How to Go Freelance and Stay Freelance

Make an escape plan

Going freelance means that you need a plan. It shouldn’t be something you do on a whim.

The first step is to start saving money. You will need some kind of monetary fallback when you go freelance. Plan for the worst. I would suggest saving around one or two months worth of salary (at least) before diving in. I went freelance with £1,500 (around $1,900, €1,800) in my bank account and I needed around 75% of it as a fallback in the first few months.

I’m not a fan of the word “networking” — it’s a shallow way of saying “making friends” — but it is an important part of going freelance. You need to be able to find work from as many different sources as possible.

Start using Twitter if you aren’t already, start going to events and meeting new people. Catch up with friends you haven’t kept in contact with and get advice from as many sources as possible. It was through working or on Twitter that I met most of my friends in the tech scene and they always provided a vital connection for when I was looking for referrals.

Talk to other people that have gone freelance over a coffee or a drink. They will be a goldmine of help for you, and will put your mind at ease. Take a list of questions that you want answering. I spoke to the awesome Lawrence Brown over cocktails before I migrated over to freelance and he reassured me that it isn’t as scary as it feels. If you don’t know anyone to ask questions to, see the end of this article.

And remember, do not burn your bridges. It’s tempting — especially if you’re disliking your current job — to tell people to go and eff themselves (whether it’s in an aggressive or passive-aggressive way). Nothing positive comes from burning bridges. It will only make you feel temporarily better. Remember that you’re a professional and are soon to be leader of your own company. Act like it.

Create a business

Before creating the business, think about who you’re aiming your services at. It could be tech startups or large tech companies, it could be creative agencies or small “mom and pop” companies. This is really down to what you want to do with your life and who you want to be working with. I personally enjoyed working with tech startups because I liked the speed and challenges that came with it. A friend of mine loves working at creative agencies as she likes working on well-known brands. It will define you and your company, as well as the kind of work you’ll be recommended for later.

If you’re in the US, talk to an accountant before setting up a company, as depending on your aims will depend on what type of company to start. Usually an S-Corporation or LLC will do. An LLC can be many different things - it can be a sole proprietor, it can be a partnership and it can be an S Corporation. Crazy, right? If you want to set up a C-corp, Stripe’s Atlas programme is particularly good.

If you’re in the UK, I would recommend setting up yourself up as a limited company rather than as a sole trader. There’s less risk and would mean your personal items aren’t at risk if the worst of the worst happens. You can easily set up a limited company through sites like CompaniesMadeSimple (just get the “printed package” and ignore all the upselling). It will take around 15 minutes to complete and around 4 hours later, you’ll be the proud owner of a business.

Another thing to consider is a domain name, you would probably want to have a company name that matches. Check before you register your business that there’s a cheap, decent domain available.

After you’ve got your business set up, the next step is to get a business bank account. The easiest way to do that is to use the bank you’re using for your personal accounts as they’ll trust you more than going to a brand new bank. Go into the bank and explain that you want to set up a business bank account and they’ll set you up with a meeting with the bank manager. This meeting should be straightforward as freelancers don’t spend a lot of money on inventory. Around two weeks later, you’ll have a separate business bank account. In the UK, Metro Bank are particularly awesome.

Get your first client

Okay, take a deep breath. This will be the hardest client you’ll ever have to get. Everything after this will be a lot easier as you’ll have recommendations and a portfolio to fall back on.

Think back to the friends you have made and the bridges that you haven’t burned. This is generally where you will find your first client. Let them all know that you’re going freelance and you would love it if they could recommend you. A lot of freelancers have work “run-off” — good work they don’t have the time to do — so they may be able to recommend you for it.

Tell everyone you know. Shout it out on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (yes, even LinkedIn). Someone you know might have a lead.

The other way to get work is to look for it. If you’re wanting to do tech startup work, look at job boards like Authentic Jobs, Unicorn Jobs, Working Not Working, OnSite or a local equivalent for your city. If you’re wanting to do agency work, try good recruiters who are specialists. Avoid any recruitment agency that doesn’t come recommended or is generalist. Ask other freelancers how they get work too.

Don’t panic if you can’t get work straight away. It will take time. Don’t expect to get anything in the first week or two. In the meantime, keep networking, keep in contact with other people and update that portfolio and résumé.

The first job will come. When it does, give it your all. Make sure your client loves you and wants to recommend you to other people. Your biggest promotional device will be other people’s recommendations.

How to price yourself

Pricing yourself depends heavily on your skills and how in demand those skills are. A web developer is going to demand higher fees than a print designer for example. Learn to code or teach yourself some design skills and you’ll be able to reach a larger market and therefore can charge more.

All the following prices are per day, for London and exclude VAT. A junior designer: £150-350, a senior designer: £250-500, a junior developer: £200-400, a senior developer: £300-1,000. When I started freelancing in 2010, I charged £300/day. By the end, I was charging £600/day.

In New York, prices are usually hourly rather than daily and include all taxes – a junior designer: $50-125, a senior designer: $100-200, a junior developer: $80-150, a senior developer: $120-250.

These prices vary by location, age, and unfortunately gender.

The other thing to consider is how long the project you’re about to do is. If it’s a short project, keep your day rate as it is and don’t change it. If it’s longer than a week, consider lowering it as you’ll have a stable work base. For instance, my day rate of £500 was easily lowered down to £400 when working on projects of two weeks or more. Be flexible with your pricing.

Don’t accept client work you don’t feel comfortable with

One of my biggest mistakes was to take work because I didn’t have anything lined up. If you have a negative gut feeling, it’s probably correct. If you do take this work on, not only will you hate the work that you’re doing but it means that any work that you do want to take that comes up in the meantime, you won’t be able to do.

Also don’t take work that you don’t feel technically competent with. Again, this comes down to your reputation — if it looks like you don’t know what you’re doing, that client may not recommend you.

A friend of mine has a thing he calls a “bastard tax” — basically if he thinks the client might be a pain, he puts his day rate up by 25-30%. If the client accepts then he gets a nice cushion for the hassle he might incur. If the client rejects then he’s moves on and finds another client. Personally, I don’t recommend this, but I know a few people who do it.

Get a studio space

If you’re not based in company offices, I would recommend getting a studio space. Not only will it stop you going stir-crazy at home, it will improve your work/life balance. I worked from home for around 6 weeks and I hated it. I was going to the supermarket twice a day just to get out of the house.

If possible, try to share with other freelancers in similar industries. My last studio space of 9 people included print designers, photographers, web designers and developers. When one of these people had a client who needed work doing, who did they talk to first? The person sitting in the office with them — me! This goes back to networking and recommendations I mentioned earlier.

Get an accountant

Please don’t spend time on taxes. Find a great accountant and they will not only save you money in the long term (probably more than you’ll pay them) and save you a lot of time and stress. My accountant wasn’t even in the same city as me and I only ever contacted them via phone and email.

My accountant in the UK were Fizz Accounting and in New York, it’s Hunzinger Accounting – both are fantastic and if you contact them, say Rik sent you. There are even some online platforms that will do your accounts for you such as Crunch in the UK.

An accountant should cost you somewhere in the region of $50-250 a month. There are other options if you’re not too fussed about getting an accountant. Online software like Cushion, Freeagent and Xero can take a lot of the pain out of doing your own accounts.

Get a contract

In the words of Mike Monterio, “fuck you pay me” (please watch this video in full if you haven’t). Always draw up a contract when you’re doing any work. The last thing you don’t want to happen is not being paid because legally they don’t have to. Having a contract in place will save you a lot of possible hassle and it will also mean that you and your client agree exactly on what work you will carry out for them.

You can get a professional lawyer to write it for you, which will be expensive but watertight, or you can use online resources such as the AIGA Standard Form and modify it to yourself. Warning: some of the online contracts are awful — a lawyer friend laughed at me when she read one called Contract Killer.

Manage your time well

The biggest skill you will learn when being a freelancer is time management. You have to spin a lot of plates and juggle a lot of client balls (ahem). Some freelancers are brilliant at it, whilst others can find it hard. Scheduling tools like Cushion are great for reminding you how much time you’re spending on particular projects.

Projects will frequently overrun, so add in a buffer between projects to stop any overlap. You don’t want to be spending all day and all evening and all weekend working because one of your clients forgot to mention a feature they wanted.

If projects don’t overrun, then you have the perfect opportunity to update your portfolio or start that side-project you’ve had in the back of your mind.

Dealing with stress

Now that you’re the boss, you’re not just doing the work you wanted to, you’re also doing all the crap that comes along with it… admin, emails, chasing payments. Learn to be comfortable with everything that gets thrown your way.

You will have dry spells of work. Again, don’t stress, don’t take on work you don’t feel comfortable with. Try to relax. It’s not easy and I’ve seen other people panic when it happens but remember that being freelance is a long term option. Do anything that will help you to handle stress — going to the gym, meditation, a long bath, etc.

You may have to sack clients

I sacked two clients in three years. Some of my friends have never sacked a client in even longer. It may happen, it may never happen, but try to be aware of when a project just isn’t worth it any more to you. If a client is being verbally abusive towards you, it’s worth considering calling it quits. If a client is more stressful than having no work at all, it’s worth considering calling it quits.

Again, try not to burn bridges and do this in the most professional way that you can. Less “fuck you pay me” and more “thanks but no thanks”.

Enjoy it

Freelance isn’t for everyone. Some find it lonely. Some find it stressful.

I remember the moment 20 minutes after setting up my limited company for the first time. It was a knot in my stomach due to what had happened. This scary roller-coaster of a less-certain future had just started. It will daunt you. You will think “what am I letting myself in for?”. I can’t promise it will be an easy ride but you will enjoy the journey.

I really enjoyed my 3 years of freelancing. I got to work with some amazing clients who were passionate about what they wanted to create with me. I was the expert and clients treated me as that. I had the possibility to work on a variety of different projects that I never would have had the chance to do if I was working full-time at my previous job.

It is scary. It is a lot to think about. But being freelance is one of the most fun, interesting and empowering things you can do.

Need freelance help or have a question? Send me a message and donate to Black Girls Code at 21.co/riklomas.