First-Year Freelance Advice

With 2019 quickly approaching, it’s time to reflect on 2018. This year was full of “more”— More work, more travel, and more growth. This year, I also celebrated my first year of full-time freelance work. With a little over a year under my belt, I wanted to share some of my experiences as well as a little first-year, full-time freelance advice.

Not much prepares you for starting your own freelance business. You can read every single DIY guide, network like crazy, and build your client base before the official “launch”. But in all honesty, nothing compares to actually getting through the first full year. And yes, year one can be hectic, unorganized, and at times, exhausting. But once you’re on the other side, getting through that first year can be so rewarding.

To help all those who are just starting out (or maybe are a bit further along in their freelance journey), I’ve compiled my three best pieces of advice for full-time freelancers.

Start by Starting

It’s important to let go of any preconceived notions of what your business “should” or “will” be like. You will make mistakes, you will probably lose clients, and you will question if this was the right choice. One of the scariest things about getting ready to launch your own freelance business is the idea of starting.

I’ve heard some refer to getting started as “taking the leap”. And to be honest, I used that phrase to describe my beginnings, too. A year later I’ve come to realize it’s not quite a jump, but instead, small steps every single day. Whatever the goal is for your freelance business, it’s about taking steps that best set you up for success.

Pro tip: If at all possible, try to ignore comparing yourself to where other people are in their timeline. Whether they’re on year 1 on year 10, everyone’s journey is different. The commonality between them all is that they had to start somewhere. So get to it!

Set Office Hours

One of the things I’ve struggled with most is setting working hours. For a while, I tried to work “regular hours,” mirroring the 9-5 schedule of the rest of the working world. But something didn’t feel right. Trying to decide how many days and at which times I would work was difficult for me.

Not to mention working from home can cause the lines between work and personal time to blur. I found myself falling into the trap of “always working” because I was unable to plan my day effectively. When deciding to go full-time freelance, one of the biggest draws was being able to set my own schedule. Not having a set schedule in place to protect my personal time meant I ended up losing a lot of that flexibility and caused myself to get burnt out much more quickly.

My calendar has become my saving grace for scheduling all the different things I need to do in a day — and all the things I just want to do. I schedule everything from “working hours,” which include my availability for meetings, to the time I spend working on miscellaneous projects and any other housekeeping-type tasks like email and bookkeeping. I also make sure to book personal time for things like errands.

Pro tip: When setting your office hours, remember these can be flexible and change as your schedule does. Having set working time throughout the day allows you to have a better handle on when you’re actually available and protects your personal time.

Wait to Say Yes

You’re probably familiar with the piece of advice “don’t be afraid to say no.” It’s typically coupled with the idea that saying “no” allows you to say “yes” to something else that could be better. And although I wholeheartedly agree with that advice, I can honestly say “saying no” wasn’t a huge problem for me when it comes to working. Instead, I realized I have a problem with saying “yes” too quickly.

Being a freelancer means no client can tell you how, when or where to do the thing you’ve been contracted to do. Although there may be a due date for the project, it’s important to set the appropriate expectations for communication and work. Immediately responding to emails, and other requests with a “yes” mentality can be detrimental to your success

Pro tip: No, you can’t do it all—but, you can do all of what you want.

The first year of full-time freelance can be a rollercoaster filled with ups and downs. You’ll often need to make decisions without knowing the outcomes, but be ready to face any mistakes head-on. It’s a year full of new learnings, about yourself and about relationships in business.

Overall, the experience, for me, has been positive. Without the flexibility and freedom of freelance work, I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the majority of things I did this past year.

If you’re ready to go full-time freelance, don’t hesitate to get started, take the time to set your own schedule (and stick to it!) and take your time before jumping to say yes.