Is your New Year’s Resolution to optimize your freelance business? Maybe you’re just starting out, or the past year wasn’t exactly what you wanted it to look like.
It doesn’t matter why you’re not satisfied with your current pace. Running any kind of business is a lot of work, and you should pat yourself on the back that you’ve made it this far.
As you take a step back to regroup, you’ll realize you’ve made it a lot farther than you thought you had. But those goals you have aren’t going to reach themselves.
No matter where you’re at in your freelance gig, there’s room to grow. This next year, use these tips to get (and keep) your business on track.
1. Revise Your Business Plan
Did you write a business plan when you first started your gig? Or did you jump in on a wing and a prayer and go with the momentum?
There are both kinds of freelancers, and they’re each successful in their own ways. However, a business plan helps you plan your future in a way that lets you create strategies and action steps to take you there.
It’s time to revise (or write) your business plan. (In fact, this is a must if you ever plan to apply for small business financing.)
Start by making a detailed description of what you offer in your business. What’s your niche? How do you stand out from your local and global competition?
From there, include your financials. How much does each service or product cost you to make? What’s your going rate, and how much is your profit (if any)?
Now, you can decide how you want to grow in the next year, five years, and ten years. Set goals for each time frame, and then come up with action plans to reach those goals. Make them realistic and time-based so that you have something to refer back to as the year goes on.
2. Get a Hold of Your Time Management
Have you found that time always seems to get away from you? This was a problem in the past, but now you’re taking control of those old habits.
Time management is an essential core skill that every freelancer has to learn. What works for someone else won’t always work for you.
There are some tried-and-true management tools you can use until you find one you love. Mix and match the techniques and create your own method, or stick with the basics, like these:
- The Pomodoro Technique: Set a timer for your preferred work session, then get rid of all your distractions and start the task. When the timer goes off, get up, have a nice stretch, and take a timed break. Repeat.
- The Eisenhower Matrix: Use a quadrant-based graphic to divide your tasks from most to least important. Focus on the hot-button jobs and long-term projects, then work down from the list.
- Eat That Frog: A method designed to reduce procrastination, this technique says go for the worst (hardest) jobs first. Everything is easier from there!
- Use online form generators: Non-employees such as contractors or freelancers might have to file for a 1099-NEC form, which can be time consuming, instead you can use a form generator where you can find a fillable 1099-NEC form.
Part of time management includes setting boundaries, too. If you have a hard time telling other people and yourself no, that should be a goal for you this year. Otherwise, the best-laid plans will end up off track.
3. Get Your Personal Life In Order, Too
Similar to boundary-setting, if your personal life is always interfering with your work, take some time off to get things in order. It will save you a lot of time in the long run.
For instance, if you’re always getting sick, but you don’t go to the doctor because you don’t have health insurance, the problem is likely to get worse. Take some purposeful time out of your schedule now to find affordable health insurance and schedule a doctor’s appointment.
A few hours or a couple of days off work to fix your health and get answers can save weeks or months of unpaid “sick days.”
This same theory applies to everything that is consistently getting in the way of your to-do list. Eat That Frog and deal with the obstacles instead of waiting for them to go away on their own.
Conclusion
You’re serious about getting your freelance biz back on track this year, so it’s time for some tough love. Put in the effort now, and it will come back to you ten-fold or more later.
Write that business plan, learn how to manage your time, and knock out any distractions. You’ll be glad you did when your business is booming!
