You might’ve set your eyes on starting your own business for a multitude of reasons Or maybe you decided to take advantage of the current quarantine situation and make the best out of it (which kudos for you!)  

Whatever your reasoning may be, we’re glad you took that first step! The next few steps will involve you brain-storming your way into a fully-fledged freelance business owner. This can be very rewarding since you’ll be your very own boss! Keep in mind though, that from now on, not everything will be sunshine and rainbows, but you will be facing challenging times that will test you and hopefully help you grow as a person and business owner.

And we would love to help you reach that potential with our top 10 tips listed below!

 

Tip#1: Identify Your Skills/Niche

You need to be clear with what your skill(s) is/are since it’s more beneficial to you if it’s a skill that (a) you enjoy and (b) you can sell to people who in turn willing to pay you for those specific skills. 

Make sure that you are not being too vague about your sellable skills. For instance, saying that you are a photographer will not be very helpful since that doesn’t tell me as a client, who you are or what you can do for me specifically. It won’t help you stand out. So! If you are a photographer, say that you are a Product Photographer that enjoys bringing my client’s vision to life. 

 

Tip#2: Create A Business Plan

Where would you like to see yourself in a couple of months? A couple of years? What’s your budget? What are your expenses? Do you have a competitor? Do you have influencers in the same field that you look up to? What tools will you use/need? How will you market yourself and where?

The answers to all these questions will help you conceive an overall plan that will paint a clear picture of how you want your business to operate including your financial aspects, your marketing strategies, and more. And hence make everything clear and less stressful for you. 

 

Tip#3: Build a Great Portfolio

Your portfolio is the foundation of who you are as a freelancer. It is imperative to have because clients need to see your work to reasonably judge you. to decide whether or not, this person can meet my specific demands. just be sure to be selective with your work and to pick the best ones that will accurately reflect your skills. dumping every project you’ve worked on isn’t smart because the idea is not in quantity but in quality. 

In the beginning, the best thing you can do as a rookie is to accept as many gigs as you can, even if the pay is less than ideal. The goal is to acquire enough projects to start filling in your portfolio. Then, when you’ve gained enough traction with your business, you can look for the projects that are more specified to your type of business and hence take your portfolio in your preferred direction. 

 

Tip#4: Choose a Good Brand Name

Starting out, a lot of freelancers use their own first and last names as their brand. Some choose an official name that’s more suitable to what they’re offering as a business. Just make sure that the name you stick with, has been thoroughly studied. What will your clients think of your brand name? Maybe your business name won’t be as trendy in a few years’ time. Maybe you’ll expand your business to accommodate other services and hence the name you stuck with is limiting.

 

Tip#5: Know Your Clients and Where to Find Them

Another way to build a reputation is to start emailing your network of friends and families and everyone in-between and offer up your skills for hire. Highlight your services and how you can add something of value to their lives. Maybe start at a cheaper price, since you’re starting out then work your way up, once you’ve had enough clientele. 

If even one person answers back and is interested, you’ve succeeded in dipping your toes in the freelance world as this will be your chance to shine. The kicker is that you have to be so good that this client will refer you to their friends and family.

 

Tip#6: Be Adaptable to New Skills  

With technology being fast-paced and new skills being demanded every now and then, it is always a smart move for you to keep up with the latest trends and learn the necessary skills. And there are so many ways to do this! You can read books, watch YouTube tutorials, take online courses like Shorfaa, Dawrat, Edraak, Rwaq, Skillshare, and Udemy. 

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.” – Charles Darwin. 

Tip#7: Stay On Top of Your Work 

As a freelancer, you’ve taken on not just the role of a service provider, but that of a business owner. And as a business owner, there are a ton of aspects to manage and if managed well, the success of your business is more likely to happen. To some, this could be the not-so-fun part of being their own boss, while others who are more business savvy really enjoy this part. Regardless, having a business management tool that will simplify the procedures and work-flow is always a plus no matter what type of business owner you are. 

With the Teem app, you can cover all the basics of business management with just a few clicks. This gives you the chance to immerse yourself in doing what you love to do, which is the core of your organization, whatever that is! 

 

Tip#8: Always Know Your Worth

Knowing your worth entails knowing how much you should get paid i.e how much you actually deserve. Selling yourself short will not help you in the long-run if you plan on making a living out of your freelance business. So be sure, to get the right prices! To get an idea of how much you should charge your clients depends on different factors. Have you worked for a small firm before? How much did they charge their clients for their specific industry expertise? Do you personally have experience in what you are selling? How about your competitors? Comparing yourself with similar service providers will help you get an idea of how much to charge. 

Before you’re able to set the ideal price that illustrates your worth, a piece of good advice to heed is to start with an affordable price for your products/services to get known by clients in the beginning and build a reputation. Only after you have enough demands, can you afford to higher your prices, because by now people who familiar with your work and like it, will be willing to pay more? 

 

Tip#9: Create an Online Presence 

Keeping up a consistent online presence has many advantages: 

1. First, it gives you the chance to appear human to your clients, and thus more trustworthy.
2. Second, your clients can interact with you and bring in more traffic to your website and more brand awareness.
3. Third, blogs are your chance to be educational, to share your expertise with the public. blogs can even be a tool to invite interesting people from the industry and ask them to share about their experiences.
4. You can take advantage of ads to grab your potential customer’s attention in your blogs and your social media accounts.
5. You can partner up with online influencers who have a big following so that their followers can talk about you via word of mouth. 

Tip#10: Keep a Record of Your Clients’ Contracts 

Whether you are communicating with your client through emails, phone calls, FaceTime, written signed statements that indicate what services you’ll be providing and its terms and conditions, will be a life-savior. This will safeguard you against misunderstandings with your clients when it comes to anything from services, prices, working hours, copyright issues, etc. 

In the Teem application, we provide a contract that’s been looked over by our attorney. You can find it when creating a new Proposal. It includes terms and conditions on Payments, Prerequisites, Revisions, and more. 

Click the link to try out the Free trial of our Business Management Tool

 

Conclusion 

These were our recommended tips if you’re just starting out as a freelancer! But, do try to read up more about the subject, visit different resources, different articles, and professionals, and absorb as much information as you can, because knowledge is power.

 

Thanks for tuning in, again! We would love to hear your thoughts on this blog post!