Start with Your Local Market
A friend recently asked me, “Should I work with local customers or aim for the international market?” It got me thinking, especially since I grew up in Bulgaria, where the average salary is about €1k monthly. It’s not the biggest market for growth, but there’s a lot to learn from starting small.
When I first began, I worked with clients who paid €200–€250 for a full web application and still weren’t happy with the results. I even did work for free just to gain experience. Now, years later, I charge around €3,000 per client.
Embrace Local Networking
Here are three key pieces of advice I’d give to anyone starting out in a service-based industry:
1. Start with your local market or network. Bulgaria might not seem like the biggest market, but it’s a great place to get hands-on experience. Small clients tend to ask for a lot of revisions and often give tough feedback. While it can be frustrating, this will help you grow faster.
2. In larger markets, feedback is often more polite, and you might not improve as quickly. The tough feedback I got from my early Bulgarian clients helped me refine my skills much faster than if I’d jumped straight into a bigger market.
Front-end Advocate || Meta Certified React JS Developer || Tech lead || Speaker || Blogger
HelpStatusAboutCareersPressBlogPrivacyTermsText to speechTeams
