By Pamela Hilliard Owens
After the Great Recession of 2009, many people are finding themselves having to make choices about the next phase of their careers, either by choice or by circumstance. Freelancing seems like a viable option for many; it is something you should consider? Let’s see.
In my case, I had been helping friends and family with their writing and editing projects for years; sometimes for free and sometimes for a small fee that I thought of on the spot. Two years ago, I was still thinking that I needed a “real job” and I was hitting the pavement with resumes and interviews, etc. At my last interview, I was offered a sales job that paid $21,000 year. The sales manager who offered me the job was younger than all three of my children. With two degrees and 35+ years of academic and business experience, I was insulted. I left that office and decided right then and there that I could do better on my own.
There are benefits and drawbacks to striking out on your own. Working for yourself vs. working for someone else are really two very different situations and the first thing you have to decide is whether you have what it takes to make the tradeoffs. You will find that using a paper or electronic notebook helps to keep track of the necessary preliminary questions and answers.
1) Decide what kind of business you want to start based on what you have to offer. What are your skills? What are your interests? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? I spent an entire month at my computer studying every website I could about how to be a freelance writer, how to set up my own website, how to do marketing, etc. I had pages and pages of written notes.
2) Decide on your business structure. Most freelancers are sole proprietors; many choose the hybrid Limited Liability Corporation structure (LLC). Studying irs.gov and the many websites dedicated to small business issues will help you to decide the best business structure for you.
3) Write up a business plan. Depending on the type of business you are considering, you may not need a lot of money to get started. If this is the case, your business plan does not have to be the very fancy and detailed kind you would need to request major funding. If you need only a few thousand dollars, there are several micro-lending sources available that specialize in loans of $5,000 – $20,000; you will need a more detailed plan to apply for those funds. As a writer and editor, I didn’t need very much more than I already had. I did write a plan for my goals for my first year, quarter by quarter. My financial goals were simple: I promised my dear husband that I would bring in gross receipts of $4,000 monthly within six months. When I had a real job, $65,000/year was my norm, but without the extra expenses of working outside of my home office, $48,000 a year in gross income was a good starting point. Setting up a realistic budget for your business is as important as the one for your personal family situation.
4) Many freelancers work from a home office. Of course, if you are selling a physical product, or items like crafts you make yourself, your situation will be different. But no matter what kind of freelancing you do, you still are in business and you need some basic equipment. Having the best computer hardware you can afford and a high-speed internet connection is key. There are many choices for software applications; again, researching what is right for your situation is key. I exclusively use online applications for which I pay a monthly subscription fee. I don’t worry about upgrades or installation or hard drive crashes because I keep all of my information securely online. Again, I spent a lot of time researching the different offerings.
5) One important consideration is deciding on your work schedule. Most people feel that the best thing about being a freelancer is that you can work a flexible schedule. However, as I always tell my contractors, a “flexible schedule” is not the same as “no schedule”. Freelancers have to do everything for their business: sales, marketing, IT, janitorial…everything, including the actual client projects. Make a realistic assessment of yourself to determine if you want to spend the time necessary to grow and develop your own business because it really takes much more than 40 hours per week; especially the first few years.
Starting and growing a freelance business is exciting and very hard work, but for those who choose this career path, it can be also very rewarding. As for me, I have found the best boss in the world to work for: me.
About Pamela Hilliard Owens
After a career of 35+ years in education, collaborative sales and sales management and marketing, Pamela started her own freelance writing and editing business in July of 2008. Her company, Writing It Right for You knows that “It Matters How You Say It”! Pamela work with individuals, graduate and post-graduate students, and businesses throughout the United States, Canada, the Middle East, India, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on a variety of academic and business writing and editing projects.
