Arena
Successful
freelancing
Alison McGowan with some advice on how to become a successful freelancer.
What made you decide to go freelance?
I had never thought of going freelance but I got caught in a restructuring/downsizing where I was working and it seemed a more challenging and positive proposition than either of the alternatives - getting another "proper" job or collecting unemployment benefit. I also wanted to return to working within the field in South America.
From the beginning I saw Florence Associates as a business, rather than myself as a freelancer which always made it easier to market, but I also had a great deal of luck in the early stages and a great deal of help from friends and colleagues.
What are the pros and cons?
Pros:
- Control of your destiny
- Freedom and independence to do things the way you want to do them
- Freedom to spend money on the things you think are important
- Freedom from internal politics
- Potential for far greater quality of life - both social and financial
- More pay for more work (theoretically)
- Less tax (in the UK at least)
Cons:
- No fixed salary
- No pension/car/other benefits
- Unproductive time spent chasing bad debts/controlling accounts
- Difficult to take holidays
- And
for some people
- Lack of work colleagues to discuss things with
- Difficult to separate work and home
- Lack of social contact
How could one set up a one-person business and market it appropriately?
In the UK it is very easy to set up as either a freelancer or as a "sole trader". You just have to inform the tax office and arrange to pay your tax and National Insurance contributions in a different way (twice a year normally rather than every month). If you don't earn above £51,000 you don't have to register for VAT (Value Added Tax) and even as a sole-trader you no longer need your accounts audited.
As regards marketing the same principles apply to a one-person business as apply in any other kind of marketing - except you have to be able to do 2 things - market your product and also yourself. Marketing is frequently where people come unstuck and where one-person operations need most help. It is not sufficient just to be good at what you do; somehow your target market also needs to know about you and the benefits of working with you.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to go solo?
Go for it if:
- You are confident, competent, enthusiastic, healthy, organized and a 'self-starter'. You've got to be able to work long hours, keep to deadlines, take all the knocks, and be better than everyone else who's offering anything similar
- You can cope with an irregular lifestyle and irregular money. If you're lucky you can arrange for some people to pay monthly which means it's easier to organize your finances, but if you have a number of clients you are still likely to have different amounts coming in each month
- You have something to sell that people want and for which they are prepared to pay a reasonable price
- You have 'BOCA' - you need to have a Balanced life, the ability to recognise Opportunities, the desire to seize Challenges, and the right Attitude.
NB: If you want to set up as a consultant, try the '108 day rule' before you make the final decision. Decide what you want your annual take-home pay to be then divide it by 108. If that seems the sort of daily rate people would pay, or if you think you can get more then fine. Otherwise, you're unlikely to be able to pay yourself the salary you want - particularly in the first couple of years.
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