avatarChristina M. Ward

Summarize

FREELANCE

Building a Freelance Business From Scratch

From the ground up, get the important things in place

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

I ran a successful self-employed business for 16 years. Call me “old-school” if you wish, but to me, beginning a business is not as simple as sending a few emails, collecting a few payments and peddling your work.

It is about record-keeping, invoices, tax payment preparation, and registering your business.

In short, I am building a freelance writing business from the ground up — and I intend to do it professionally. I want my clients to experience professionalism from me on every level — from the writing, editing, or mentoring services I provide, to the invoice I send them, to the payment methods that are quick and easy for the client to navigate.

I kept meticulous records for my previous business, which helped me very much at tax time. Freelance writing will be a bit more complex.

Before, I was a successful hairstylist and hair color educator, traveling throughout the south to teach hair color services, color technology, and the science of hair loss to a wide variety of hair salons — some that charged 40 bucks for a hair color service, and some that charged in excess of $300. The record-keeping was complex with regards to clients as there were so many. My income also included payment from the companies I represented (Goldwell USA and TheraPro Cosmeceuticals) so I included those incomes in my record-keeping.

As a freelancer, there are also many clients. But you also have other aspects of writing that you may include under the umbrella of business income. I plan to keep all my income records together as well as my expenses. In order to do this, I need to be able to have certain abilities. To handle all my business needs I have had to research and collect various apps, communication resources, advertising resources, and accounting software.

I have listed the programs (with non-affiliate links of those programs) which I am using to supply those needs, along with some tips for getting your freelance business some professional credibility:

Business establishment

  • Register the business name and get an EIN number (Contact your local register of deeds for more information) — this is for tax filing purposes. I am having to wait to register my business name (Fiddleheads & Floss Writing Services) until the register of deeds is open again — thanks Covid 19!
  • Research your state and local laws about collecting sales tax. You can collect this sales tax (if applicable) from the customer as an add on fee or simply include it in your service rates. You will have to pay the sales tax — sometimes yearly or quarterly. You must have an EIN number to pay these taxes.
  • Business cards — Vistaprint has served me well for several decades now as I used them in my previous business as well. Good pricing and easy to use.

Communication

  • Email — Set up a business email account that you will use strictly for your business. I am using a Gmail account connected to my Fiddleheads & Floss branding.
  • Zoom — I need the ability to meet with mentoring clients and Zoom is perfect for this. Set up a Zoom account associated with your business email address.
  • Chat capabilities — This one I am still working on, but Slack is an option. I’d like chat capabilities, but I am a bit concerned about the “conversation door” with clients being open 24/7. I am playing this by ear per client — but with messages coming in from many different sources, it can get confusing. I may pursue a Slack channel for my business at some point, which allows for chat and file sharing.

Organization

I chose Milanote and am very happy with the app’s capabilities. For example, today I worked with a mentoring client on Zoom and created a Milanote board to share with the client. We both were able to work on the board and see changes each other was making, therefore collaborating and planning for future goals, next steps, and gathering important information in one place for us both to use for the project.

Milanote offers me a place to manage all my ongoing clients, projects, ideas, to-do lists, resource links, and all kinds of important information.

You can follow Milanote and Milanote Developer here on Medium, and you can find the app here.

***UPDATE: I have now switched to Arftful Agenda for all my business organizational activities. It’s simple, GORGEOUS, and gets the job done! Yes, this is an affiliate link.

Calendar scheduling

Alexa manages my schedule. When I have a deadline, I ask her to set a reminder. She’s my personal assistant. I have an Echo Show on my desk and honestly, I don’t know how I’d manage without it. I use it to set timers for my billable hours as well.

Website

Your business needs a website. Right now I have adapted my Wordpress website for Fiddleheads & Floss to have a more professional appearance, highlight my business services and drive sales. You can see how I have done that here.

There are a wide variety of web hosting services and the pricing can be quite variable. I was familiar with Wordpress and had been blogging there for a few years so I chose to adapt and move my blog site in the direction of professional services — for one reason: to save the money of setting up a separate website. I am on the personal plan for Wordpress.

Your clients need to see:

  • What services you offer
  • Your rates
  • How to order
  • How to contact you

Record-Keeping and Invoicing

For my business management and accounting software, I went with Freshbooks, which tailors to small business owners and sole proprietors.

You need to be able to:

  • Keep a record of all income from a variety of sources
  • Keep a record of all expenses from a variety of sources
  • Manage taxes
  • See your business profit margins or losses
  • Track customer payments
  • Invoice your clients
  • Collect payments
  • Record billable hours

These services can be quite costly, but for me, the professionalism of invoicing my clients and taking payments, as well as the ability to track my profits are worth every penny. I went with the cheapest plan of Freshbooks, which allows me 5 clients, but you can also “add other income” and I can manually add clients that have paid me through Paypal (which happens frequently) or things like “Medium payment” once a month. A Freshbooks customer support person advised me on the phone that once you enter a client that has paid you in full, you can “delete” that client which essentially archives the client. This allows you to not use up all your allotted client spaces. Otherwise, go ahead and opt for the business plan which allows 50 clients.

Just remember at tax time that if you have forms provided at the end of the year like the IRS form 1099-MISC (using Track1099, an IRS-approved vendor) from Medium Corporation or any other source, that you will have to know this income needs to be subtracted from your accounting numbers so you aren’t double-claiming that income. I prefer to add it in with my accounting software each month so I can see total income all in one place and compare it to my expenses.

As an added note — Freshbooks has the BEST customer support!

Payment collection

Each payment collection source takes its share of fees. It is annoying, but keep in mind that Paypal, Stripe, or credit card processing are services being performed for you. Those fees are your payment to them for those services. Freelancing sites such as UpWork and Fiverr can, in addition, take 20% of your earnings as well so these can add up. (This is why I prefer to use UpWork and Fiverr as a “meet and greet” for future private clients.) Keep these fees in mind when you set your rates.

I process payments through invoicing, via Freshbooks (with credit card processing fees) or by clients paying through Paypal (which charges similar fees to Stripe — Here’s more on that.)

Conclusion

Your business will only be as successful as the foundation you build it upon. Build it wisely, invest in yourself, and shoot for your goals with focused determination. Thanks for reading — now get to work!

Christina M. Ward is an entrepreneurial writer with a tireless drive toward success. She hopes to cash in on that work ethic someday soon. You’ll say you knew her when…

You may follow her on social media or sign up for her free Author Newsletter.

Freelance
Business
Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Writing
Recommended from ReadMedium