By Tara Roskell

Freelancing is becoming more and more viable for many people. It combines the ability to plan your own business time with your home life. Broadband enables files to be sent quickly to the client for approval. This article is written from my own experience of becoming a freelance designer but most of the tips are applicable to anyone wanting to break free from full time employment and go it alone.

Things to consider before going freelance 

Are you self motivated? 

You will need to be able to motivate yourself to work on your own initiative. 

Are you happy working on your own? 

If you are going to be working from home a lot you will need to prepared for the fact that you may be spending a lot of time on your own.

Are you a good organiser? 

Not only will you be doing the work, you will need to plan it, do any administration and accounts required.

Do you have enough money for the first couple of months? 

Unless you hit the ground at a flying start you will need to be prepared that money may be tight at first. Not only will you be trying to build you business, most clients will want at least 30 days payment terms (and then still may not pay on time)

Do you have a plan? 

You don't necessarily need a full business plan, but you do need to plan how you plan to get work.

Do you have enough experience to go freelance? 

It is useful to make sure you have a good grounding in design, so you feel confident to work alone. 

Tips for going freelance

Get a good accountant, 

If they are good they will save you far more than you will pay them. They know all the things you can and can't claim for, and will save you money in the long run.

Create a website 

Even if web design isn't your specialty a web portfolio is a simple way to point potential clients to your work.

Write speculative letters to potential clients with a reference to your website and follow up a few days later with a phone call.

Approach design agencies, to see if they require holiday cover or an extra pair of hands when things get busy. Work with design agencies tends to be easier to get than work for direct clients

Contact previous employers 

Previous employers may have freelance design work and would be happy to give it to you, as they know your work.

Set up a job book 

As soon as you get new job in put it in the job book with date, client, job description, quote amount, and invoice date. This makes invoicing much easier at the end of the month

Keep a work in progress list 

It is very easy to forget a job if you are busy. Keep a work in progress list and cross jobs off as you complete them and add to it as new jobs come in. Keep a note beside each job when it is due.

Meet deadlines

Don't promise to meet deadlines that you know you can't. It is better to decline a job than accept it and not deliver it on time. 

Do the best job you can

Your reputation is based on the last job you did for a client. Do a good job and you may get recommended to someone else. The design world tends to be quite close knit so you want to make a good name for yourself.

Don't worry if you go quiet

If work goes quiet don't panic. Trying ringing around to see if any one has any work and send out some more letters and email enquiries. But don't panic, you'll regret not enjoying that quiet time when you are so busy you have to work late all the next week and weekend.

Pay yourself a set wage

If you can pay yourself a set wage just as though you were employed, this means when you have a good money you leave some money in the bank and when you have a bad one you can still afford to pay yourself. 

Tara Roskell has been a freelance graphic designer for three years, her latest project with fellow designer Rakesh Patel can be seen at http://www.longestwebbanner.com/

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