How To Starting Your Freelance Data Science Business

Some insight from my experience building my own business

Mar 14, 2025

As data scientists, we have become used to analyzing data and developing machine learning models for businesses. However, many of us prefer to work as freelancers, either full-time or part-time. That’s why we are building a freelance business to support that dream.

With the improvement of the digital era, building a business as a data scientist is even easier, especially as a freelancer; many tools could help develop the business. We can use these tools to streamline our business and focus on the revenue.

Nevertheless, there is an abundance of tools available for our work. For this reason, in this article, we will explore the essential tools and mindset you need to build your bootstrap freelance data science business.

Curious about it? Let’s get into it.

Bootstrap Mindset

Before we explore tools that can be used to develop your freelance data business, I want to explain a little about the mindset you should have to succeed in the industry.

I have worked in the freelance sector via bootstrapping, and here are some mindsets that keep me going:

Minimize unnecessary costs to keep expenses low without relying on external investments or loans. This helps us be disciplined with our spending and efficient with our resources.
We should reinvest our profit into the business by upgrading our tools, enhancing our skills, and expanding our portfolio.
When bootstrapping, focus on steady revenue and sustaining growth. Also, consider how you could raise the money.
Manage your work-life balance as freelance work can extend to more than 9-5 hours. Keep yourself healthy; the full-time freelance business might not run without you working.

That is the mindset you should have when bootstrapping your data science business; remember, it’s a journey that could take a long time to achieve that sweet spot. No matter the tools you use, the mindset makes you keep going.

Let’s explore a few tools you should know for bootstrapping your freelance data science business.

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Programming & Analysis Tool

The first tool you need for your freelance data science business is a programming and analysis tool. Without it, you won’t be able to run your business correctly or execute projects as required.

The first thing you should have on your laptop is a programming tool for data analysis, such as the Python programming language with IDE Jupyter Notebook, which you can download via the Anaconda distribution. Additionally, programming IDE Visual Studio Code will help you work tremendously.

Your other best friends who will help you access free cloud resources for heavy computation are Google Colab and Kaggle Notebook. This is even more critical when starting, as you may not have much income.

Lastly, to showcase your data and coding portfolio, you can use the GitHub repository to store everything.

With those minimal tools, you can start your business's programming project. However, we must still establish our Business Essentials to help our business run smoothly.

Business Essential

There are a few tools that you are required to help build your business and improve your visibility.

First, you will need an email address to communicate with your client. The most common free email hosting service is Gmail. Additionally, Google Workspace can manage all business information, such as notes and calendars.

For project management to compile all the information, your business needs, and your financial situation, you can use the Free Google Sheets or the Notion platform. It’s also good to track your clients and their steady income sources.

It’s essential to plan our finances beyond simple invoices. We need at least savings that cover a few months of living expenses, especially if we want to work full-time in the Freelance business. Plan accordingly where you will get your money and the required business expenses. Don’t forget to budget for the taxes as well.

Speaking of communicating with clients, you can open a Free Calendly account to secure meeting appointments with your business. You can decide when to accept the consultation meeting and which platform to discuss with you. Topmate is also a great choice if you want to create a consultation business.

Once you all have the necessary tools, what is essential for your business is to decide your Legal Structure. You can choose between working as a sole proprietor, where the business income passes through your taxes, or forming an LLC (Limited Liability Company) to protect your assets from business liability. Most start as sole proprietors and move into creating single-member LLCs when they already have a steady income, but you can always start early, depending on your business needs.

If you choose to form an LLC or any legal structure, register your business with local law, and separate your business account from your account. Having business finance separated will help you better for bookkeeping and provide legal protection. It will also help you during tax reporting, as having separate reports will make tax time easier.

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Marketing and Branding

You already have your business, so it’s time to let people know what service you are offering and the value you could bring. You run a single-person business as a freelance data scientist, meaning you must market and brand yourself.

At the minimum, you need a clean and informative LinkedIn profile that shows your credibility—your latest working experience, education, clear headline, and offer summary. Professional photos in your profile also help to improve your credibility. By actively posting content on LinkedIn, you will help recruiters and potential clients understand your expertise, possibly securing your service. Consider what sets you apart from other freelancers; for example, you can say you are an NLP expert or AI engineer.

Next, you should have a personal website as your online business card. A single-page bio, skills, portfolio projects, testimonials, and instructions for contacting you are already enough. Include the link to your GitHub Portfolio, Kaggle, Blog, etc., on your website. You can use Cardd to create a free single-page webpage that contains all your business information.

Remember to network offline and online within the community to increase your brand awareness. Be consistent, and you will slowly acquire clients for your business.

Client Acquisition and Retention

The most important part of your freelance data science business is acquiring and retaining clients. This is the only way your company can survive with a steady income.

We have already learned that you can acquire clients via an online presence, such as LinkedIn or the network you have already built. We can rely on online freelancing marketplaces, such as Upwork or Fiverr websites, to increase our chances of acquiring clients. Abid's article also provides additional insight into where you can gain clients.

However, you still need a strategy to acquire clients, especially the first one. You can use many methods in the online marketplace, such as sharing proposals as much as possible, and keeping the work cheap to get a good review. You could also initially take a small project for feedback to get credentials from the others.

Still, be selective and only take work suitable for your skills. Also, check whether the client is reasonable.

Be patient and persistent, as having your first client will take time. Don’t be discouraged if you are not secure with the client, as long as you believe in your skills—some even secure clients to do some work that the freelancer doesn’t have the skills initially. Keep your head positive and confident that you can deliver your job perfectly.

Conclusion

Starting your freelance data science business requires many aspects to consider, including a strategic mindset, essential tools, and effective client acquisition and retention strategies. In this article, we have explored all the actions that will help you find success in building your freelance business.

I hope this has helped!