Working a full-time job can be stressful on its own but starting and running a side hustle along side it can make it even more difficult especially if it is a freelance business.
Do you work a full-time job and also have/ want to start a freelance business ? Are you trying to figure out how to effectively run your business and work without getting stretched out to much? Or are you simply a curious person who would like to know how to run these two things simultaneously without dropping the ball on either?
It is possible to start a freelance business while working a full-time job. So regardless of where you lie, in this article we look at how you can start a freelance business while working full-time.
6 Steps to Start a Freelance Business While Working Full-Time in 2021
Summary
- Define your goals
- Find your niche
- Identify your target clients
- Set strategic prices for your services
- Build high quality portfolio website
Define Your Goals
Goals are vital when it comes to running a freelance business. Goals give you something to work towards and also help you to measure your progress and make suitable adjustments in your business. Good goals are SMART ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Timed ).
Have a financial goal for your freelance business. Before setting that goal, ask yourself if this is a business you want to do full time or you are comfortable with it being part time. It is important to know that freelance businesses can turn into a main source of income and can help you achieve financial freedom.
Once this is determined, calculate how much it would take for your freelance business to make per month in order for you to make it your full time work. Once you have this figure, it can be your goal to generate that amount per month.
Alternatively you can pick an amount of money you feel would be great for you to make from your freelance business, to substitute your income from your full time job which becomes your financial goal. For example you could choose to make $1000/month by a specific month.
Once you have determined how much you would like to make and by when, you must know what you will do to make that money. What services will you be offering as a freelancer? What other services can you offer in order to raise your income on your freelance business? How will you divide your time?
Once you have answers to these questions it will bring you closer to being able to run your freelance business while working a full time job.
Find a Profitable Niche: who exactly will you serve?
Finding a profitable niche for your freelance business while working a full time job is essential to its success. There are as many niches as interests that exists and new ones keep coming up as our interests and the world evolves for example dog toys was not a niche a few decades ago but it is one of the most popular niches today.
When it comes to finding a profitable niche for your freelance business, visit websites that have freelancing websites and look at the most popular or in demand services to help you find one. For example digital marketing and google ads is one of the most in demand services today. This is a profitable niche one can specialize in and take up more than one client and maximize profits.
Identify Your Target Clients.
Who are your ideal clients? Do you have a profile for your clients? It is important to define the kind of clients you would like to work with as this allows you to be able to properly target people who are interested in your services and raise awareness of your business to client who are do not yet know about it.
Building a client profile includes knowing, where your clients are from, their interests, their possible income and more details like this. As you build this customer profile it allows you to find your clients online with ease especially if you advertise.
Set Strategic Prices for Your Services: How much are you willing to settle for?
Setting the prices for your business is the next step. This is done based on various factors. The most common way to figure out how much to charge for your services, is by looking at how much other freelancers charge on freelancing websites and keeping your charges within that market range.
It is important to know that a beginner, intermediate and expert freelancers all earn differently due to the difference in experience. Another way to charge for your services is to look at the expenses that you incur when delivering that services and add a markup onto that. Since you are starting your freelance business it is alright to start with lower rates and scale up as your business grows and you get referrals.
Build a High-Quality Portfolio Website
Building a portfolio website does not have to be difficult. Creating websites has become easier and more affordable than it used to be. Some options you can have for your portfolio website is using free blogs such as WordPress or Blogger, or you can choose to use a website builder or templates provided by Wix which are affordable.
Having a website for your portfolio allows you to look more professional as a new freelance business and can help you land more clients.
Create Examples of What You Can Deliver (on Your Portfolio Site)
The purpose of having a portfolio website is so that possible clients can see your work and therefore convert into sales for your business at the end of the day. Therefore as a new freelance business it is important for you to display your best work on your website. Display testimonials from previous clients as you keep landing clients as this helps to increase confidence from prospective clients.
While you are starting it is permissible to do a few free services to help get your business off the ground and get the word of mouth and references going. This is a promotional tactic that is often used by new businesses that new freelance businesses can employ and start to land clients faster.
The services do not have to be entirely free, instead the freelancer can offer a part of their services that they would usually charge and make it free and then charge the remaining services.
Alternatively if you offer services that are long term then they can offer the first few days free of charge. By using such creative offers on the website it can help to entice clients and land more of them as one is starting out.
Starting a freelance business is not easy while you have a full time job. However, we hope that if you can follow these 6 steps it will make your work easier. Follow us for more tips like this and comment below if you have any questions or contact us.
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