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STARTING YOUR FREELANCE CAREER - The Erratic Bottom Line

By Marilyn Crain

Do you ever feel like your freelance life resembles a line graph? One that represents the ups and downs of a very volatile business? Or even worse, does your freelance business play follow the bouncing ball? One with the ball created by an overly enthusiastic bounce inventor?

The one thing all beginning freelancers have in common is the erratic bottom line.

The person who said “…it’s either feast or famine…” must have had a freelance career. From all over the world you’ll hear cries of, “I either have too much work or not enough.” Of course you don’t hear as many complaints about the feast. Most freelancers are too busy worrying about the famine.

The erratic bottom line is a fact of life. The sooner you accept that fact, the better. Since you can’t change this, you either learn to manage it or you learn to live with the stress.

Here are some strategies for living with the uncertain cash flow of the freelance life (or small home-based business):

Start with a nest egg--

Before you set out on your freelance adventure build up a savings account. Take on extra work. Skip some extras. Do whatever you must to set aside money for a rainy day account. This should be in addition to your start-up money, for emergencies only. And once you are on your own, add to that account--every time you get paid for a project-even if it is only a dollar or two. You can dip into this money during a lean month or when your new client says “the check is in the mail” but your landlord won’t accept that as a valid excuse for not paying the rent. But, make a deal with yourself that you’ll replace what you “borrowed” from your emergency account ASAP and with “interest.” Do this and you’ll always have money to pay your bills.

Plan for and live a frugal life--

Yes, that's right, play the role of starving artist for a while. Unless you are independently wealthy, this will be one of the things you have to face. In one way, this is part of finding out if you are cut out for the uncertainty of "going it alone.” And if you are really serious about pursuing a freelance career, this will be part of the process of proving to yourself that you can make it.

Build a base--ASAP.

Whatever your field of endeavor, you should try to build, maintain and continuously strive to add to, a base of clients. This is the part of your business on which you can depend from month to month. The more of these clients you can attract, the more stable your income will be.

Maintain multiple streams of income--

This e-business phrase is very appropriate for the freelancer. Your area of passionate interest is the centerpiece of your business, but it may take some time to make it the centerpiece of your income. In the meantime add at least two more sources of income. This can be related to your new career or not. In this case it’s the security of the money you are interested in. It can be as simple as a part-time job or turning a hobby into a bit of income to relieve some of the stress. You can discontinue these once you feel comfortable. However, it is wise to always have at least three streams of income.

Multiple streams of income will help you weather the ebb and flow of project completion and client tardiness. An erratic bottom line will be there even when you attain a measure of success and financial security. Being pro-active and learning to live with this fact of the freelance life will definitely contribute to your emotional and financial well being.

Marilyn Crain is a freelance writer with an extensive background in human resources, information systems and performance improvement. Most of her writing has been in these business fields, but she is now expanding her horizons into other areas. You may contact her at marilyn@smartwriters.com.

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Marilyn Crain

Marilyn Crain is a freelance writer with an extensive background in human resources, information systems and performance improvement. Most of her writing has been in these business fields, but she is now expanding her horizons into other areas.

She has had a lifelong love of reading and writing. Among her many passions is sharing history with children through her developing series of children's historical fiction soon to be out on www.ezetta.com.

She is a partner in the e-newsletter/e-marketing site evoicenewsletters, as well as, the soon to be launched eZetta.com, author's site devoted to e-book publishing and decodiva.com, a site filled with beautiful living resources. She is co-publisher of two newsletters, The eVoice and The Freelance Life. You may contact her: marilyn@smartwriters.com.