“I drunkenly called my ex and confessed my undying love”
“I handed over my bank details to a scam caller.”
“I got cornered on the high street by someone with a clip board and signed up to a year’s supply of something I didn’t want.”
The above have nothing to do with with my business, but my point is this: we all make mistakes, but we rarely fess up to them - at least not publicly.
Think of the last time you saw someone genuinely own up to something negative on, say, Facebook or Instagram. It might be for fear of looking stupid, or it might be because everyone wants to present the best version of themselves, but you rarely see someone say: “Hey, I behaved like an absolute d**khead today*.
I say, scrap that notion, own up - and own - your mistakes. If you can, share them with others.
If you’re a business owner like me, you probably didn’t get everything right the first time.
With that in mind, if you’re thinking of going freelance this year - or sometime soon - I want to share with you a few of the cock-ups I made when I tentatively dipped my toe into the self-employment pond. So you don’t make them too. Read on…
I Priced My Services Wrong
When I first went freelance, I had no idea what to charge. Up until that point, I’d been working in-house in a copywriting position, so working out my price went something like this:
My in-house salary ÷ 12 months ÷ working hours in a month = hourly rate
I then added in a small (and I mean, small) amount on top to cover freelance expenses and whatnot. What I didn’t take into account was that my hourly rate in my in-house role was ‘after tax’. I also didn’t take into account that holiday pay and sick pay is technically accounted for in an in-house role, too.
So, of course, when a local digital agency came a-knocking to take me on for four days per month in a freelance capacity, they snapped my hand off when I mentioned my hourly rate. Course they did.
It wasn’t too long before I realised I was VERY competitively priced. What did I do then? I put my fee up - and it has risen slightly with inflation (and experience) year on year.
The takeaway? Don’t undersell yourself or your services. Charge what you’re worth not what you think you should be charging. End of.
I Managed My Own Invoices
I’m not a numbers person. Not at all. So using my own template for invoices was never going to end well. I’d miscalculate things (usually totting up my services and arriving at a cheaper price for a set number of jobs) and my (very honest) clients would inform me I’d undercharged them.
When you go freelance, you immediately have to wear multiple hats. You’re not just doing your job - in my case, copywriting - you’re also:
managing your books
marketing your business
drowning in admin.
making your own brews and baking your own cake (I miss having colleagues).
Everything falls on you - and you alone. Now, I’m in a fortunate position to have a small team around me - but back then, I struggled. And I made mistakes on the money front more than once.
The takeaway? Use an online bookkeeping service to manage your invoices in one, handy place. I use Quickbooks - and it has literally transformed the way I manage the admin side of my business.
I Rarely Switched Off
When you’re working for yourself - or at least when you begin working for yourself - there’s a tendency to feel guilty if you’re not ‘on it’ all the time.
I’m not really sure where this comes from; if you’ve chosen to be your own boss, you’ve probably done so for the perks it brings, but hey, many of us freelancers feel the need to constantly ‘prove ourselves’, putting in extra hours at the weekend and working ‘til all hours in the week.
If a client emailed me on a weekend, I’d feel obliged to reply.
As soon as I let go of that guilty feeling, I found I could enjoy my weekends all the more. I didn’t leave a full-time role to work weekends - and neither will you if you choose to do the same.
The takeaway? Embrace being freelance - and the fact that you can work whatever hours you blimming well choose.
I’d Lower My Price if It Didn’t Meet a Client’s Budget
I hate to talk money again, but this one’s important.
Even when I was one, two and even three years into being self-employed, if a client told me my price was too high, I’d find a way to lower it. Now? I offer a payment plan if fellow business owners need a way to manage their budget. If not, I just say: ‘That’s my price’.
The takeaway? Don’t let imposter syndrome take over. Your price is your price and it’s your price for a reason.
I Showed Up to Things That Didn’t Complement Me - or My Business
I’ve talked a little bit about freelancers feeling the need to do things - just because. We must be seen to be busy - all the time. We must lower our prices to meet a client’s budget. We must. We must. We must…and so it goes on.
I say b****cks to all that. Working for yourself is nothing short of blimming brilliant. If I can give you one piece of advice it’s this: only do what you want to do - in life and in business.
I got roped into attending all kinds of tedious business networking events when I first started out, after being approached by well-meaning fellow businesspeople who told me it was beneficial for gaining new clients.
True, I would pick up a client or two, but on the whole I found the events an awful kind of forced ‘fun’ that I just shouldn’t have subscribed to, because…well…it wasn’t me.
A coffee with a new client or two? Yep. A lunch and a half a lager and lime in a beer garden with a fellow freelancer? I’m there with bells on. But don’t tell me I need to stand up in a room of suited and booted businesspeople and tell them what I do in 60 seconds to succeed. I ain’t going to do it and neither should you. Well, not unless you want to.
The takeaway? I hate this expression, but ‘you do you’, my friend.
Thinking of taking the plunge to go self-employed? Go get em, gal (or guy!). If you want to pick my brain for more mistakes, tips or tricks, say hello here.
Until next time…