I’m pulling back the curtain on my first real months as a freelance data analyst — the cold emails, the silence, and why I kept going anyway.
It’s been about 6 months since I moved from web development to data analytics. And wow.
It’s been a rollercoaster. I feel as if nothing I do works. To be completely honest, I think trying to freelance straight out the gate wasn’t the best move for me. Coming from 3 years of web development freelancing, I thought: all I need to do is master the skills and BOOM, start freelancing, build on top of my existing portfolio. Easy transition.
That was the first mistake.
Data analysis is not the tools.
In web development, being technically good was almost enough. Clients came with a reference site, you matched it, done. Templates existed. The work was visible. In most cases, you didn’t even need a great eye for design.
Data analysis doesn’t work like that. The tools, the tech stack, the technical skills, that’s all support work. The main thing is domain knowledge. Understanding the business. Knowing what questions to ask before you even open the dataset. And that’s not something you pick up in a weekend.
Then there’s the client side. Don’t even get me started.
Everyone posts about how data is everywhere, every business, big and small needs it, it’s in huge demand, and I thought, yeah, I have the skill set, what’s stopping me?
The reality? Small businesses don’t really care about data. Even the ones that do, don’t take it seriously. They run on gut feeling, not numbers. Trying to explain what I do to someone who’s never thought about their data is like being the lighting guy backstage at the theatre, making sure the spotlight hits the right person so the audience can enjoy the show. Nobody knows your name. Nobody sees the work. But the show doesn’t work without you.
That’s the sell. And it’s a hard sell.
So I had to rethink the approach.
I asked myself: what’s the actual next step? And the conclusion I came to was to niche down further. I have a real background in web development, so what better way to transition into data than becoming a website analyst? At first, I thought I could generalise, use my tech stack to attract all kinds of businesses. Then I failed. Not because I didn’t understand what I was doing technically, but because I didn’t fully understand what dealing with data actually means in practice.
What happens when your insights lead to a 15% decrease in revenue?
What happens when you miscalculate a value or overlook a KPI?
That’s the part nobody talks about online. The skill stack gets you in the room. But without context, without actually understanding the business you’re analysing, you’re just a person with expensive tools and no real answers.
Most people coming into data are stuck in the tech stack trap.
And I was one of them. Leaning on the tools, thinking that’s the whole job. The real tool is the knowledge you carry. The tech stack just helps you find the right answers faster, once you know what you’re actually looking for.
I’m loving the journey. The pivot’s been hard but it’s been worth it. It was just refreshing to step back and actually name what was going wrong.
Until next time — ponder this:
“If it doesn’t impact anything, it’s vanity.”