Freelance work attracts more and more professionals to establish itself as a real solution on the job market. Thus, the number of Freelance workers increased considerably between 2011 and 2015 with more than 60% of status creations during this period. There are many reasons for creating your own business: to give meaning to your activity, to flourish and to better reconcile professional and personal life.
However, becoming self-employed is not a choice to be made lightly, and you should consider whether you are ready to go it alone. We are going to see together the main questions to ask yourself before starting your activity.
ARE YOU AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD?
As a freelance, your clients will expect you to be a true expert in your field and to be proactive. They want efficient work that will bring real added value to their business. In addition, customers generally expect an experience.
Depending on your job and the services you want to offer, you may sometimes need to acquire new skills in order to have a more global vision. Do not hesitate to follow training courses that will improve your skills and allow you to offer new services.
Ask yourself if you have solid expertise in your field or if it needs to be supplemented with specific training.
DO YOU THINK THAT THE INDEPENDENT LIFE IS ADAPTED TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
If becoming your own boss makes more than one dream, this career choice also has its share of difficulties. To be sure that you have properly measured the pros and cons, we advise you to go and talk to other freelancers in order to have an objective view of their daily life, know the important stages of their career but also find out about the administrative procedures to be carried out.
By collecting as many opinions as possible, you will get a more precise idea of the daily life of a freelance.
Ask yourself if you feel able to work on your own, if you are organized enough, and if you are willing to challenge yourself on a regular basis to keep moving forward and improving. Also, know how to identify the best time to start as a freelance.
DO YOU HAVE THE NECESSARY BUDGET TO LAUNCH YOUR ACTIVITY?
Before you start, we advise you to have some money aside, especially if you do not yet have a customer and you are starting your business with a long prospecting phase. Additionally, clients tend to pay their bills within 30 days, so you may not be paid a salary during the first few months of your business.
In addition to paying bills which can take a long time to set up, you will also have expenses related to the purchase of equipment and your place of work: co-working, rental of an office or work at home.
Ask yourself what are your needs, in terms of income but also equipment, in the medium and long term. Do not forget also the budget dedicated to health, because you will have to subscribe to a mutual.
DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS?
If your freelance activity will give you more freedom (choice of customers, schedules, prices, etc.), it will also impose some constraints on you such as accounting and the administrative part. You will therefore need the tools to save you time, both for project management and for invoicing.
Ask yourself which tools will allow you to automate certain tasks and thus better manage your daily life. If they’re paid, try to see if you can get organized with free tools first before signing up for more comprehensive offers.
WHAT PROSPECTING APPROACHES WILL YOU PUT IN PLACE?
Once you have estimated the budget and the necessary tools, conduct an audit of your network to see if, among your contacts, some people would be potentially interested in your services. You will be able to refine your positioning and develop your sales pitch or you can offer free Demo as Kissanime and AnimeSprout companies did.
Ask yourself what your network needs are and who you will contact first. Try to update your social networks like LinkedIn and delete any web content that could damage your reputation.
After studying all of these questions, you are now ready to start your business. To start as a freelance, the use of wage portage is an excellent idea because you can test your idea while remaining an employee. This status allows you to develop an independent professional activity while retaining the social security cover of a traditional employee.
