Going it alone: a freelancer's guide to becoming a freelancer

I remember BC (before Covid) that the default position when it came to job security was that full-time employment was the way to go. A reliable income and all the health and retirement benefits that came with it.

When the pandemic hit, for me at least, that viewpoint shifted. Millions of workers almost overnight lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and that singular steady stream of reliable income disappeared.

I mention this because this was the key reason why I decided to go it alone and become a digital marketing freelancer. I'd done some extra bits on the side for years alongside my agency job, and also when I shifted to in-house too.

But with a full-time job comes the risk of you losing that job - even if you're killing it. And for me, there was a severe lack of flexibility too. The idea that you have to be in work at a certain time, set time to cram in a dog walk and lunch on your 30-minute break, and not seeing pay increase as you put in more effort, were starting to become bones of contention.

So, I bit the bullet and went it alone. From full-time employee to living almost client invoice to paid invoice. So far, it's going great. So if you're thinking of following a similar pathway, here are some nuggets of (hopefully useful) experience that may help you on your way to becoming your own boss.

Get your finances in order first

Going it along is a risk, even more so if your finances are under strain as it is.

It takes time to win enough work or for sales to hit the figure needed to truly sustain your lifestyle. We're not talking getting rich here, just the basics of covering bills and some spends for the weekend. In your first year, achieving this alone will be a result.

If you're in a position to choose when to go fully freelance, then use that time to built up a bit of a financial war chest to cover a few months of limited income. Reduce outgoings where you can too, and give yourself the best possible chance to make a success of becoming a freelancer - even if things get tough at the start.

Get everything set up before you take the leap

In your first few months of becoming a freelancer, you don't want to be bogged down in settings things up. Those initial few months are critical to your year-one success, and all efforts should be focused on driving demand and fulfilling the first few jobs or sales.

Key things you should get set up before going it alone include:

• Website and branding
• Email
• Social profiles
• Business plan
• Marketing strategy
• Finance software
• Legal tax set-up
• List of contacts and prospects
• Your technology (laptop, software etc)

With these fundamentals already in situ, you can hit the ground running in growing and establishing your freelance venture.

Have clients ready to go

This is without doubt the hardest part. If you can boast a handful of paying clients already on your roster from day one of being a freelancer, you're 1000x more likely to make it through your first year.

Most freelancers will already have some clients on the side of their full-time job. Yes, some days it will feel like you're working two or three jobs simultaneously. You will have to get used to working through evenings and weekends. But if becoming your own boss with the flexibility and potential financial security that can bring is a dream of yours, then this is a sacrifice that needs to made.

This approach also helps to make the 'should I go freelance now' decision easier for you. There will be a tipping point where your freelancer clients are paying enough to replace your current salary, or you really don't have time to do both anymore. This is the perfect moment to hand in your notice and begin the journey of going it alone.

I was lucky on this front. I'd freelanced on the side for over five years, just a handful of smaller clients to top up my salary. But as this grew, I knew I was able to take the leap and have enough income to make a success of it.

Building that pool of clients takes time and continued great work. I found that working with marketing agencies to help augment their internal teams was a fantastic opportunity to create a steady income and boost my own experience too. If you're in the digital space, then speak to local marketing agencies and see if they're over-capacity and could do with some additional non-contractual support (keep things flexible for clients to begin with!). I worked with a fantastic performance marketing agency from the outset which was invaluable to this.

Other ways to begin building your roster of clients and revenue streams include:

• Speak to local businesses advising of the support you can offer them. Include a month one discount so you can prove how good you are
• Talk to potential clients in the niche where you have the most experience. They'd likely be glad of your expertise, especially as hiring you on a freelance basis will be cheaper and lower risk for them
• Join online networks where companies can post the work they need doing. This won't be the ideal set up for some budding freelancers, but could help get things moving and money rolling in
• Talk to service providers about becoming one of their suppliers. For example, if you want to become a freelance content writer, research online businesses who write copy on demand for businesses and offer to become a writer for them
• Explore potential agencies of deal in freelancer contract work. They could line you up with a steady stream of reliable bigger projects

Remember the bigger picture when things get tough

If being your own boss was easy, more people would be doing it. To become a successful freelancer you need to learn about to be a negotiator, an accountant, web developer, have some legal knowledge, and a business development manager... all on top of the actual services you offer.

No one knows all of these skills from the off. It takes time (and plenty of mistakes) to learn them all.

And, most importantly, is to remember that you will have some down periods. Some months where it may feel like you've made a mistake, or a client hasn't paid on time and bills are looming large.

In these moments, try to remember the big reasons why you wanted to go it alone in the first place.

Give yourself a break

I'm rubbish at this, so do as I say and not as I do!

Your first year as a freelancer will be fast-paced, stressful at times, and full of doubt. It can be tempting to work all the hours under the sun to make it work.

This is great to begin with. That innate drive is what makes a successful freelancer. But eventually, fatigue and burnout will catch up with you, and your quality of work and decision-making will suffer.

The anxiety is that you feel you can't take a break because a client may need something, or you may miss an opportunity.

The trick to overcoming this is to schedule your breaks when your clients are most likely to be away too. This removes any annoyance on their side that you're not available, and helps negate the stress on your side that your inbox is piling up whilst you give yourself a well-earned week off.

Summer holidays, bank holidays, Christmas... all perfect times to schedule time off for yourself.

Just let your clients know in advance when you'll be available, set up an out-of-office with emergency contact information, and create an auto-responder for your website contact form saying when you will get in touch with the prospect.

And in the meantime, reset, recharge, see the family members and friends you've no doubt had to neglect whilst you focus on your freelance venture, and get ready to go again.