Everyone’s got a great idea or has heaps of ambition to become the “Next Steve Jobs of [insert industry]”. A lot of people get caught up on where to start and sometimes need a guide or a map to get started. Freelancing or being an entrepreneur is an exciting and fun adventure. If you’re wonder about where to find clients, how to validate an idea, or generally how to run a freelancing business, you’re in the right places! Lets talk about the different ways you can start your journey.
Don’t think you have to do everything at once with your business. Pace yourself and take things one step at a time. That old joke of “How do you eat an elephant…… one bite at a time…” is a perfect analogy on how to tackle big tasks. The phrase ‘Eating the Elephant’ can teach us how to take our time with growth and progress to avoid burnout or more. Here are some tips to help you slow down and grow.
Some people shy away from the word “contracts” because a lot of time it triggers that feeling of “being sued”. A contract, by definition, is a promise or set of promises that are legally enforceable and, if violated, allow the injured party access to legal remedies. In short, its an agreement between two or more people.
A product can look polished and pretty but fall flat when it comes to usability. The same can be the opposite; a dull looking app but does everything you ever want or need. Finding that nice middle ground and having a good UI/UX person on your team can really shift the outcome of your product. I chat with Matt Rix about the importance and usability of UI and UX.
I don’t want to talk about Freelancing and Consulting without talking about the gotchas of Freelancing and Consulting. Its not all rose colored glasses and sailing off into the sunset. Working for yourself takes a lot of hard work and dedication that some people may ignore. So if you’re reading tons of blog posts of the happy and fun and great sides of working for yourself, you may be overlooking the downside all together….
The awesomeness of being a freelancer or entrepreneur is that you decide how you want to work to get the job done. There are dozens of applications and freelancer tools out there that help you become more efficient and effective at whatever you need to do. They can range from free to pay-to-use but we cant seen to live without them. Freelancer tools wont make or break your company, but here are a few tools that you may find using over and over again.
We’re the experts but sometimes we need to look internally at our business or ourselves to make sure that we’re using our own talents. We sometimes forget that WE are the experts! Don’t forget to turn our own skills on ourselves. Candace Schilling and I chat about how we can ‘Mind our own business’ and take a look at our own business from the inside out.
Win higher proposals with a Roadmapping Session. A Roadmapping Session focuses on what a home run looks like for your client, the expected outcomes, the different parts of the project, expected/wanted ROI, and helps identify potential obstacles that we may encounter. The session includes reviewing the business goals behind the project and helping to plan steps to reach these goals. You want to figure out where the client is now and find a path to where they want to be.
For a lot of people, we get caught up on the “How” of a new business venture. In reality, the “what” is a lot harder to think about or figure out. We’ll get charged up with a new business idea, but then get discouraged by the details of how to execute. The ‘analysis paralysis’ effect comes out and shuts down out ideas or dreams.
We need to push through those doubts and realize that focusing on the “how’s” is the easier part. Getting your idea off the ground and past the “what” is the real challenge.
We’ll be talking about the differences between an freelancer, consultant, and entrepreneur. 9 times out of 10, they all mean the same thing. But in reality, its sometimes perceived as different things. We’ll chat about the main points that make someone a freelancer, consultant, entrepreneur, or a contractor.