So you want to know how to become self-employed?
A 9-5 job no longer cuts it for you. The lack of freedom, and knowing that you are only being paid a fraction of your worth stifles you. And you have big dreams that will only come true if you start earning money for yourself.
The only thing is, where do you start, right?
But do not worry, we know how you feel. We have been through this journey, and have some insight that we can share to help you out.
‘Self employed’ is quite an ambiguous term. It can mean that you own a business that sells products, you offer a freelance service, or you simply do something which earns money, and you are the boss of it.
This guide is for those who want to begin offering a service on a freelance basis. So enough talking, let’s find out how to become self employed.
What Is Your Why
Your why is the foundation of how to become self employed. So ask yourself why you want to do it.
Is it simply because you want to earn more money? Or do you want to make a living from something that you are genuinely passionate about?
If you are purely chasing financial freedom, then fair enough. But understand that this makes things much more difficult.
Work is hard enough as it is. So why go to all of the effort of becoming self employed, and chase money by doing something that you do not genuinely love?
You may as well carry on working a 9-5 for somebody else, because it will not feel much different.
Having a passion, and wanting to make a living from it is always the best why. Just look at any successful entrepreneur.
They do what they love, and that was the main motivation to put in the hours to start earning money from it.
Otherwise, there is a high chance of burnout, and you risk losing all of your momentum before you even get going.
Mindset
The next step is to get in the right mindset. Although your why is the drive behind everything, your mindset is arguably the most important factor in becoming self employed.
The fact that you want to become self employed means you have already got over the first mindset hurdle. But, that is just the start.
It is critical to be aware that becoming self employed is a financial risk. And this is especially true if you are starting a business which requires a decent amount of upfront capital, or you have a family.
You have to be able to accept this, and move forward regardless.
There is an interesting episode of Dragon’s Den, the UK version of Shark Tank, which demonstrates this. In this episode, the budding entrepreneur had sparked the Dragon’s interest.
He then went on to reveal that he was a teacher by day. And when questioned about whether, when the time came, he would leave his day job behind to commit 100% to the business, he was hesitant.
This concerned the Dragons. There was a lack of conviction in his voice, and they lost confidence in him.
Although this entrepreneur was trying to scale a product based business, the moral of the story still rings true for service based freelancers.
You need to have confidence in your ability to become successfully self employed. And once the right time comes, you have to be willing to leave the security of a 9-5 job behind.
You cannot dabble in self employment and expect strong results. It requires calculated risks, step by step progression, but most importantly, a mindset which is okay with all of this.
Finding Clients
So you know what you are passionate about. It is now time to find clients, and these days it is a lot easier to do.
With modern technology, contacting potential clients is just the click of a finger away, and gives you many more strategies than before.
You can:
- Cold email
- Cold call
- Create a website
- Place paid ads on other sites
- Pay for social media advertising
- Offer services for free, then start charging
When advertizing your services, the key is to show people how you can add value to their lives. How will your service meet the needs of what potential clients are looking for?
Cold emails need to grab people’s attention with a killer subject line. Paid ads need to explain what you do and how well you do it in as few words as possible.
And a personal website needs to have examples of quality personal projects, to get your first client to take a chance on you.
By now you should be starting to see that being self employed is just as much about giving as it is gaining.
The internet also created a platform for all sorts of regular-work freelance style contracts to be advertised. Job search websites such as LinkedIn and Indeed are full of them, and you apply to them just like a regular job.
These can be a great foot in the door, because you are getting the vital experience you need to secure better quality clients further down the line!
But the catch is that these freelance gigs are usually low paid.
Most freelancers get started by jumping through these low-paid hoops. It is a safer bet, and can lead to good things.
However, it does not have to be this way.
If you get your marketing right, create some brilliant, high quality personal projects, and display them all on a professional looking website, you may be able to skip the pennies and jump straight to the pounds.
There is this myth that you can only charge more with experience. The money you charge is a negotiation. There is no reason why you cannot charge premium rates early on.
You just need to convince the client that it is worth their money.
Of course, more experience helps this. But target the right client, and have examples of real top-notch work, and then it comes down to your ability to convince someone to give you a shot.
This strategy is much more difficult to land clients than initially taking on low paid work. But if it works out, then your freelance career will truly be up and running.
How To Charge
How you charge depends on what service you provide. But whatever your trade, there are options.
For example, as a writer you can charge by word, hour, or project. As a photographer you can charge by photo, hour, or whole shoot. And as a software developer, you can charge by hour or whole website/app, or functionality.
Most people start out by charging by hour, as this makes them look more competitive. It does mean lower earnings. But again, if you like less risk, it is the way to go.
Charging by whole projects as early on as possible is the ideal way to go. Not only can you charge more, but this way, the more productive you are, the better your hourly earnings.
As a photographer this would be to charge by shoot. As a software developer, it would mean charging by website or app. And as a writer, it would mean charging by article, or all of the articles your client wants.
Again this strategy requires you to have some seriously good personal projects under your belt. It is definitely doable as somebody who is starting out, but is the harder charging strategy to land clients with early on.
When it comes to charging, the important thing to remember is that the client comes first. Set your price, then take your eyes off the money and focus on the work. Producing quality work is key to any self employment.
So do not shoot yourself in the foot by focussing too much on the money before you build a reputation.
Becoming Self Employed
If we have done our job properly, this article should have made you aware that becoming self employed is no easy feat. But it should also have given you actionable steps to take so that you can get the ball rolling.
The final takeaway is that despite all of the hard work, sacrifice, and resilient mindset that it requires, becoming self employed is highly achievable.
There is no reason why you should not be able to turn your passion into a business, and have full control over how much money you earn.
Conclusion
If we have done our job properly, this article should have made you aware that becoming self employed is no easy feat. But it should also have given you actionable steps to take so that you can get the ball rolling.
The final takeaway is that despite all of the hard work, sacrifice, and resilient mindset that it requires, becoming self employed is highly achievable.
There is no reason why you should not be able to turn your passion into a business, and have full control over how much money you earn.
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