Ray Pigott When you’re a freelancer, it’s safe to say that there’s always going to be things that you have to work on. Business never really sleeps. When it’s just you handling everything, there is always going to be something that you have to tackle. You can’t rely on any other department like you might have done in another job, because that department is no longer there. You are effectively the department. So, it’s safe to say that life as a freelancer or entrepreneur is just busy!
With that being said, it still doesn’t mean that you have to feel like times are hard or that you have to struggle. Instead, it just means that you have to work out ways to get everything done in the most efficient manner. And sure, that sounds like quite a task to take on. But, again, it really doesn’t have to be. In fact, you may find that you can make your life so much easier by streamlining your freelance business.
There will always be things that you can implement or changes that you can make to ensure that things run more smoothly. And anything that you can automate means that you can work smarter, not harder! From how you manage your customers to running your finances, pretty much everything can be improved so that your life is better overall!
So let’s take a look at how you can make your life easier as a freelance entrepreneur.
1. Set Goals
First of all, you’re likely to find that it helps you to get the right work done and make better decisions when you have goals. From work goals to financial goals, these can guide your daily and monthly tasks. It can help you to cut out things that don’t really matter to you in business.
2. Set Working Hours
Next up, you’re going to want to make sure that you have set working hours for yourself. If you are just working here and there and there is no time limit on it, you may find that you’re less productive. Having a set timeframe to work in can often mean that you get more things done in that set space.
3. Hire Experts
You can’t be an expert at everything yourself, you just can’t. So why try to do everything when you can ask for help instead? Hiring an accountant or graphic designer or website builder or SEO could really help you to get more done and do a better job of it too.
4. Have A Top Level View
You’ll also find that it’s just so important for you to have a top level view of what is going on in your business. This can help you to know where you are at all times. So take a look at what you think your success factors are and then aim to keep a close eye on them.
5. Use Great Software
From here, you may also find that it really helps you if you can start to use some really great software packages for your business too. It could be financial or document management software, but the trick is for it to make your life better. So think about the programs that could help you to automate some of the parts of your business.
6. Hire Other Freelancers
It’s also a great idea to hire other freelancers too. If you need help with anything at all, why not turn to them? For instance, you could use the help of a Lead generation agency to identify your buyers and grow your sales. You will be able to attain more financial success while focusing on the other areas of your business. Not only does that take another thing off of your plate but it also means that you’re supporting your own industry too.
7. Change Up Your Business Model
You may even find that you need to change your business model a bit to make it easier. Can you spend less time pitching? Can you batch do certain tasks? Is there even a way that you can stop customer facing and working for an hourly rate so that your make more profit?
8. Add Other Sources Of Income
It’s also a good idea to look at our income streams. Do you just have the one kind or have you been able to build a range? This could really allow you to welcome additional income. Look at passive income ideas and see what else you can build into your business so that you’re working smarter.
9. Create A Smart Sales Funnel
From here, you might want to take a look at your sales process. Do you have a strong sales funnel in place? If not, you’re going to want to try and do what you can to make this more effective. This will mean that you can make more sales and get more leads automatically.
10. Take The Pressure Off
Finally, you may find that it actually really helps you if you can stop putting so much pressure on yourself. If you feel like life is difficult and that you’re always stressed out, ask yourself if you’re feeling the pressure? If you are, how can you alleviate that? Don’t make things harder or yourself. It’s okay to switch off and walk away from work. You need to relax so that you can come back and give things your all too.
Even though it’s natural to get bogged down when you’re self-employed, it’s definitely not something that you should just accept. Instead, you will find that, by making your life easier, you will enjoy work more. It doesn’t have to be a struggle or hard work. You just have to think of ways that you can make running a business more manageable and successful overall.
As you start to work through some of the motions, you’ll find that there are things you can implement into your business that make things so much easier for you. As your business becomes more streamlined, it could also work out a lot better. It could make more money, serve more people, and mean that your life overall changes for the better too.
