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Home Online Business How to Start a Freelance Business for Beginners + 7 Steps for Success

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How to Start a Freelance Business for Beginners + 7 Steps for Success

Willie KGFebruary 28, 20248 Mins read1k Views

The Covid-19 pandemic caused a huge revolution in working space. People were triggered to quit their jobs and start working from home as a way to gain more flexibility to focus on what is most important: health and family.

It also created a shift in many companies, who started looking for freelancers as a way to cut their expenses. This has created a huge opportunity for people who wish to start a freelancing business as a side hustle or as a full-time career. It is no surprise that more people are still choosing to go the freelance way.

But how much does it cost to start a freelance business? Do you need to set up a company? The truth is the best way to go around this is to make freelancing a business to protect you from any legal or financial implications.

Furthermore, you need to know how to track your expenses, the tools you need, and how to manage your freelancing business. If you have always wanted to start a freelance business, then this is your opportunity to get started.

This article will share how to start a freelance business with step by step guide on what you need to set up and will answer all the questions you may have about starting a freelancing business.

Table of Contents

Why Should You Start A Freelancing Business?

The freelance industry is growing rapidly, with millions of freelancers worldwide. There is a lot of money to be made, and you need to get your share. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider starting a freelancing business

1. Choose your work hours

Unlike a brick-and-mortar business where you need to open your shop every day, with freelancing, you have the flexibility to choose your working hours. You can choose to work only a few days a week and use the rest to spend time with your family.

Furthermore, you have the flexibility to choose tasks that align with what you love doing. As a result, you have a better work-life balance and more time to work on your personal goals.

2. Improve your earning potential

With traditional jobs, you have a capped salary with minimal increment every year. On the other hand, in a freelance business, you can earn more because your salary is pegged on what you can offer.

Moreover, you are not limited to working with only one client. You can work with multiple clients and even increase your rates and work with high-paying clients.

3. Chase your dreams

When you are employed, you have to let go of your dreams and help your employer achieve their vision. You also have to follow a job description that sometimes may not utilize all your skills and expertise.

But by running your own freelance business, you can follow your passions and select work that aligns with your dream goals. As a result, you tend to have job satisfaction and motivation to work.

How to Start a Freelance Business in 7 Steps

A freelance business helps you make money from your skills and expertise and gives you the flexibility to do tasks that align with your skills and interests. If you want to start a freelance business and don’t know what to start, this guide outlines the steps you need to follow to have a profitable business.

1. Start with why

Why do you want to start a freelance business? You need to have a strong why before you start because it will keep you going when the going is tough. Despite the benefits of freelancing, there are several challenges that you will encounter, such as irregular income.

Do you want to set your work hours or have more time for your family? Do you want to start a freelance business just to earn extra income on the side, or will you do it full time?

When you define your goals clearly, including your income target, how many hours you want to work, and your future career goals. Once you have clarity of your goals, you can take small steps and build your business.

Related Resource: 14 Essential Work from Home Tips for Beginners

2. Choose a profitable niche

Before you start your freelance business, you need to choose a profitable niche that aligns with your goals, skills, and interests. The niche should also have demand in the market so that you can make money from it. Choosing a niche helps to position you as an expert in your niche and makes clients trust you more than when you are a generalist.

Furthermore, being an expert in one thing helps you deliver high quality work because you know the ins and outs of the niche. When you deliver exceptional services, you will retain your clients, get more referrals, and build a profitable business.

So, how do you choose your niche? Reflect on your skills, expertise, interests, and areas of strength and passion. Choose a niche that you are genuinely interested in and can do for a long time without getting bored because building a freelance business is a long-term game.

Some of the best freelance business ideas include niches such as web development, video editing, SEO, and social media marketing. You can niche further down to the industry you’ll offer the service to, such as health, startups, tech, or beauty, to make it easy to choose your target clients.

3. Identify your target client

Once you know your niche, you need to choose the type of clients you want to work with. You can work with coaches, start-up founders, influencers, business executives, or clients who run e-commerce businesses.

You can decide on the clients based on the services you want to offer, how easy it is to connect with them, and whether they can afford your services. Knowing your ideal client helps you narrow down your search when looking for work because it’s easy to know where you are likely to find them.

In the beginning, it may mean turning away other clients, but that is the only way to narrow down and attract the right type of clients, build your authority, and even get referrals. You’ll also be able to charge premium rates because you compete on the basis of value and not pricing.

4. Set up your business

Since you will be self-employed, you will be in charge of tracking the expenses, setting up the legal aspects, payment getaways, invoicing, and reaching out to clients. The right way to do this is to set up your business as a sole proprietorship or a company.

Start by choosing the name of your business, then register it. Most freelancers prefer to set up a limited liability company to protect personal assets from any liabilities from the business. This means creating a separate bank account, a business PayPal account, a home office space, and all the necessary freelancing tools.

You also need to set your pricing according to the value that you offer, whether hourly or project based that will meet your income goals

Lastly, you need to research the licenses and permits you may need based on your location from local authorities. It is good to comply with the local regulations to avoid issues in the future.

5. Create an online presence for your business

For a successful freelance business, you need to create a professional online presence. The first step is to create a website for your business. You need to buy a domain name and pay for hosting services to make your business website live.

Some of the things to consider when choosing a web host are their cost, packages such as SSL, whether they offer security or automatic backups, and 99.9% uptime guarantees. Some of the web host companies to consider include Namecheap, Hostinger, and Bluehost.

It is also good to work on your branding and choose brand colors, logos, and your brand identity to showcase your brand. Your website is like a digital business card to showcase your skills, communicate your services, give some of your work, and attract potential clients. It is a powerful tool to build a strong portfolio and showcase previous projects, testimonials, and case studies, and a blog to share content on industry news and build your portfolio to make clients hire you.

You can include your pricing rates for the services you are offering. Base your rate based on your skills, experience, project requirements, and market rates. You can offer packages such as hourly, project based, and retainer pricing.

You should also set up social media accounts with the business name on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram and start sharing helpful content on your niche. Create consistent content and engage with your audience to establish yourself as an authority, showcase your expertise, and promote your freelance services.

6. Pitch to clients

You need clients to make your business successful. One of the best ways to get clients is to use freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. Set up a freelancer profile or agency profile where you can work with other freelancers. You can also find clients on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, freelancing communities, and referrals from previous clients and your network. Cold pitching directly to clients through their emails is also a good way and is less competitive.

Ensure that you communicate the value of your services to your clients and share the efficiency and results that you bring to the table. You can always adjust your pricing once you work with more clients.

7. Scaling your business

You need to have expertise to manage multiple projects and meet client expectations. There are excellent freelancing tools, such as Trello, Asana, and Slack, that you can use to manage multiple projects and communicate with clients.

Always communicate clearly with your clients and meet deadlines to make your clients happy. Ensure you provide excellent work, exceed your client’s expectations, and offer great customer service to build long-term relationships with your clients.

Keep improving your skills by reading and taking online courses, and stay updated with trends in your niche to stay ahead of your game.

Once you have worked with several clients, you can find other freelancers to work with and outsource extra work. This helps you to scale your business and increase your earning potential. You’ll be able to take on more projects without getting overwhelmed because you can hire freelancers to handle the tasks. You’ll also be able to offer more services because you can outsource to expert freelancers and dedicate your time to handling client acquisition and customer service.

FAQs

What is a freelance business?

A freelance business entails providing services to multiple clients while working on a contract basis. It offers autonomy, flexibility, and better work-life balance.

How can I start my own freelance business?

It is possible to start your own freelance business as long as you have clear goals, choose your niche, and have the know-how to market your service online.

How do freelancers make money?

Freelancers make money by selling their services to clients. Some of the services include writing, graphic design, web design, social media marketing, and SEO.

How do I find clients for freelancing?

You can find clients for your freelance business by sending cold pitches, or from freelance platforms, your networks, your website, or social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

How much does it cost to start a freelance business?

Some of the set up costs for starting a freelance business include opening a business bank account, creating a website, buying home office equipment, and paying for freelance tools such as Ahrefs, Grammarly, and Adobe Premiere Pro, depending on the type of service you offer.

Final Thoughts

Starting a freelance business is not difficult. You only need to choose a niche that aligns with your skills and expertise, set up a legal entity, reach out to clients, and scale your business by offering exceptional service. Ensure that you keep improving your skills so that you can deliver exceptional service to your clients. Once you’re ready, you can outsource extra work to freelancers so that you can focus on running the business.

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