Are you ready to go freelance?

How do you know if you’re ready to make the leap to being full-time freelance? The checklist over at The Renegade Writer is a pretty good start, but there are more questions you need to ask. Such as…

Can you handle the uncertainty?
Right now, I know I’m doing writing/subbing shifts until the 17th of October. I was supposed to be working on a website project but it’s been delayed. I may or may not be doing some copywriting for a local client in November and I’m covering for one of my editors for a couple of weeks in December. The rest of the time, who knows. I could crack five new markets. Alternatively all my pitches could fall straight into a void. Personally, I thrive on this fear and I find a combination of confidence, hard graft, blind faith and blind panic serves me very well.

Can you juggle multiple commitments?
Such as writing and sending pitches, organising and conducting interviews for pieces you’re currently working on, finishing/filing others and chasing invoices, all while remembering to eat and get dressed? Can you plan ahead well enough to make sure you stay on top of multiple deadlines and are you organised enough to remember when they are?

Do you know how to say no?
I speak as someone who actually considered cancelling a trip away when one new client rang to offer me a commission soon after I went freelance. It is very difficult to say no when you have too much work on or you’re going on holiday, especially if it’s a new client – you worry they won’t ask again.

Do you have some basic accounting and tax knowledge?
This isn’t as scary as it sounds, although tax returns are an an unattractive prospect and I for one am happy to pay an accountant to do mine. But you’ll need some basic knowledge whether or not you get an accountant. Aside from telling HMRC you’re self-employed and arranging to pay Class 2 NI (unless you think you’ll qualify for small earnings exemption), it’s worth knowing what tax-deductible expenses you can claim, what the VAT threshold is, the pros and cons of gross pay vs. PAYE, and whether it’s worth becoming a limited company rather than a sole trader.

Do you have a spine?
People will ignore your pitches. They will reject your pitches. They will fail to pay you. These things happen to every freelancer, no matter how good. You will need to be able to cope with rejection and have the backbone to chase payments that don’t show up on time. Diplomacy will serve you well. Being a doormat will not.

Are you determined to do it no matter what anyone says?
If you’re still dying to work for yourself despite people pointing out that you won’t have any job security, there’s a credit crunch on and you’ll have to make the tea all the time, it’s worth giving it a go. I’m certainly glad I did.