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Top 3 Freelancing Mistakes You Should Avoid
Armed with the latest SBA’s statistics about small business failures, you dust off the winning business plan you wrote in college, ready to pursue your freelance entrepreneurial career. With business cards and letterhead in hand, you scream at the top of your lungs, just like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Titanic character, "I’m the queen of the business world.” Well, not yet. Read my top 3 freelancing mistakes every entrepreneur should avoid and learn how to turn a profit faster and banish bad juju out of your business. Freelancing Mistake # 1 - Charging too littleNothing kills your freelancing career faster than under-pricing. When the NY Times reported in early July, that discount clothing store Steve and Barry’s was filing for bankruptcy, I wasn’t surprised. I suspect that the clothiers were victims of a faulty under-pricing strategy and rapid expansion. As an entrepreneur I often wondered how Steve and Barry's could manufacture Sarah Jessica Parker’s dresses; sell them for $19.99, and expect to turn a quick and sizable profit. I calculated all of their costs and marveled at their attempt to squeeze celebrity spokesmodel fees, manufacturing costs, marketing and advertising, taxes, staff salaries and retail markup into 20 bucks. How does this example relate to freelancing? Freelancers have to perfect the art of determining a fair price, without giving away their services for peanuts. A freelance business owner must itemize every cost into their hourly rate or project fee adequately, to turn a profit. If you charge too little you will ultimately resent the client, dread doing the gig, or even worse develop the reputation as the cheapest girl at the dance. Whenever I want to give a client a break on my consulting fees, I say over and over to myself, “Mechele, remember Steve and Barry’s.” Freelancing Mistake #2: Choosing the wrong clients or business partnersCollaborating with unscrupulous, non-talented, no-skill-having, self-absorbed pseudo-entrepreneurs is a common freelancing mistake newbie entrepreneurs make. A freelance business is not a spa party, sorority function or a general gathering of girlfriends who are wishing, hoping and praying to make a profit. It’s a serious enterprise, with the goal of making money with the least amount of people, in the shortest amount of time. That’s why a freelancer must hire the best, serve the best and collaborate with the best.
Joining forces with simpletons, lottery-playing, non-hustling, wish-upon-a-star people who have dreams of business ownership but no tangible skills, will destroy your freelancing reputation and kill your business faster than you can spell F-R-E-E-L-A-N-C-E. If you partner with phenomenal people, and seek to develop long term win-win relationships you’ll worry less about: · Bad contracts · Chasing invoices for money owed · Puckering up to kiss people's hind parts because of your fear of going out of business · Lowering your rates · Attracting the world's worst employees
Freelancing Mistake #3 – Not planning ahead for economic downturns More than following up with your clients, managing cash flow, delegating responsibilities or networking - which are all equally and vitally important to the long term growth of your freelance business - I am fearful of any freelancer not factoring the loss of business or the need to constantly innovate into their successful business equation. You won't always be the hot new freelance professional on the block. Everyday new business owners with better marketing, more connections and faster service are waiting to knock you off of your freelance perch. In the event of a recession or an economic downturn, freelancers are often the first resources to feel the sting of a budget crunch. So what's a freelancer to do to prepare for a recession? Or respond to a change in the marketplace?
If you’re ready to take the plunge into freelancing, don’t wait until you’re knee deep into your dream to make costly errors. Avoid these top freelancing mistakes and ride the entrepreneurial tidal wave to riches, like a pro. ![]()
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