There are a lot of business opportunities that are sprouting out everywhere, every day. One kind of business opportunity, in particular, is gaining popularity in the market - The freelancing business. The journey towards being our own boss is something that most people aspire to see through. There’s a certain kind of satisfaction that comes with earning and saving enough money to control your own time and workload. But in the meantime, you have the option and the opportunity to earn money while still having that sense of control by starting your own freelance business.
What is A Freelance Business?
Starting your own freelance business means that you will be offering your skills, talents, and services to a particular business or person on a per-project or per-task basis. The set-up of this is typically for a short period only. However, the beauty of the freelancing business is that you establish connections with multiple people, businesses, and communities that will immediately think of you for other projects or tasks in the future. Thus, you immediately ensure that you set yourself up for success now and in the years to come. However, most of the successful freelancing business stories you will hear about involve finding your own clients. This entails packaging yourself in a way that ensures you get the job and makes sure that you present yourself and your freelancing business with as much professional flare as possible. Starting your own freelancing business can really help you with your own career and your future professional aspects.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s website
Why is Starting a Freelance Business A Good Idea?
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
While there is a certain appeal to having a regular job with a typical boss, typical working hours, and a regular paying salary, starting your own freelance business certainly has its perks. It’s certainly not for everyone, but those who prefer to work on their own time and initiative will thrive in their own personal growth by starting a freelance business.
- You are Free. One of the many advantages of having a freelance business is allowing yourself some freedom. This is because you don’t work for one single person or entity. And so, it is entirely up to you which clients you take on or which projects you accept and commit to. You decide what’s best for you because you are the only boss you have to answer to. So if you think that a job is too big for its offered price, or if you think a certain project will take up too much of your time and deem it not worthy, then you do not have to go to the painstaking decision of going through with it because someone tells you to.
- You hold your Time. Being free from a boss is being free from a standard work hour schedule. As an owner of a freelance business, you are afforded the freedom to manage your own time. This means that you can work whenever you feel like you are most productive - in the afternoon or early in the morning or in the wee hours of the night. What matters is that you get the job done. This comes particularly handy when you have other commitments - with family or even school or other jobs. Working on your own time allows you to be productive and possible at the same time.
- You don’t need to go to the office nor wear office wear. While office wear might still be required depending on the type of skill you picked for starting your own freelance business, you are still afforded the option and opportunity to dress according to your own preferences. Most of the time, you only have to wear business attire when dealing with clients, but other than that, you can be in your sweatpants for as long as you finish what you committed to. In addition, having your own freelance business allows you the freedom to work anywhere and everywhere. This would come in handy if your friends or family ever decide to take a short trip or vacation. You wouldn’t have to worry about missing work because you can bring it with you.
How to Start a Freelance Business
Much like any other business, starting your own freelance business is no easy task. Here are a few steps to help you get started on your freelancing business.
1. Find Your Motivation
Like all other endeavors in life, you need to understand the “why”. You have to internalize and ask yourself why you want to go to the trouble of starting a freelance business. Because while there are many advantages, as we have mentioned, it is still vital for you to know and understand why you want to do this for yourself? Is it for your family? For a special someone? For your own career? Answer this “why”, and you will be arming yourself with the motivation to not just do the job but to do it well. This will also help you set out the goals you want to achieve with this freelance business. It can be goals for the next few years or your goals for the business in general.
2. Decide on Your Skill
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
After you have understood your “why”, it is time for you to know and decide on what skills you want to offer to your clientele. This involves looking introspectively and knowing what you are good at but it also greatly involves looking towards whether that skill is a profitable necessity in the market. Thus, it is also important for you to know and understand the market you are getting yourself into. Starting your own freelance business means that you have to decide not just on all you want to offer but also on the prices at which you would offer those services. The standards and quantity of the services you want to offer also come into play. So keep in mind that deciding on what your skill is isn’t all about you or your freelance business. It involves the world that you want to dominate.
3. Build Connections
When you have decided on your niche or your skill, the next thing you need to do is to join the community. This might come first before your final decision on your skill because knowing the community in which you would be a part is a major contributing factor to the kind of freelance business you want to start. Besides that fact, connecting with people and establishing yourself as part of the community will help your freelance business in the long run. Having connections with people who can be your clients and people who can help you get in touch with more people to expand your network is something that you would have to continuously do to sustain the freelancing business you started.
4. Create Your Portfolio
Image taken from Strikingly
These last two steps can be done interchangeably. It all depends on your strategy. Some of those starting a freelance business prefer to build up enough connections before they come up with a proper portfolio, while some just update theirs as they go along. Nevertheless, creating your own portfolio is a must for starting your own freelance business. And nowadays, having your normal curriculum vitae or resume won’t cut it. It has come to the point that having a portfolio means having your own website. This does not only give you an edge. This also gives you a chance to show off your skills and talents for what you have to offer.
Strikingly is one of the best tools online that can help you do just that when you start a freelance business. Strikingly has multiple templates to help you create your own portfolio with ease and comfort. These templates are mobile-friendly to assist you in making sure that no matter what device is used to access your portfolio, the quality and excellence remain to be seen. You can also add galleries (yes, you can add multiples) of photos or videos. There are many different kinds of sections that you can choose from that can be most appropriate for your freelance business. In addition, you can also add and connect different social media accounts of yours - and even a social media feed for one or multiple of your accounts on different platforms. You can make the most professional, organized, and even fun portfolio with these amazing tools. It’s much easier to get clients and maintain loyal ones when your portfolio is also a website that they can use to get easy access to you and your services. Sign up or log in now and make your freelance business dreams come true!
