We’re nearing the end of December, and I want to ask you a few innocent questions, if I may. Questions that may make a few freelancers slightly uncomfortable.
Here’s the most important one:
“How was business in 2016?”
Some of you might tell me:
“2016 was great. I had so much fun!”
“I feel blessed to do what I do and even get paid for it.”
“I booked more gigs than ever, and I learned a lot this year.”
Those are interesting points, yet from a business perspective they are almost irrelevant. Let’s unpack theses statements one by one.
I’m so glad you had fun (and I don’t mean that sarcastically), but that’s not how you measure success as an entrepreneur. I know quite a few starving artists who had tons of fun while losing boatloads of money.
You may feel incredibly blessed, but how is that reflected in your books? Did your CPA congratulate you because your numbers are up this year?
It’s great that you landed more jobs, but if you’ve been doing more for less, are you really better off? I don’t know about you, but I became a freelancer so I could do less for more. That has nothing to do with being lazy. I wanted to have time to travel, to volunteer, to write, to coach, and to enjoy being with family and friends.
Learning a lot is cool, but clients don’t pay you to learn on the job. They expect you to know the job. I’m sure you’re familiar with certain folks (perhaps intimately) who are very good at learning how NOT to do a job. That’s not a way to determine the well-being of a business, is it?
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
Let me share something with you I learned not by guessing, but from decades of experience:
People who are prone to making the above statements may be good at what they do, but that doesn’t mean they’re good at running a for-profit business. In fact, their comments tell me they don’t seem to have their priorities straight.
If you wish to have sustained success in any competitive field, you need to be better than 90% of your colleagues in terms of talent and skills, AND you must run your business like a business (instead of some elevated hobby). You can’t have one without the other.
This means that when I ask you “How was business in 2016?” you should be able to answer the following (and potentially uncomfortable) questions:
“Did you break even? Did you turn a profit, or are your (still) struggling to survive?”
Be honest. Don’t give me an answer that would look good on Facebook. It’s time to face the facts. To quote Dr. Phil: “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.”
The bottom line is always about the bottom line.
Now, if you’re not yet where you want to be: Welcome to the club! Trust me. Even the big names you look up to, are seldom where they want to be. It’s what drives them! They know business is unpredictable and volatile. But they also know the five factors that lead to success:
- Learn from the best.
- Offer an outstanding product or service.
- Make it easy for clients to find you.
- Make it easy to work with you.
- Make it easy to pay you.
I always tell my students not to reinvent the wheel. It’s a huge waste of time. There are no shortcuts to success, but it does help to model your business after those who are where you want to be. When you do that, you’ll notice a sixth factor that contributes to continued success:
6. Manage your money.
This is where many freelancers lose the game, because they’re not on top of their finances. I admit: it’s not a glamorous job, but it pays the bills. Literally. If this is something you’re interested in, you need to take the first step:
Get Organized!
If you’re like me, and you could use some help in that area, consider a service like Invoice2go.com. It was developed by someone like you: a small business owner. For $149.99 per year (The Enterprise Plan), you can list 100 clients, and send an unlimited number of customized invoices using your phone, tablet, or computer. Invoices will show a Pay Now button, allowing your customers to pay you online in multiple ways.
Here’s the thing:
Not only will you look much more professional, but when you make it easier for clients to pay you, they will pay you faster.
Invoice2go also helps you keep track of your expenses. That way you’ll always know how much is coming in, and how much is going out.
Mind you, I’m not getting paid to toot their horn, but I was approached to contribute to an infographic they put together for small business owners. I think that’s a really cool thing! Invoice2go asked entrepreneurs with years of experience for their top advice for starting a small business.
Here’s the result. Let’s see if you can find my quote!
Invoice2go just launched a free invoice template generator, allowing you to create and send customized invoices in three simple steps. Here’s the link:
http://blog.2go.com/invoice-template/
Happy invoicing!
Paul Strikwerda ©nethervoice
PS Be sweet. Please retweet!
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