With freelancing comes choice. A choice to decide what time of the day you work, where you work, and how you work. There is also the more important issue of ‘who you work with’. I’ve already written about turning down a potential client but I haven’t yet touched upon turning down clients on ethical & professional integrity grounds.
Throughout my time in full time employment I turned down the opportunity to work with a number of companies across multiple industries & sectors because ethically it just didn’t sit right with me.
Ryan
Don’t strive to be the best. Be good enough
Whether it’s in your home life, social life or work life; the strive for perfection is usually a steep climb without a peak. A tunnel without any light at the end.
Many battle with the notion that it’s not worth doing unless it’s the ‘best’. Our consumption of social media and the perfect ideology means we constantly self critique and analyse our own accomplishments. Never satisfied we seek something which perhaps is not attainable.
Investing in yourself
Creating a business with a level of success doesn’t happen overnight. There’s typically a sustained period of hard work where you question what you are doing and your desired results. But how do you get from a business idea to something which can support you financially and offer you a welcome alternative to your current working conditions?
Investing in yourself is imperative to any budding business owner (must resist the use of entrepreneur). Without a level of investment in yourself how do you expect to reach your business goals?
2016 Business & Life Review
2016 was a step into the unknown for me on many levels. A new addition to our family, a house move, relying financially on my educational business, and the building of a freelance business. I certainly haven’t had an easy year.
Business Name vs Own Name
Anybody making the transition to self employment has most probably toyed with the decision whether to use their own name or a business name.
I briefly once operated under a business name however the best decision I made was operating under my own name. This goes against all conventional wisdom and ‘guru’ advice. Ultimately there’s no right or wrong answer.
When making the decision I initially sat down and ‘defined’ my goals as a freelancer and self employment in general. Freelancing is approximately 40% of my working week alongside my other business interests so I wanted a solution which worked across both avenues. You may want to do the same.
Why my business will always be home based
If I had a pound for every remote working article I have read this week then I would be a rich man. Remote working & working from home articles are a plenty. Drop into Medium and as you flick through you may manage to read three in one session (I don’t get this sentence?)