10 Tips for Running a Freelance Business (Part 4)

10 more freelancers share the advice they would give others

Ever wished you could get experienced freelancers to give you their top tips on running a freelance business? You’re in luck! As part of my Freelance Insights series, I ask freelancers from a range of industries the same five questions, including what one tip they would give other freelancers about running a freelance business. I’ve compiled some more of their answers in this blog post. Happy reading!

1) Ditch comparison

My tip is based on a saying: “Don't compare your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 20.” Being clear on where you are, reflecting on your journey and staying in your own lane is really important because it’s easy to get sidetracked by what other people are doing. Be true to yourself, celebrate how far you’ve come, and know your goals and what success looks like for you. Always remember your why.

Emily Button-Lynham, business & life coach

2) Don’t try to do everything yourself

I would recommend outsourcing, not necessarily the service you provide but all the other things. When we start out, we want to do everything ourselves. Now, as well as my accountant and proofreader, I have someone who does my admin and someone who takes care of my website for me. It’s so nice not to have to do everything yourself and, especially if you’re restricted with time, it helps.

Sarah Silva, translator & marketing coach

3) Find what works for you

I’ve only come to this recently, but design everything on your own terms. Just because something works for somebody else doesn’t mean it’ll work for you. It’s good to take inspiration and advice from others, but make sure that what you do is a good fit for you. It’s important that you find freedom in working freelance because that’s what it’s all about: freedom of choice.

Claire Coupland, online growth mentor

4) Make it easy

My biggest tip is to make it EASY. Throughout my life, I’ve been conditioned to think that if you want to achieve anything worthwhile, you have to work really hard for it. The amount of effort you put in almost seems to be considered a virtue in itself. But I have found that making money can be just a tonne of fun, and you can be successful doing things that come really easily to you.

Danbee Shin, web designer & copywriter

5) Be realistic with deadlines

Don’t overpromise, especially when it comes to deadlines! It’s so much better to be able to give something the time it deserves and present it properly rather than trying to impress by doing things quickly. If you have to push the deadline back, you end up looking unreliable. Don’t agree to things in the moment. If you’re not sure how long something’s going to take, go away and have a think about it.

Gina Felstead, social media coach

6) Fill your own cup first

For you to run a successful business, you need to fill your own cup first. I think the most successful freelancers, CEOs, business owners, whatever we want to call them, are people who always prioritise themselves when it comes to their well-being and self-care. Once you get that sorted, a lot of the other things will fall into place.

Pri Kruijen, SEO strategist

7) Be curious about your emotions

The biggest journey for me has been understanding my emotions. When you start out, you think the only struggles are going to involve finances, taxes and emails, but it’s an emotional rollercoaster. You’ll experience imposter syndrome and feel like an outsider at times. So be really curious about your emotions. It’s interesting to take a step back and ask yourself why you’re feeling a certain way.

Chloe Ambrose, creative consultant

8) Treat your business as an experiment

The first thing that comes to mind is really treating your business as an experiment. Whenever we’re trying or launching something new, it’s really hard if you always want it to be perfect and in its final version. But without putting the pressure on, you can learn from what you do and improve on it. Being creative is the true beauty of entrepreneurship, so you should keep things experimental.

Natasha Samuel, Instagram strategist

9) Ditch the shoulds

Sometimes, even though we’re freelancers, we often still have this idea that we should be doing certain things. For example, we think we should be working Monday to Friday, 9 to 5-ish. But what I’d say to freelancers is to make a business that’s right for you. If you want to work on a Saturday instead of a Friday, provided that works for your clients, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you.

Nicole Fenwick, translator & lawyer-linguist

10) Recognise the signs of burnout

I’m going to say this partly tongue in cheek, but start by reading my book! In the book I bust what I consider to be the eight myths of freelance life, so it’s hard to pick one over the others. But I would say it’s really important to recognise the early signs of overwhelm and burnout, and to do something about it. Set boundaries and identify the steps you need to take to create a better work-life balance.

Sarah Townsend, marketing copywriter & author

Found these tips useful? All the freelancers featured are part of my Freelance Insights series. I publish a new interview every month.

Read the interviews in full