Prepare Yourself for a Successful Freelancing Career
Before Covid-19, the freelancing and gig economies were growing forces in the world, and the pandemic has only increased the popularity and interest in remote and gig work. Longtime industry players are faced with layoffs and changing job economies, and many people are considering turning to freelancing work and consulting as a way to adapt. Since the pandemic hit and millions of people began working at home, the concept of remote work has become even more normalized, even preferred.
This might be one of the best times yet to consider switching to a career in freelancing. Yet, if you want to be successful in freelancing over the longterm, it requires you to consider yourself a business and operate like one as well. In this blog, we’ll go over some of the key steps you need to take first to set yourself up for a successful freelancing career.
1. Define What Success is to You
The first step in setting yourself up for success is knowing what success actually means for you, so you know where you’re headed. Does success mean having tons of free time to spend with your family? Having a large income flow? Having a full portfolio of clients and projects? When do you want to retire and how much money do you want to retire with? Knowing the answers to these questions and what success means to you will help you when creating your business plan, which brings us to our next checklist item.
2. Create a Business Plan
As a freelancer, you’re not just a worker bee anymore, you’re an entrepreneur with your own business. While this is exciting and liberating, to be successful you need a serious business plan. Your business plan should include everything that relates to how your business will operate. This includes what your overhead will be, what your income goals are, what your business will be registered as for tax purposes, whether you will work solo or with others, etc. You’ll also need to think about how much time you have to devote to your business and what you need to charge per hour or project to hit your income goals.
3. Prepare Yourself Financially
You’ll quickly learn as a freelancer that steady income is never guaranteed. To prepare for this, you’ll want to save six months of income before leaving your current position. Make sure you have a solid plan for windfalls and shortfalls in your finances. You’ll want to get used to the idea that you may be making different amounts each month and address how you can make sure you have all of your responsibilities covered.
4. Get Ready to Shift to Boss-Mode
As a freelancer, you’ll no longer be an employee who answers to a boss. You’ll need to be completely responsible for yourself and your work. Take some time to consider how you will keep yourself on track in your career and your business. As you won’t have co-workers anymore, you may want to join some freelancer communities to use as a support system.
5. Uplevel Your Skills
You’ll want to make sure that you have the necessary skillsets you’ll require for running your own business and for the niche you want to enter in the gig economy. Not only will you be taking on new types of work as a freelancer, but you’ll be using new skills as an entrepreneur as well. Taking classes about accounting, specialized courses, and freelancing courses are key steps in making sure that your skillset is sharp and effective.
6. Get Insurance
As you won’t be receiving health benefits from your employer any longer, you’ll want to look into getting health insurance. This is an essential part of setting yourself up for a career in freelancing long-term. Even if you are in excellent health now, it’s best to be prepared for anything. You should also look into disability or income protection insurance, which can pay some or all of your lost income should you not be able to work for a length of time. Remember, there is no ‘paid sick leave’ in the freelancing world. You may also want to purchase insurance for any items that you absolutely need for your work, such as computers, cameras, and other equipment.
These steps may seem like a lot to accomplish before you even get your feet wet with freelancing itself, but the more work you do before, the smoother your transition to freelancing will be. If you’re really looking to make a sustainable switch to a career in freelancing, you’ll definitely want to do whatever it takes to start off on the right foot.
Ready to get started on your freelancing career and need more guidance? Learn the details of each one of the steps above in our ebook, The Business of Freelancing: How to Thrive as a Freelancer.
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