There are many pros to being a freelancer; it truly is one of the best decisions I ever made. However, like with all good things, there is the odd downside, and with me, that has to be from time to time the feeling of isolation. I’ve always maintained that my home office will be my main office however when loneliness sets in I love to venture to a local co-working space to hang with fellow creatives.
Over the past three years since going self-employed, I have experienced such variation from day-to-day. It’s constantly a learning curve and I strive to improve with every month which passes.
The self-employed report is a new feature which documents the trials and tribulations from the month past. This will focus on the key strands of self-employment; freelancing, educational business and of course life and how I make sure I can be a good Dad/Husband.
For those looking to move into self-employment, I hope the reports are useful!
Freelancing can be a lonely game; particularly when the chips are down. A lull in workload, a drop in enquiries or losing a client can have you scrambling for the exit door back to full-time employment. It’s part and parcel of a career as an independent consultant.
According to statistics from August 2018, there are 2 million freelancers in the UK. This figure is only rising too. Naturally with this comes an increase in competition. Welcome to the famine cycle. On the flip side, more and more companies are utilising freelance consultants to improve their business. Here comes the medieval feast.
Moving to the Wakefield area as a freelancer I was keen to explore and discover the co-working spaces within the City. One of the drawbacks to freelancing is bouncing ideas off colleagues. It’s something I always miss; particularly when I’m working from home. Arriving in a new place; I was keen to meet new people. Like-minded digital workers to get that level of collaboration of sorts.
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Time or more of it. It’s something we all strive for but never quite have enough. Productivity hacks, outsourcing, scheduling. These are all ways in which we try and achieve more time to spend doing other things.
I know what you’re thinking. Not another productivity post. The web is littered with the same cookie-cutter articles of how to be more productive. Luckily I’m not here to play that game. Like everyone I procrastinate when at my computer; I’m no productivity warlord. What I have going in my favour however is that I am efficient in how I utilise my time and have built up a number of ways in which the life I have chosen allows me to work less while still getting ‘all the things’ done!
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Since becoming a freelance consultant my strategy has always been to find my ‘community’. Think of your community as your niche or target market. The industry is oversaturated with ‘Full service’ Digital Agencies who can be more keen to grow as opposed to servicing their clients.
I saw the opportunity to be a local voice who predominantly helps businesses local to Leeds & Wakefield. Those who have been left behind by agency growth or perhaps not attractive enough on the Agencies client roster. My approach was to nurture this community and become the leading consultant within my small area.
