on it. Once the first income is there, you get yourself a tax advisor, and they explain everything to you from A to Z. Mine was excellent. We even grew together: first the advance VAT return the following month, then the income statement at the end of the year, all without any rush. Over time you understand what deducting and depreciating mean. How I later came to found a GmbH and why is in my post My first client and why I founded a GmbH (German).
Find a niche, chase the first client, accept a bad hourly rate
The hurdle to starting something is far too big in most people’s heads. Just start and find yourself a niche, that is very important. I picked a clear one: only software in the B2B space, large platforms. And then the most important thing of all: Find your first client. Go on Google, search, email people like crazy. I have an idea, I can do something, I am good at it, I am offering it as a freelancer. Just keep going until the first client comes.
My first hourly rate was dreadful. So many people took a cut of it. I did the job anyway, because I wanted to get going. After that, everything built up from there. Concentrate on how you get revenue and projects and how you build yourself up, instead of on whether you are missing something or doing something wrong.
Nothing happens overnight
I did not grow from freelancer to holding structure overnight. The holding came much later, more on that in separate posts, for example about our trip to Dubai (German). The only important thing to understand: Everything happens over time. And everything that comes overnight can be gone again overnight. So: just get started. At the end of the video I take you on a short tour of our office in Frankfurt. Where are you stuck right now, at the decision or at the first client? Tell me on LinkedIn or below the video on my YouTube channel.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to start as a freelancer in IT?
A tax number from the tax office, which you apply for online, a clear niche and the first client. Bookkeeping, VAT and a tax advisor come with the first income, not before.
Should I start with my own product or as a service provider?
If you do not know the market yet, you learn faster as a service provider, earn money sooner and build the expertise that makes a product possible in the first place. That is how it was for me.
How do I find my first client?
Search, post, reach out, until someone bites. A bad hourly rate on the first project is not failure, it is the price of admission. After that, everything builds up from there.
Related: Umair Zaffar as AI Expert
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