What?
Lots of freelancers start self-employment without considering it for what it really is - running a business.
Whilst having a ‘side hustle’ might mean you need to fit a few extra projects coming on to your to-do list, going full-time freelancing means you’re dependent on your work to be generating an income, and your income is dependent on your business being a sustainable venture.
Being a successful freelancer requires you to invest time in the core craft-skill you’re selling (i.e. being an illustrator, developer, accountant, lawyer), but also running your business - which means: finding customers, managing your paperwork, handling your banking, paying your taxes, growing your business over time.
Being a business means having some idea of your goals, a strategy to reach those goals, a view on your ambition beyond the just the next few months, a committment to providing high quality services to stay in business, and not selling yourself short.
Recognising you’re running a business also means treating yourself with respect, putting good boundaries in place, and getting serious about productivity (which means including rest).
Whilst having a business doesn’t mean having employees or aiming for huge commercial growth - freelancing isn’t a hobby or a passion and it’s not the same as employment. You’ll be required to ‘unlearn’ quite a few things from being employed to make it work well, and to not hold yourself back.
It’s not right for everyone, not everyone wants to be running a business - and that’s okay, but if you’re choosing to go freelance, you are starting a business.
Why?
The mindset shift is important - not only to help you be more focused on running a business, but also to get into the right attitude around running a business.
Work will not magically land in your lap, clients won’t just appear without effort. There’s a significant element of having to get up, show up and putting the work in.
Without unlearning some of the things we understand about work when employed, we risk setting expectations that will not be matched, and at best holding ourselves back, or at worst, our business failing.
This mindset shift helps you move from selling your time to selling your services, and helps to build resiliance around some issues like rejection, ghosting, pricing, late-payments and negotiation.
How?
Read around some of the resources on the mindset of running a business - and understand how it might be different to employment, gig work or side-hustling.
Have conversations with fellow freelancers to understand what they needed to unlearn and what differences they see between running a business and freelancing on the side or employment.
Be aware than many resources around “mindset” will talk about the differences between “freelancing”, “running a business” and “entrepreneurship” - there’s no agreed or meaningful difference between any of these terms, and a great deal of subjectivity around their definitions.
Beware that much of the talk of ‘mindset’ can quickly spiral into “hustle culture” type content - try to avoid anything which is suggesting there’s only one mindset that works, or that you have to sign up to unlock the right mindset.
