DISQUS

Instigator Blog: 14 Tips for Moving From Full-Time to Freelance Work

  • shane · 2 years ago
    Hey Ben,

    This is a sweet post. I'm glad to have found your site.

    Quite often, the posts I read are focused upon soloists, not those leading teams or micro-businesses. I look forward to what is next.
  • Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago
    Shane - Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Hope you'll stick around...
  • Anja · 2 years ago
    This is a great article. With so many people taking the plunge to 'work for themselves' advice such as this is vital.
  • John · 2 years ago
    I'd add, get networking. Ideally within the groups that your customers will attend. Equally there's value in networking with your 'competitors' too.
  • David Airey · 2 years ago
    A very worthy Digg. Excellent tips, Ben, and reminds me I need to source an accountant.
  • Benoît Marcoux · 2 years ago
    I have been an independent consultant for 12 years, until 2006, when I joined SECOR as a partner. My old web site, www.cbmi.ca, is still up, if you care to go and see it.
    I really enjoyed this time, the freedom, and it was very rewarding. My skills were generally in high demand, and I served about 10 customers every year, except for the 2-3 years where I did interim management work.
    In the end, however, it started to be repetitive. When SECOR approached me, I accepted, and I haven't regretted it - there are fantastic people here, and very interesting projects.
  • Emmanuel · 2 years ago
    Hm...I found the tip on getting an accountant more useful. The mistake most people make when going on their own is to assume that they can handle their finance as well. I have made this mistake in the past and the price was costly.
  • Char · 2 years ago
    Great post! Step #1 worked very well for me. Actually, when I made the switch to being a freelancer, my first two clients were my two most recent employers.

    If you are planning on making the switch or have recently done so - print this post out and put it in a very obvious place in your office - and refer to it often as this is all very sound advice.
  • What is Digg? · 2 years ago
    Your tip about getting work from your past employer is spot on. I've done this twice, and my past employeer is one of my biggest contracts. I should note, however, that I make less per job this way, but more per hour... Guess why! StumbleUpon and Digg must've taken up more work time than I thought!
  • Jean-Francois Noel · 2 years ago
    Nice post, the part about the accountant is what I overlook 4 years ago and it was painful. Doing the accounting yourself is not hard, but unless you are a freelance accountant you are really just losing valuable time doing unrelated work.

    Get out there billing for your time and pay the accountant. Even if it's break even, you are still gaining experience in your domain. Now I am just waiting for "14 Tips for Moving from Freelancer to Startup Founder".
  • shane · 2 years ago
    @ David - I wrote a post recently on how to pick an accountant with 50 questions to ask when interviewing one.
  • Download Music · 2 years ago
    Fantastic. You have been exhaustive. One more item for the list. Do everything possible to network.
  • Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago
    Thank you to everyone for the kind words.

    I suspected that "get an accountant" would be a popular point because it's one that many people will overlook. But even for some of the basics - you need the advice of an accountant. For example, you won't be paying taxes at source, so you're "flush with cash" but you have to save some for tax season. And, you have to think about mitigating that cost too.

    @John: No question, as a freelancer you need to be capable of networking - offline and online.

    @Jean-Francois: 14 tips from freelancer to startup founder, eh? Oh oh. That's something to chew on!
  • digitalnomad · 2 years ago
    Done that been there, over 20 years ago.
  • jane doe · 2 years ago
    #10 should be number #1 as I find that is the hardest thing to balance,especially when you are just making the transition.

    Another great suggestion is to join the business networking sites like Ryze so you put your name and new associations out there.

    Thanks for your suggestions and for maintaining such an informative website.
  • Poster Maniac · 2 years ago
    Great article here. Well being freelancer is much more relaxing than full time job. You get the same amount of salary but work less. But you need the skill require as freelancing needs it. Otherwise you can back to your full time job.
  • NsaneNoob · 2 years ago
    This story enlightened me. Well I've been in full time job for the past 8 years and i kinda get bored with it. Most of my time being spend at office. movings to freelance job seems get more free time for myself.
  • TheAnand · 2 years ago
    True, but being a freelancer means that you need to have more discipline than an employee. Its much like building your own name in the market out there. Sadly, my gf thinks freelancing has made me lazy!
  • lornadoone · 2 years ago
    I'm currently reading a 200-something page book on starting your own freelance writing business. This post is probably just about as informative and much more enjoyable to read! Thanks a bunch.
  • Maynard Sellers · 1 year ago
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  • CARS · 1 month ago
    thanks for sharing this info with the rest of us