What you should know before becoming a freelance

When one is willing to become autonomous, after taking years on staff, you have to assume that your life will turn around. It is important to evaluate if it really is worth the freelance work. Therefore, before making a decision, keep these points in mind.

Freelance wood
If you have always been very clear that your business was to start a business, surely you have a future as an entrepreneur. If it is the circumstances and the surrounding voices that encourage you to work on your own, we advise you to reflect first on your skills and your way of being:

Are you willing to take risks? The beginnings of a business are usually not stable. You have to count on the competence of your sector and offer something that distinguishes you. In general, this involves taking risks and betting on what defines you.
Are you willing to bend your back? In the beginning, your workforce is your greatest asset. The sacrifice of the first years is what makes it possible for your company to maintain itself. You will have to be willing to make the work more flexible, to endure for a while the blurring effect and to take hours from where you can.
Do you agree with "the customer is always right"? Clients will be one of the fundamental supports of your enterprise. It is not so much that the client is right, but that you have your opinion very much in mind. Nowadays it is very difficult for a company to survive if it does not consider the feedback from consumers.
Are you organized? This ability is fundamental. You will have to be aware of many issues of various kinds. Order and planning will help you achieve results. Enter a task manager in your day to day, and also another series of tools that can be very useful if you telecommute.

Up to date with paperwork
There are some fundamental procedures that you must fulfill so that your business does not water due to a bad practice. It is advisable that you advise on those that are specific to your sector, but do not forget these common points to all autonomous:

You must register with the Treasury to be able to issue invoices.
You must pay Social Security as a self-employed person. Actually, this condition is subject to your income and the frequency with which you carry out your activity, inform yourself of your situation. Keep in mind that, for some professions, this obligation is maintained in any case.
You must comply with tax and tax obligations legally established. Keep your accounts up to date and present the quarterly and annual statements that are required of you. The moment you sign up, you are exposed to a labor inspection.
Define your business
This is one of the actions you can and "must" perform before making the final decision to ride on your own. Studying the possibilities of your company will help you focus on the objectives and choose the right path. We propose that you put into practice a very simple model to define your business: the canvas method.

An economic support
It seems obvious that to start an initiative on your own you need to have an initial capital to invest. Maybe this is what you have planned, but you have to go further. You must think about what will happen until you start renting your activity, what is the amortization period of your business. Without this calculation you run the risk of breaking, at the slightest imbalance.

You can also count on the support of the business incubator closest to your area. There they will provide advice, training, meetings with related initiatives, coworking spaces and other resources that will make the start-up of your company cheaper.

If you have done a reflection on all these points and the balance is positive, encourage yourself to undertake. Bosses are over, but you also end up disconnecting from work when you walk out the door.