2. Give yourself a runway<\/strong><\/h3>\nIn the world of startups, your \u2018runway\u2019 is how long you can survive as a business with the amount of money you currently have. For a startup in Silicon Valley, they\u2019re looking at a runway of at least 18 months to give their team and tech the time and space to fully reach their potential.<\/p>\n
But you\u2019re not likely to have tens of thousands in the bank, so 18 months would be a true luxury. You\u2019re more looking at 2-3 months as you\u2019re runway, which is needed for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the costs of setting up your business. Company registration, hiring an accountant, building a website, getting business cards printed, buying yourself a laptop to run your business on – and more. There will even be hidden costs that creep up on you at the beginning of your business, so be prepared and have enough cash to last you a good few months.<\/p>\n
This is especially important at the start of your freelance career. Many client\u2019s payments terms are several weeks long, often 28 days and often even longer. So by the time you\u2019ve worked a month, invoiced at the end of that month, it can be 2 months before you get paid for that piece of work. No last Friday of the month pay check for you.<\/p>\n
Once you start to invoice clients regularly and have payments coming in, you\u2019ll be able to relax (a little!). But having made a solid start will benefit you in the long run.<\/p>\n
3. Perfect your pitch<\/strong><\/h3>\nWho are you? Give yourself the time to sit and imagine your to write down who and what you are.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your \u2018product\u2019? What are you selling? What are your values? Why are you different to the next freelancer or small business?<\/p>\n
This will be one of the main things you are asked – who you are and what you do. It\u2019s sometimes known as an elevator pitch, called that because you should be able to say your pitch from the time it takes to get from the bottom floor of a building to the top while riding in an elevator.<\/p>\n
Check out these (very literal)\u00a0elevator pitches on Tech City News for an idea of how you could structure your elevator pitch.<\/p>\n
If you can get this nailed down to a short and sweet few sentences, without sounding like you\u2019re just rolling out a rehearsed script, you will get yourself across quickly and clearly to anyone you meet.<\/p>\n
This means you can spend less time explaining your freelance business and more time explaining how you can help a potential new client.<\/p>\n
4. Win that first client<\/strong><\/h3>\nI\u2019d highly recommend that you use your old job as your first client (it\u2019s how I started as a freelance consultant). But if you\u2019re not in the position to make that happen, then winning your first project is a big step.<\/p>\n
Nothing will give you a confidence boost for your freelance career than winning that first client. If you know one organisation wants to buy your product or service, then others out there will want to as well.<\/p>\n
Some people are lucky enough to have a client in place and that acts as the springboard for them to set up as a freelancer, but not everyone is that fortunate.<\/p>\n
Even if you do have that first client in place, it can be really beneficial to go out and win a second or third, so that you\u2019re not relying on the income of that first project.<\/p>\n
So get out there and win that first client. After all, it\u2019s the lifeblood of your business.<\/p>\n
5. Surround yourself with trusted advisors<\/strong><\/h3>\nJust because your a freelancer, doesn\u2019t mean you have to go it alone. If you surround yourself with a range of people from different industries, you\u2019ll be able to tap into their knowledge and experience for your own benefit.<\/p>\n
Need to know how to structure your company? Ask your accountant. Got a finance question? Ask your bank manager.<\/p>\n
These people are professionals. A short question to them will save you lots and lots of stress and worry over issues you don\u2019t know about.<\/p>\n
Even if it costs you a little bit to pay for their time, this will enable you to concentrate on running your business and keeping your clients happy, so will be more than worth it.<\/p>\n
As a freelancer, you will likely be called on time and again for your expertise. Give it generously – after all, there\u2019s lots of people out there who have given their time to help get you where you are today.<\/p>\n
6. Check in with other freelancers<\/strong><\/h3>\nYour network is one of the most vital parts of your freelance business – and often the key determiner of how well you\u2019ll succeed as a freelance professional. Do you have a large and well-connected network?<\/p>\n
Arrange to go for a coffee with a trusted contact who you can have an open and honest conversation with about how they\u2019re fairing. Are they finding work slow, or getting it in abundance? Where are they getting their new leads from? Which areas are they finding success in? Which areas are more difficult?<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll be surprised at how helpful other freelancers can be – there\u2019s plenty of work to go around, you might be able to work on projects together, so sharing a few ideas and nuggets of experience isn\u2019t a big deal.<\/p>\n
And you\u2019ll pay the favour back when you\u2019re an experienced freelancer, just as I\u2019m doing here!<\/p>\n
7. Have an escape plan<\/strong><\/h3>\nIf it all goes wrong and you\u2019re finding work hard to come by, or freelance work is proving more difficult than you first imagined, all is not lost.<\/p>\n
Having an escape plan can be as simple as getting your CV up to date and looking for a job to go back into.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no shame in having tried and failed before going back to a full-time job. The experience you will have gained from setting up your own business and going it alone as a freelancer will set you apart from other candidates of jobs you go for.<\/p>\n
8. Be Proud of Your Achievements<\/strong><\/h3>\nAfter you\u2019ve been freelancing for a while, take a moment to look back at how far you\u2019ve come and what you\u2019ve achieved.<\/p>\n
You may not realise it, but you’ll have made much more progress than you might have believed possible.<\/p>\n
Be proud.<\/p>\n
You built up the confidence to go freelance and made it happen.<\/p>\n
All you’ve learnt, the new people you’v met, the projects you’ve worked on. All of this is down to you.<\/p>\n
And if you haven’t gone freelance yet? Just imagine how proud once you do and start running your own successful freelance business.<\/p>\n
Can you imagine how good that feel? If you can, what are you waiting for?<\/p>\n
If you do have any doubts or concerns about going freelance, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.<\/p>\n
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Want to get more advice on how to be a happier, confident and successful freelancer? Get tips and ideas delivered straight to your inbox:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
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