It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve been asked so many times since I started. I hadn\u2019t appreciated how many people were looking for something beyond employment, had a side-hustle they wanted to turn into a full-time job, or really wanted to zone in on a niche by working for themselves. Starting out freelancing is the ultimate Venn diagram – what do you love doing, what makes money and what does the world need – whatever suits in the middle is your freelancing goldmine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the huge caveat that this is only drawn from my personal experience (with the addition of a few books\/articles\/podcasts\/chats with freelancer friends) here\u2019s my spiel in concise form:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First up, put the work in to understand why you\u2019re mulling the idea over and establish if these are realistic goals for what you\u2019re trying to achieve. Heads up \u2013 passive income, limitless earning and working from Bali while technically possible aren\u2019t most freelancers\u2019 reality. However, if you want more time off for school holidays, to grow a business from your passions and meet some incredible people, it might be for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of labels and titles you\u2019ve had in employment. This isn\u2019t about establishing that \u201cjob x\u201d was your favourite, this is about working about what activities (from anywhere in your life) put you in your happy place, in the zone, where time flies by. What is it about doing those that you love, and why? What have you got here that you can sell?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find as many ways as possible to test your ideas \u2013 volunteer in the area, write\/publish free content, offer trial sessions, free samples, whatever suits your business, but put your idea into practice. Test that it works as a viable offering, and that it keeps you as engaged and enthusiastic as you\u2019d originally hoped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t have to have this completely fully formed, branded and Insta-level lovely. Nor do you have to be worried about occupying a completely unique space. But you do have to establish your audience, your price and your initial \u201cpackage\u201d \u2013 whether that\u2019s products or services. There are loads of ways of doing this, and inevitably you\u2019ll be on a steep learning curve. The critical thing is to be aware of what a learning journey you\u2019re on and be humble and curious along the way \u2013 some things will be brilliant, some will fail spectacularly \u2013 learn from both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no denying freelancing feels far less stable than employment. So one crucial thing is establishing a financial safety net to ensure that when you make the leap, you\u2019ve got the backup of knowing your essentials are covered if work isn\u2019t easy to come by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And no, I\u2019m not talking about developing your branding, launching a website, getting headshots and nailing a cracking elevator pitch, there\u2019s time for all that later. You may be starting a business where some of this is actually necessary to launch to be fair, but my point is, work out what the bare essentials to get started are and pay for those and nothing more (a laptop, office 365 and insurance were mine).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to get caught up strategizing, professional-ising and honing your offer but its not what pays the bills. My advice would be to get securing clients as soon as possible, build your experience and your testimonials as that\u2019s what your survival depends on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are all kinds of phenomenal people in the world, just waiting to be found. Dust off your LinkedIn, join a Chamber of Commerce, give your local co-working space a go, sign up to networks and connect with as many people (meaningfully) as you can \u2013 you never know what you\u2019ll learn and where connections lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can’t afford to stay still in the freelance world. Source all the CPD you can \u2013 whether it\u2019s from the amazing array of free content that\u2019s out there in the world, paid for CPD or shadowing and learning from others, just keep prioritising your own development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There will be spectacular highs and probably spectacular lows. Hang in there and be brave. Use your passion to drive your business and always be open to feedback, development and new opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by SpaceX<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve been asked so many times since I started. I hadn\u2019t appreciated how many people were looking for something beyond employment, had a side-hustle they wanted to turn into a full-time job, or really wanted to zone in on a niche by working for themselves. Starting out freelancing is the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[13,11,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-start-up","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t