Hallie was honored to be featured in a recent Glamour.com article about things to consider before quitting your office job to freelance. As a follow up to this article, we wanted to share some additional tips with you.
To be a successful freelancer implies a lot of work. You have to be disciplined to stay focused on work versus things around the house drawing your attention. You must take initiative to grab new accounts or clients and do a lot of marketing to secure that work. Many times freelancers have to work harder than the average employee at a company because they are a one-man show.
Aside from deciding if you have the right strengths to be a successful freelancer, here are a few other things you should consider:
- Taxes. When you work for a company, your employer pays for a portion of your social security and Medicare taxes. When you work for yourself, you have to cover 100% of those taxes. To keep this from surprising you at the end of the year or from paying the IRS extra fees, you can pay estimated quarterly taxes. Or, especially if you are just starting out, you can just make sure and set aside a portion of your income to make sure you have the cash to cover the taxes at the end of the year. This requires discipline since it can be tempting to tap into your tax fund. Try keeping the money in a different account so you will be less likely to use it.
- No benefits. When you work for an employer, you might get extra perks like a bonus or paid time off. When you are a freelancer, it generally means giving up those kinds of perks. When deciding if you should become a full-time freelancer it’s important to analyze your current work situation and lifestyle to see if you could really do without your current job perks.
- Multiple clients. If you are thinking of being a full-time freelancer, many times this entails having multiple clients or projects at a time.It’s important to keep accurate records of what you are working on. To do this you have to make sure you can organize your schedule and different projects so that you don’t miss a deadline.
While these things shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your dream career, make sure that you are prepared in advance for these possible roadblocks and have a plan for them.
