!["freelance]("https:\/\/benrmatthews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/freelance-checklist-720x324.png")
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Every time someone gets in touch about what they need to prepare to go freelance, I typically find myself telling them the same things over and over, in order to lay the foundation for a solid freelance consulting career. So, I’ve created a freelance checklist.<\/p>\n
This list covers the top 25 things you should consider when it comes to going freelance. It uses a simple script to tally everything you check off. Once you\u2019ve completed it, it will give you a score out of 25 possible points at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n
I’ve put together the questions based on what people normally ask me, but it is an un-ordered list. I’ll put it into a more logical order later, grouped by areas of running a freelance business.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s one thing I want to reiterate before you embark on your freelance checklist journey: you don’t have to have all of these in place before you begin and these points are best thought about as incrementally beneficial. The big mistake people tend to make is that they find a checklist, they go through every thing on it, they read each one line-by-line and say \u201cOh no! I\u2019m missing one thing \u2013 now I can\u2019t go freelance and everything is ruined!\u201d. That\u2019s not really the way to think about it.<\/p>\n
If you can get everything on this list, that\u2019s great! If you can only get most, that\u2019s okay too. You want to make you’re as ready to go freelance as possible. But in general, it\u2019s very unlikely that you\u2019ll be able to do all these things. That said, try your best!<\/p>\n
Oh, and don’t forget to read my series of interviews on how others went freelance to get more of an idea about what it feels like, the risks and rewards of becoming a freelance consultant.<\/p>\n
Check off items as you go along.<\/strong> [frontend-checklist name="Freelance Checklist"]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That last item is particularly important – if you’re not passionate, hard-working or excited about the work you do, then you’ll find freelancing very hard.<\/p>\n Here’s some more advice from other freelancers on Twitter on what should be added to the freelance checklist:<\/p>\n @benrmatthews @magicroundabout 'things' to put in place are probably easiest part. You need a network, resilience, self belief & motivation<\/p>\n — Gaby Jeffs (@MagnetoGaby) September 15, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n Feel free to keep this page open so that you can refer back to it.<\/strong>
\nThese all might not apply to your situation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n