The world of freelancing means you are your own boss, you can work when you want, and you can pick and choose exactly what projects you want to work on. But freelancing isn’t all glamorous. It takes dedication, grit, and most of all, hard work.
Create a Business Plan
A business plan will encourage you to think about your business as a whole
- Determine your target audience, your business mission, your competition, and more
- Don’t panic if you have never completed a business plan before. Create one now.
Control Your Costs
Create monthly income goals
- Set a budget according to the income you expect to earn
- Be conservative with costs, especially at first
- Consider what you need to outsource and what you could do yourself
- TaxAct is a software that can help you with this
Market Yourself
As a freelance business owner, you don’t have a team to do all of your marketing for you.
- Think of ways you can set yourself apart from your competition
- Don’t just market your product or service – most clients will choose to work with you because of who you are
Set Business Goals
Goal setting is imperative to operate a successful freelance business.
- Start by writing down all of your long-term goals. Break them down into smaller objectives to figure out what you need to achieve each month and even each week to achieve your goals.
Perfect Your Pitch
A pitch is a quick spiel you give clients about your business and the value you provide
- In your pitch, describe who you are, how you got started, and what your business does.
- Make it concise, fun, and most of all, totally like your personality.