Running a freelance business

So, you have decided to start freelancing? I am really happy for you! It is a great choice, one of the best work related decisions I’ve made in my life. You maybe have some clients, maybe you just got laid off, and want to try this cool and fun freelancing life everyone seems to talk about. There surely isn’t much about it, you have a client, you work for some amount of time for that client, and get paid for the work. And you will be doing only the things you love, none of that crap on that ancient architecture your last boss was making you do. And you will work for whoever you want, because you are the boss now.

Yes, you have read that well, you are the boss now, and the CEO, and the CFO, and every other department that existed in the regular job you used to work. You also get to be the cleaner, and the system administrator. How will you ever learn all of that, or even know everything there is to be done? The easiest way is to find someone in the same business you want to get into and ask them. Most people will gladly help, because they don’t mind helping out someone in need. Some of them, well, won’t help you, maybe even undermine you or your work, but, c’est la vie, some people are just assholes and you have to get over it. The sooner you grow a thicker skin, the better for you. So when you find out everything there is, and that depends from country to country so I won’t get into details about what needs to be done here, you have to figure out how to do it. Let’s get to that now.

You can, and should outsource a lot of that work, let the people better than you do their jobs and pay them for your own piece of mind. Accounting, legal, even assistant work can be outsourced to other people, freelancers or companies. They are professionals, like you are in your field, and should be on the edge of their domain, so you don’t have to. For example, I know very little about the process of accounting, I could if I wanted to, as could almost every one of us, but we don’t, because we have other stuff to think about, learn about, and to run our now business. Or law, which I know nothing about, but I’m sure a lawyer knows everything, or can refer me to the one that does.

So, when you have outsourced everything that someone else can do instead of you, there is still some work for you to do. Finding clients, marketing, scheduling, IT work, being the CEO and the secretary at once, and taking care of yourself, as you are now your company’s best asset. I’ll get to those in my next couple of posts, because I don’t want you to fall asleep reading.