I have been a freelancer for 10 years, working in digital marketing and website development, and during my career I have seen and experienced phone number list things. I remember when first starting out, I had to say yes to every project that came my way because I could not cover my living expenses if I didn’t take on the project. So I ended up working with lots of small and challenging clients in the beginning. They didn’t pay me much (and I didn’t know my worth either), some clients paid late and others didn’t pay me at all.
My first experiences in freelancing made me
Realize the risks associated with freelancing, and I 8 powerful seo tips for schools I want to start building up my emergency fund from day one. Having savings has come handy many times during my career. Whether it was an important client firing me, or the government deciding to pre-tax me, having an emergency fund was critical for my mental wellbeing. It also prevented me from having to go into debt to cover large sudden expenses.
When you have a solid financial situation as a freelancer, you don’t mobile lead to worry about who’s going to be your next client, and you can actually start choosing your clients and work only on projects that you enjoy. It makes your life so much easier, enjoyable and less stressful in my experience.
My plan from the beginning was not to just build an emergency fund, but to secure my financial situation, and already start preparing for retirement, even though I started freelancing when I was just 25 years old.
Diversifying Your Client Base to Reduce Risk
I realized being dependent on just a small amount of clients is a risk, because they could all fire me the same month. Also focusing on clients from a single industry might not be a good idea since if the industry gets hit, then your clients won’t be as willing to hire work. So having a good amount of clients from different industries is the best way to go. The amount of clients is of course up to you, but you should be able to make a good living without having to be dependent on one big client that could let you go at any time.
Income Diversification: Building Passive Revenue Streams
Diversification of income streams is also important as a freelancer. I myself started doing affiliate marketing while freelancing because it went so well with my set of skills. It never became a huge income stream for me, but still I was able to bring in several thousand dollars per month in passive income at the peak. I also sold one of my affiliate websites for around 80 000 € which boosted my emergency fund and helped me get started with investing.
Switching to Flat-Fee Pricing for Predictable Income
Another big thing for me was to renegotiate my contracts with clients. I went from charging by the hour to fixed monthly pricing. This helped me plan my income much better since I started charging clients a flat fee per month for the work I was doing. I went from guessing the amount of billable hours I would do any month, to a predictable recurring monthly income stream. I also changed my contracts with clients to include a 30-day term of notice, which meant that if a client fired me, I had at least 30 days (with pay) to find a new one to replace them.
Investing Your Emergency Fund for Growth
Once I got some money saved up, I opened a savings and investment account that allowed me to start investing in stocks and mutual funds. This way my emergency fund money never just sleeps in an account somewhere, it’s creating more money in interest and dividend payments even while I’m sleeping. In the beginning these payments will be small, maybe tens of dollars per month, and you will feel like it’s nothing significant, but once you start earning more, you can invest more and hence the payments will grow with time.
Tracking Your Freelance Expenses with Technology
Another thing many freelancers might not consider is the importance of also tracking your expenses – not just your income. Your income doesn’t really matter if your expenses are sky high. I am one of the co-founders of , an AI-powered expense tracker and receipt scanner, which lets you track your income and expenses in real time. Since joining the company, I have been able to track and categorize all my expenses with ease, and I always see the financial health of my business in a glance. When you track your expenses, it’s easy to see where your money is going and you can cut out unnecessary expenses.