How to Survive as a Freelancer

CREDIT: Amanda Moore

Working as a freelancer - especially with tiny human dependents - can offer a lot of flexibility but presents many challenges including; finding new work, programming workload, actually getting paid and earning a regular income. Here are some tips to keep you safe and sane:

• Work out a personal budget. Work out how much your life costs at a minimum. You can use various apps to track your spending, a spreadsheet or simply pen and the back of an envelope.
• Set a sensible freelance day rate. That rate needs to take into account how much you want to get paid which could be based on your last PAYE salary. Remember to include holiday, reasonable sick time, pension contributions, purchase or hire of any equipment and software and accounting.
• Work out how many days you need to work to fund your life and set a target.
• Remember that you may not make a regular monthly income and your income may be more seasonal depending on what you do. This is why a monthly spending budget is important.
• Use a calendar to track time you’ve spent working. Colour code different projects or clients which will help with invoicing.
• Use online accounting software such as Quickbooks, or any other provider, to help you record payments, business expenses and mileage to complete tax returns.
• Make sure to include all expenses. Some of your personal expenses such as your phone and internet can often be split if you are also using them for your business. HMRC also allow an extra expense allowance per month if you work from home.
• Have an emergency fund. As a parent, I feel safer having a one year emergency fund, a year of basic expenses.
• Set up a personal pension fund. I’ve consolidated my previous PAYE pensions into one provider with low fees on a tracker product which allows me to select my risk level. You can keep paying into this. I also use a stocks and share ISA which has more flexibility in terms of when you want to take your money later, but it may not be the most tax efficient compared to pension funds.
• Put your income tax aside in a separate account. Your accounting software will help to keep a running estimate of how much tax you will need to pay. HMRC also ask you to pay a proportion 'on account' towards next year's tax.
• Keep a good network of contacts. These can include previous PAYE jobs. One of the easiest ways to start freelancing is to ask previous employers if you can do freelance work for them. You can also have a more regular income doing this as it will be regular work.
• With visual work, have it photographed properly.
• Keep competition submissions and ask for feedback on those you didn’t win.
• Find company if you need it. You could share a studio space or go to a co-working space just one day per week. You could even set up monthly design reviews with other freelancers so that you can give and get feedback.

Realise that your work is valuable and it takes very little to impress people. Just turn up on time and do what you said you’d do.