We are consistently impressed with the brilliance of our community and the knowledge every member has to offer. That’s why we asked our members to share their knowledge with everyone! This Member post is brought to you by Anna Kyriacou, a Creative Founder at Nomadic Projex.
Being a freelancer looks very glamorous from the outside and tempting to almost everyone, but there is a lot to consider before deciding to go into freelancing full-time. There are a lot of misconceptions and responsibilities that often get downplayed or forgotten when considering a freelance career. Before setting your path in stone, you should weigh up the pros and cons of both freelance and employee situations. Bear in mind these may vary according to your personality and priorities. To give you some idea of what to consider I have listed below typical pros and cons that almost everyone will face within their freelance career.
1. Flexible working hours and remote locations. You own your time! Scheduling your work and life around what is a priority to you.
Tip 1: Being able to prioritize your work is very important because there is no one to tell you how to manage your time. Prepare a to-do list the night before of the tasks you want to work on the following day. When your day starts, you will be prepared and immediately focused.
Tip 2: When working with remote teams, while traveling or at your home office, make sure you keep the communication flowing with everyone involved in the project. This keeps them confident that you are making progress and haven’t forgotten about their work.
2. Saving time and money. No need to pay for transport, coffee or food. Everything you need is at home or nearby. Choose a daily routine that works for you to start your day. This allows for some money-saving but is also an easy slip to forgetting lunch or enabling a scattered daily routine.
Tip 1: My morning routine is to focus on my mind and body instead of preparing and traveling to work. This helps my overall well-being and results in more productivity. Take a decent lunch break, make a delicious, healthy, homemade meal and go for a 10-20min walk. This will help start the afternoon shift with a fresh mind.
3. You can wear what you want - pyjamas, track pants or even no pants if that’s what you prefer.
Tip 1: It’s okay to spend an occasional day working in pyjamas but don’t make a habit of it. Getting dressed and ready for your day is a helpful step to creating a daily routine for yourself. Always dress well when meeting with clients.
4. No limitations to learning or earnings. You decide on what rate you will charge your clients. You know your value and you can earn what you believe you are worth. You also have no restriction on what you can learn or how you will further develop your skills or knowledge. No one has labeled you with a title and allocated designated tasks to do, you can learn any skill that interest you.
Tip 1: Always keep learning and reading news about your industry. You need to keep your eyes and mind open for yourself. There are new tools that are coming out every day, so it’s important to continuously develop your knowledge and skills.
5. You own your business. You build a brand and reputation for yourself as an expert. You can work on all your passion projects and with clients you want to work with. All the business decisions are yours and you take credit for the work you do, but always remember to give credit where it is due.
Tip 1: Running your business can be overwhelming with all the other aspects in a freelancer's life. The best way to keep your business management in check is to know your worth and stand your ground when it comes to choosing the clients and projects to work on. It’s okay to say NO.
1. Establishing a consistent daily routine and staying focused can be a challenge. Your days can begin feeling a bit unstructured and procrastination can easily creep in. When working from home, housekeeping easily becomes a distraction. Keeping your workspace clean is key to keeping your mind focused on client work.
Tip 1: It can take up to a year to find and establish a routine that works. I personally start my day with yoga and meditation, followed by a shower and a large coffee. By 9 I done am ready to face my workday.
Tip 2: To avoid procrastination begin with my hardest task first because you are the most productive first thing in the morning. Try work in 90-minute sprints and give yourself 10 minute breaks in-between to clear your head. These are some productivity tips I learned from the book Eat that Frog!
2. You are a solo-act. Being a freelancer means you are your own business. You are in charge of all business aspects, from client to project management, invoicing, tax compliance, marketing and sales. This is probably the most daunting aspect of freelancing.
Tip 1: If you want to become a full-time freelancer in the Czech Republic, it is best that you FIRST register for a trade license (Zivno). If you are an expat, MovetoPrague is a professional, friendly English-speaking company that can help you with this.
Tip 2: Stay organized! With regards to your digital files, papers, and workspace. There will be lots to do and remember, so by making sure your workspace and admin are organized, you keep your mind focused. There are consultants that can help with submitting your taxes and if you have kept your admin organized from day 1, it will make their life easier too.
Tip 3: Tracking your time during the day helps you to see where most of your time is being spent (eg. calls, admin or client work) and you can adapt accordingly. Some time management systems you can use are TrackingTime , toggl , trello or Timely.
3. Separating work and life can be a challenge when you are working from a home office. Being in the same environment all day, can affect your mind's ability to switch off from work-mode.
Tip 1: Make sure you have a dedicated working space in the house and only use that room or space for work.
Tip 2: Working from a coffee shop once a week can help with isolation and bringing a fresh perspective. Here are some great coffee shops that have internet, great chai lattes and are dog-friendly - Vnitroblock or Kavárna co hledá jméno or Cafédu or Café Pavlač. If you have extra cash flow you could also start working in a co-working space such as Impact Hub, HubHub, and WeWork.
4. Feeling isolated is bound to happen to any freelancer at some point in their career. You are alone in this venture, you don’t have colleagues to discuss strategies, give advice or catch up with about the weekend.
Tip 1: Try working in a coffee shop once a week. This helps with having people around you. Join groups that share the same interests, as well as events and talks. Freelancers and Digital Nomads in Prague is a great one to start with because they have “Work Jam sessions” and networking meetups around the city or go to one of the many wonderful events by Femme Palette.
Tip 2: A powerful online presence is mandatory, having a website for yourself, as well as being active and up to date on social platforms like Linkedin, Instagram or YouTube, (depending on your industry). Staying connected and expanding your network is an essential part of freelancing because this is where your new work, collaborations, and clients come from.
5. Fluctuating work and cash flow. Calculating your rate (value of work, time and efforts) is very important in this industry because it’s a competitive market and you have expenses and life to support. Ensuring you have a steady pipeline and income is one of the biggest challenges. It’s easy to say yes to every project but you need to remember you can only do so much in a day. You need to find a balance between, running a business and working with the right clients or projects.
Tip 1: Know your worth and don’t let clients negotiate your prices down. Below is an equation you can use to work out your hourly rate.
Tip 2: Where possible attaining retainer clients (monthly contracted work on a fixed package price) is also favorable to allow for some stability and then other work can be project-based. Where possible - request deposits upfront and milestone delivery payments, to avoid any free or unpaid work. When you creating a project quote or hourly rate, make sure you take into consideration the less busy periods and build in the possibility that projects may take longer than anticipated.
Tip 3: There will be quiet times so set aside a bit of money every month to provide for this.
There are a lot more tips and tricks to being a freelancer. The challenge is to be prepared and adaptive. Freelancing is not easy but it’s an adventure and worth it once you get into the rhythm of it. Always remember to keep pushing forward and never give up on yourself.
