I’ve recently had several people tell me that they’d like to jump into freelancing soon and quit their full-time jobs. The problem is, they have no idea where to begin so they keep putting the idea off. I’ve seen this a lot with people. We’re so used to what we’re already doing that it’s scary to think of trying something new.

This problem hits me very close to home. I know two people very close to me that have great ideas for businesses – but they’re too afraid to make the leap. They have “bills”,  they have “needs”, they have no “time”. With this mindset, they will never leave their crappy jobs. They’ll never strike out on their own and they’ll never be able to do what they really want to do. It’s really sad.

I hate to see anyone stuck in this rut, and if you’re wondering if you should go out on your own, I’m here for you. I’m here to tell you that while it is a lot of hard work, it isn’t impossible. In fact, once you get the ball rolling, I might even go as far as to say it’s easy. Sure it’s scary, but is anything awesome not at first?

Making The Leap

I personally made the decision to quit my job and freelance pretty much at the last minute. While I don’t advise this route at all, sometimes it’s unavoidable. Once you decide you do want to run your own business, it’s important to act quickly or risk never doing it at all. If at all possible, try to save up for a couple months of expenses before you leave. And try to leave on amicable terms.

When first starting out, you don’t need to spend any money. Use your home computer, make yourself a makeshift office if you don’t already have a dedicated space at home. If you’re a designer or developer, you probably already have all the software you need at home, but if not, there are plenty of free resources available.

Finding Inspiration

The biggest help I’ve found in starting a new business or venture, is to listen to others who’ve done it. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to podcasts, reading business books and following freelance blogs. Even though the advice starts sounding the same after awhile, listening to people talk about how they got started is inspiring enough to kick your butt in high gear. It’s how I was able to start a couple of side projects of my own.

The most important thing you can do is to get moving while you have that motivation.

Where’s The Work?

The biggest fear people have about going out on their own is finding the work. Of course if you just sit there at your desk, staring at your monitor and expecting work to come to you, it will never happen and you’ll starve to death.

You must, especially in the beginning, get out there in the virtual world and find work. Become well known in your online community so people think of you when they need something. Follow twitter feeds of people asking for help and offer your services. Subscribe to (non-bidding) job boards and reply to the ads. There’s plenty of ways to find work and work is never in a shortage.

If you want to find local work, then get out to local events. Talk to business owners about their websites or copy or whatever it is you do. If you don’t have a portfolio to show, offer work in exchange for their services.

What are you waiting for?

What’s keeping you from going out on your own?

 

 

Amber Weinberg

Amber is a freelance front-end developer specializing in semantic and accessible custom WordPress themes. She works with agencies and other freelancers to bring their designs to life using custom ACF flexible layout builds - making them more performant and less buggy while allowing the client easy customization without breaking the design system.