Deciding How Far to Jump

Now that you’ve made the decision to become a freelancer, we’ve reached the point of short-, medium-, and  long-term preparation. If you’re anything like  me, you’ll want to jump in running as fast as you can.  However, it’s been  proven time  and again  that  to ensure the best chance of success, you should expend plenty of effort in planning and  preparation. This  raises the question of which work  mode to begin your  freelance life with: full-time or part-time.

If you’re a student nearing the end  of your  studies, you’ve got a distinct time  to work  towards. (That  said,  I recommend that  unless you have  run  a business previ­ ously, don’t go freelance straight after graduating—spend some time in employment in your  chosen field  first,  to get those skills polished.) This  also applies if your current work  is coming to a close—you may  be on a fixed-term contract, or the company you’ve been  working for is winding up.  However, for many people, the entry to freelancing is a case of juggling full-time employment with preparations to exit  the rat race.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both situations, and you’ll need to weigh these up carefully. Let’s take a moment to look at some  of them.

Freelancing on the Side

There’s a lot to be said  for freelancing “on the side,” at least  in the beginning:

■   This  is a great way to test  the waters without making that  big jump.

■   You can spend as much after-hours time as you need on planning your business.

■   You can save just-in-case money for as long as it takes for you to feel comfortable before  venturing into  the unknown.

■   You’re able to be choosier with the work  you take on, as your  salary is still coming in to help with costs.

■   If you don’t have  any good recent work  to show, part-time freelancing allows you to build a great portfolio before  you move  to full-time.

■   The clients you groom  now  are likely to be with you once  you make  that  leap, helping with immediate cash  flow.

■   It allows you to take your  time  to fit out the home office,  without blowing your starting budget.

■   Freelancing part-time after hours, as well  as holding down a full-time position, gives you the authentic taste  of a busy  week  as a freelancer. This  can  help you determine your  ability to cope  with that  amount of work  at any given  time.

There are a few disadvantages to this  practice, though:

■   Depending on your employment contract, you may be restricted from doing work that  directly competes with services offered by your  employer. It’s best to ap­ proach your  boss to discuss this.

■   Most clients will  want to contact you during their workday hours, which tend to be when you’re busy  at your  full-time gig.

■   You lose out on the all-important downtime hours of evenings and  weekends.
If you attract lots of work,  you may  end  up exhausting yourself trying to work two jobs.

■   You’ll be cautious of growing too fast, given  you have  restricted hours in which to work.  It can become tricky trying to keep  everyone happy, and  you may have to turn down new  work  in order not to fail existing clients.

Freelancing Full-time

There are some  compelling advantages to jumping in with both  feet:

■   You’ll have  the freedom to set up your  freelance life, instead of juggling it with a full-time job.

■   Full-time start-up mode means that you have plenty of time in which to network, make  important contacts, and  meet  prospects.

■   There are no issues with your  employer being  aggrieved about you working freelance on the side,  and  you’ll have  no hesitation in taking on as many new clients and  projects as you can  handle.

There are, however, some  disadvantages to full-time freelancing straight away:

■   Nothing feeds  self-doubt more  than work  failing to come  in during those first few weeks.

■   The cash  drain while you rush around making contacts and  courting business can  really hurt your  back pocket.

■   The all-important planning tends to be the first casualty when those projects come  in—understandably, you’ll be more  interested in taking an opportunity to earn some much-needed money than mapping out your legal business structure.