Going solo

Tips to take home

• If you can, go for the luxury of trying out freelancing on a part-time basis to see if it suits you. One way to do this is reduce the hours you currently work and build up freelance work and contacts gradually.
  
  
• Don’t rely on getting business from people you know through your day job. Many employment contracts prevent using such contacts for your own gain.
  
  
• Join a professional association. It’s an excellent way of keeping up to date with new developments and a potential source of new contacts.
  
  
• Keep in regular touch with people you have worked for before. Remind them you exist, are available and offer a range of uncomplicated solutions.
  
  
• Select work based on what you do well and enjoy as well as how much it pays. The more satisfied clients you have, the greater your confidence to turn unsuitable or poorly paid work will become.
  
  
• Be realistic about how much you’re worth. Worry about overpricing makes many freelancers live a hand-to-mouth existence. Value what you have to offer and others will too.
  
  
• Allow for non-productive time and let this be reflected in what you charge. This includes time spent training or updating, making contacts, tendering for work and marketing yourself.
  
  
• Remember, what you are paid is not what you get to keep. You will at some later point have to pay tax and national insurance contributions. Budget for that and be meticulous about keeping accounts and receipts.
  
  
• There is an important distinction between offering a ‘contract for services’ and working with a ‘contract of employment’. If you have a small number of clients for whom you regularly work the Inland Revenue can claim that you are employed and ‘employers’ will deduct tax and National Insurance at source – which means you will not be able to claim legitimate expenses against tax. The rules that govern this have become known as IR35. Full details can be seen at The Inland revenue website.
  
  
• Finally, if it doesn’t improve the quality of your life, why are you doing it?
  
  

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Read up about the reality of working from home.