Becoming self employed is a great accomplishment. After working hard to get your independence from working for other people, it’s a great feeling to finally be your own boss.
However, even though you’ve made it to self employment bliss, you still need to be cautious of mistakes that even the most successful self employed people make.
Growing your business is hard work. It takes time, dedication and a plan of action. You can’t afford to make mistakes that can cause you the integrity or the prosperity of your business.
Sacrificing Your Self Worth
Business may not take off right away but a sure fire way to make sure your days of self employment are over is to compromise your goals and plans for the sake of making money. Of course you want to stay self employed and while that does mean turning a profit, you shouldn’t be doing it at the risk of second guessing your dreams or goals.
It also means that you shouldn’t put up a fake front or invest in something you don’t believe in. A large part of being successfully self employed is having a passion for your work. If you begin compromising that passion in order to only make money, you lose focus of your original dreams.
Working Without a Contract
Not everyone you partner with or work for is going to be an upstanding person or business. Creating and using a contract religiously will help ensure that you don’t get stuck putting in hours of hard work without being compensated for it.
Your contract should outline everything you discussed in negotiations with a potential client, right down to compensation. Consider your contract a safety net should something go wrong during the course of the project. It can protect you as well as the client.
That said, even if you do have a contract, the person on the other end of it may not honour it. Fortunately, if that happens you have options on how to deal with it. Many freelancers and self employed people use their contract as a way to receive payment when a client is less than forthcoming with what you’re owed. Other people use it to point out what was agreed to if the client changes the terms or scope of the project. You can often use the contract in the courts should you need to prove a case against an unscrupulous company.
Money Management
There’s no better feeling than seeing your first cheque from a job well done. Taking it to the bank and depositing it though is only part of the first step to ensuring your freelance wealth. Not tracking your money wisely is a self employment mistake that many new freelancers make.
You won’t start out rich when you begin freelancing. In fact, you’ll likely make far less than what you did working for someone else, so it’s imperative that you are able to account for every penny coming in and going out of your business.
A good rule of thumb for any person is to pay yourself first. Decide on a percentage of each payment that you receive and deposit only that amount into your personal spending account. The rest of the money you receive needs to go back to the business you’ve created. Many freelancers make the mistake of spending nearly all of their freelance pay without setting any aside to put back into the business for expenses or taxes. In order to keep your freelance business in the black, develop a system that you can live with and strictly adhere to it.
Marketing and Networking Muck Ups
If you’re not spending time every day marketing and networking your business, you can rest assured that the number of days you’ll be working for yourself will be numbered. Creative marketing and networking must be done every day when you own your own business or you won’t be reaching the people who will bring in new streams of revenue.
Since you are working for yourself, you probably don’t have the resources available to hire or bring in a marketing department to do everything for you. It’s up to you to generate buzz about what you’re doing and make sure people take notice of you. However, there is a balance between networking and marketing too much and doing too little.
On one hand, you want people to utilise your skills and hire you; therefore you need to spend some time promoting yourself and networking with like-minded people. Unfortunately you can’t spend all day marketing or you won’t leave any time to complete the projects you’ve already been contracted to do. Fail to get some work time in and there goes your income. Should you spend all your time concentrating on completing work for your clients, you wind up with completed projects and no new business.
It’s important to create a plan that works for you. Some freelancers set up a certain amount of time every day to market and network while other people reserve a day in their schedule for reaching out to other people and new business. Develop what works for you and practice it faithfully.
Think of those sticky notes that you use every day to leave yourself reminders or jot down new ideas; someone had a passion for that idea. Hard work, commitment, and sound work plans made it come true. The hard work of building your own freelance business will pay off so long as you don’t fall victim to common freelance mistakes. Make sure you follow your passion and work diligently in order to make your freelance business stick.
Recommended Reading
For more information and advice on working for yourself, take a look at the following books:
Freelancing for Dummies
Secrets of Self-Employment (Working from Home)
Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself
Go It Alone: The Streetwise Secrets of Self Employment
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Working Less, Earning More
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