How to Become A Freelancer.

So, you want to stray away from the traditional nine-to-five job and strike out on your own? Welcome to the club of freelancing! For sure you are looking forward to hitting the ground, as this is a pretty fun society of free-thinkers, and as probably many people image-making cash while working in your pajamas. Sounds easy, right? Well, we would say no.

No matter if you have just graduated, you are unemployed, or only want to make a change. You need to have a plan first and do some groundwork before you start with anything.

So are you wondering how to start? How to become a freelancer? We are sharing everything you should know before you begin this journey. Read our five things to do before becoming a freelancer.

1. Make Sure This Is The Job You Want

You have to think this through at the beginning. Maybe this would be a little hard for you if you are a newbie, as you haven't experienced something else. Switching from another career makes it easier as you are aware that you don’t want to stay and you need a change.

Let’s start with what we all dream of. You are your boss! You decide how many hours you will work. Will you work from home or office or a coffee place? It doesn't matter, as long as you do it. Sounds great, right?!

However, there are some other things as well. You are your accountant. You will have to figure out your payment structure, how you will bill, and what kind of payments will you accept?! You are your project manager, marketing manager, office manager, customer service representative, and even a lawyer. Be prepared that you need to have knowledge or at least read a lot on all of these matters as you will be responsible for every aspect that a business has.

The last thing here, as a freelancer you won’t have employer-provided health insurance. That means having one more responsibility for getting your taxes in order. Millions of people do this. However, you need to decide it is the right thing for you.

2. Have Some Other Form Of Income As Well

An important thing to remember: don't quit your job at the beginning. When you are building your freelancing business it is essential to have another form of income at the beginning. Start it as a side hustle first. It is good to have something steady until you feel comfortable doing it as your main hustle. After that, go for it!

Another thing to do here is to save. Save money as you don’t know when the rainy days may come and it is better to get ready. So, among the things to do on how to become a freelancer, we say earn money, freelance part-time and have savings until you are fully prepared to dive in!

3. The Key Is The Organisation

How to become a freelancer? Be well organised. It is one of the most important things. Start with a business plan. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you need to have it and know what you want to achieve and focus. Define your goals and objectives, know your target audience and do market research.

Move on to a marketing strategy. Find your strengths and weaknesses and start analysing your competition as well. Define your prices. There are so many things you need to organise before you begin. From the moment someone will reach you to do a potential job, you need to have a well-planned system to take you all the way through until you get the cash you want. It may also include emails, project briefs, work proposals, signing contacts, tracking your time, having an invoicing system and a way for keeping your records, keeping track of your expenses, names, clients, etc.

When talking about finance organisations here, have you checked out dillali.com? It is a record-keeping solution for managing your invoices and expenses. Register here for free and see how we can help you organise your freelancing.

4. Spread The Word

A bit dangerous move on how to become a freelancer, if you are in a working environment that doesn’t allow freelancing and may be a risk of losing a current job. Rather than that, spreading the word about what you do or want to do as freelancing is a great strategy. Tell people, start talking, you will be surprised at how far this can bring you. Make the hype.

Prepare a business card so they can contact you, share your socials or go out for a drink. It is crucial to connect with people. And lastly – what is the best and fastest way to spread the word nowadays? Make a post on your social media! But remember, not before you have everything settled so that you can start.

5. Make Your Routine

When you have a traditional nine-to-five work, you have a routine established. Some have a shower, some have breakfast, and some grab a coffee on the way to work. So now, you need to adapt to the new conditions as a freelancer. You will be working from your home as a start. Don’t stay in bed with your laptop because your productivity will start going downwards.

You have to analyse yourself a bit and figure out what works best for you. When are you most productive? When are you home alone? When will your family need you to be available? Make a plan.

Create your own office. We don’t mean renting a place in a building at the beginning. It could be just a separate room in your home. Your place where you will get the work done. This should be included in your routine. Otherwise, you will get distracted, and there are a lot of distractions when being at home (believe us!). If you prefer, you can go and work from a new place each day. There are a lot of coffee places and libraries where people go for this purpose. You just have to find your space to be productive.

We hope you find these guidelines on how to become a freelancer helpful and that you can take them as a starting point or checklist before you go into your new career. Good luck!

Stay tuned, as next time we will talk about promotion as a freelancer.

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