Freelancers are usually those who run their small business from home or an office or a rented space. Freelance business can be of anything and everything. All you need is an idea and the skill to work on that idea despite any failure or success. Usually, people when they get bored with their 9 am to 6 pm corporate job think of starting their own during weekends or holidays and eventually venture into the business domain. Sometimes people also leave the corporate or academic world because they cannot afford to travel or take the work pressure if they have caregiving duties, any sort of illness, or lack of interest in only earning money.
What is Small Business Entrepreneurship?
Freelancing allows you to get work satisfaction and even a work-life balance if you do it the right way. If you are someone who thinks freelancers lead a very good life as they don’t have to travel anywhere, don’t have any bosses to report and neither have any commitments to work, then you are mistaking the profession. Freelancers have to deal with clients and unfortunately, have to bring their clients their own skills and abilities. Few references may be helpful in the start but eventually, as the freelancing business sets up they have to struggle to get more clients to keep sustaining their business.
What Is a Personal Guarantee Business Lease?
So, if you are planning to get into freelancing then you have to think about a lot of things before saying goodbye to the corporate or work world. Here are some mistakes that can be avoided if you plan it diligently:
1) Have funds for six months to one year in your bank:
Usually freelancing may not be a journey with a timely or monthly salary. You will have to get clients in the first place and also the clients should have work ethics to clear your payments time-to-time. I have seen freelancers who keep calling their clients for payments for more than six months but they never get positive feedback or reply to their calls. This puts them under a lot of stress as they have other bills to pay like electricity, office rent, equipment expenses, wages to staff (if any), etc. So, always make sure that you have those funds in hand for at least the next six months to one year before you venture into the world of freelancing.
2) Have written contracts in place:
It is always essential that whosoever you are approaching for getting work should provide you with detailed written agreements or contracts about the work and the payments timeline. If you fail to get them, you are in deep trouble as and as you start getting more work. Your client may even deny making any commitment to you if that has been done only verbally.
3) Do not give up if negativity crops your work:
If you are consistently failing to meet the clients’ expectations, do not give up or think that you have failed as a freelancer. You can still go ahead and upskill yourself to get better clients who understand your worth and pay you well. Self-employment and business are all about self-motivation and self-determination.
