Making best of a freelance career

At a time when entrepreneurship is the buzzword, more and more people are being lured into freelancing. Be it training, coaching, editing or technology-based services, organisations look forward to outsourcing work to professionals.

I regularly meet freelancers and personally speaking, for many, it is like idealistic Bollywood romance. Too good to be true kind of a story - being your own boss and having time at your disposal. No fixed cheque coming in but no one to report to either. Ahh! Suddenly Louis Armstrong is on your personal choir and singing “What a wonderful world!”

Now, let’s get back to the real world. There are long unproductive days and cancelled appointments. Almost confirmed assignments turn into disappointments and you are forced to remember that there are many a slip between the cup and the lip. So how to be more productive and profitable when it is beyond your reach and control?

Opportunity cost: For a freelancer, time is money (Not that it is any different for everyone else). But if you are on your own, every day lost is a cost. Just learn to be firm with your cost of time with your clients. If you value yours, they would too.

I need some help: You keep hearing it, don’t you? And then every other person is asking for your help without paying. Is it wrong? Hell, no. But do you realise that there are no free lunches? I loved a quote Paulo Coelho had written, “Keep depositing favours to others’ account in the bank of favours. You can withdraw later in the same form.” If you are doing a service to someone, let that be known as a deposit.

Let’s meet up: The familiar scene when you cold called an old client. Sure, do meet up. If there are no meetings, there is no free flow of business either. But be clear to set an agenda. If the meeting is without any agenda, just to catch up with people or build better PR network, go ahead. Make sure it is specified though.

Template your meetings: Know in advance how your day will look like and how many meetings can you handle. Listening intently and finding solutions or suggestions, even taking notes is an exhausting process. Be very clear of time demands as well as energy. So, to do that effectively, make a standard template that will have ingredients like time, information and process clearly defined.

Be reachable: Are you easily accessible to people? Your number or email and information on Google must be managed well to spread.

Don’t bother about branding: Yes, you read it right. In a world full of chaotic noises about branding, I am asking you not to. Brands are built by hard work and visibility. Over a period, the work you do will become the brand ambassador for you. A simple-to-navigate website, good word-of-mouth publicity, great networking skills and communication are best brand tools any freelancer can possess.

Decide your fee: Harvard Formulae and research published by Sumeet Goel suggests this calculation: Take your cash compensation and divide by 250 (which is the number of billable days after factoring in vacations, sick time, and typical downtime) and then add 25–50%. Then take that figure, compare it with the rates you’ve gotten from your network and find a middle-ground number you can float as an experiment and then adjust based on feedback from potential clients. You may have to quote a lower rate at the beginning while you’re still figuring how much you’re worth and trying to win work. But plan to raise your prices sooner rather than later. You’ll know when you’ve hit the right level. “When you’re reliable and good and you charge a fair rate, people hire you again.”

In my 25 years of freelancing career, best learning for me is: Never expect business from every contact. Each one has a purpose in your life. Let it flow.

The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing