Gut Check: Quitting Your Full-time Job for Your Freelance Career

It's 6:00 p.m. You're dead tired, but instead of an early night, you go to your "second job" - your freelance business.

Between writing articles, researching new assignments and invoicing for completed work, it will be well past midnight before you can even think of going to bed. How much longer can you keep this up, you wonder? If this sounds familiar, maybe it's time to quit your job and focus on your freelance career full-time.

One of the best ways to ensure success as a freelancer is to start part-time while holding a full-time job. However, when do you know it's time to let go of your job?

The following checklist will help you decide if it's time to make the leap from employee to full-time freelancer.

1. Money: If you started freelancing with the intention of one day quitting your full-time job, then that plan should have included setting income aside for this day.

Do you have six months to one year of expenses set aside? Is your business bringing in steady income? If you were able to devote 15-20 more hours per week to it, could you at least double what it brings in now?

Looking back over one to two years of numbers should give you enough data to do some smart (read, conservative) projections. Don't have at least 12 months of income data to analyze? Then my advice is not to quit - unless the business is exceeding all expectations and you are really raking in the profits.

Bottom line: If you have six to twelve months worth of expenses set aside and won't have to depend on your freelance income to pay you anything during this period, then maybe it's time to consider quitting, or at least switching roles (ie, working your job part-time and freelancing full-time).

2. Time: Do your freelance duties take up more than four hours a day? Do you work six to seven days a week just to stay on top of your workload?

If this is true and you have a steady stream of projects already lined up, then maybe it's time to make the move.

Note: Freelancing is an up and down business. Just because projects are lined up does not mean they will come to fruition. If these are steady clients that almost always come through (ie, they do an annual report every year and you have been doing it for the past two years), then you can "safely" count on the income.

However, be careful that the bulk of your income is not coming from 1-2 clients. Get 6, 7, 8 or more, steady clients - and constantly market to acquire new ones - before you even consider making the move.

3. Quality of Life: If the quality of your life is suffering because there are only 24 hours in the day and you need 56, then it's definitely time to consider quitting.

If you're working all the time and not spending time with family and friends, then both streams of income will start to suffer. If your freelance business has been humming along on training wheels for a while, then maybe it's time to make a real go of it.

What exactly does this mean? It means that you get up and put in a solid 8, 9, 10 hours (at least) a day to expand. I'm reminded of the quote, "An entrepreneur [freelancer] works 16 hours for himself, so he won't have to work 8 for someone else."

If you decide to make a go of freelancing full-time, then this is where the gloves come off; where the real work comes in. Here are some general guidelines to observe as you make the transition:

Leave your job on good terms: That means handing in proper notice, offering to train a replacement, be on call for finishing up any special projects - whatever it takes to let your previous employer know that you are a professional and won't leave them in the lurch.

After all, you never know if/when you will need to return or if your company will be able to refer clients or become a client themselves.

Prioritize: Managing yourself is a lot harder than being under someone else's tutelage. Develop the habit of writing a list of things to be accomplished. What works for me is at the end of every day, writing in my day planner what I need to accomplish the following day. It usually doesn't work out that way, but at least I have a plan if I start to stray, or feel like, "Now what do I do?"

Eat right and exercise: After all, if you don't take care of yourself, it jeopardizes all of your income.

Good luck!

About The Author

May be reprinted with inclusion of the following: Yuwanda Black is an entrepreneur, author, speaker and syndicated small business columnist whose focus is controlling your destiny through small business ownership. Her most recent e-books, How to Really Make a Living as an Editorial Freelancer and Advice from Successful Freelancers: How They Built Their Careers & How You Can Too! are available for immediate download at http://www.InkwellEditorial.com/bizguides.html Visit her on the web at http://www.EntrepreDoer.biz for a complete list of how-to, small business books and articles.

columnist@EntrepreDoer.biz

---

If You Want to Succeed As a Writer, Dont Just Think It, Do It

It never ceases to amaze me when a prospective writer... Read More

How to Avoid the 11 Biggest Mistakes of First Time Authors

"If you want to change your life," Harry Beckwith wrote... Read More

Is Now the Time for a Play about the War in Iraq?

Everone knows that comedy is mostly about timing. If you... Read More

Using Metaphor Effectively

We've all heard a politician on their soapbox, pushing for... Read More

Creative Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?

In the beginning of your story you have to grab... Read More

The Prologue - When to Use One, How to Write One

What is a prologue? When should you use one? Should... Read More

Screenwriting, Screenplays, Screenwriters - Writing a Screenplay Using Structure

Effective screenwriting relies on the good understanding and use of... Read More

Personal Journaling - Strategies To Make It Easy

Recently I was watching the Oprah show and it was... Read More

Write A Better Newsletter!

You've decided to write your very own Newsletter to promote... Read More

Make Your Readers Cry

You know, I really hate it when someone catches me... Read More

7 Book Publicity Tips for Authors and Small Publishers

The biggest mistake authors make when trying to get free... Read More

Writing Helpful Help ? A Minimalism Checklist

User documentation is all too often written by programmers for... Read More

Plagiarism Through The Eyes Of College Students

Plagiarism has been condemned lately by all types of experts,... Read More

Common Writing Mistakes - Are These Holding You Back From Writing Success?

During the years that I've been teaching writing and participating... Read More

How to Write Articles, Reports, and Books Quickly

Do you have trouble getting your thoughts and ideas down... Read More

The Best Freelance Job Boards for Writers

How many times have you checked out a job board... Read More

Hey Cient, this is Me! Find Your Writing Voice and Sell Yourself

In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as... Read More

How to Pitch a Story

Ever wonder why we refer to convincing an editor a... Read More

Ten Quick Tips for Inexperienced Writers

One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is... Read More

Check Your English Grammar With This Easy Technique

As an International language, English has been used widely in... Read More

The Psychology Of Effortless Writing

I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of... Read More

Pages: Your Book of Life

Many of us dream of writing a book. Why not.... Read More

Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born in Portsea, England, in1812. His father... Read More

Dialogue Tags - A Study in Common Errors

Verb and SubjectIncorrect:"I bet you two had a fine time,"... Read More

A Quick Guide to ISBNs for Self-Publishers

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a... Read More

Getting Published Is Different For Everyone: Two Paths Among Many

One obvious question that can get overlooked in the process... Read More

Under The Leaded Sky in Serbia by dr Mirjana Radovic

When one population in one century survived five wars, two... Read More

Write For Yourself First

It would be very selfless or noble of me to... Read More

14 Tips On Writing The Short-Short Story

The short-short story has been likened by some as being... Read More

The Writing Life

In the 7th grade I wanted to be an architect... Read More

Learn to Talk on Paper: The Art of Effective Business Writing

Rudolf Flesch, a specialist in writing skills, ran classes... Read More

Planning Time To Write

In his book, "Achieving Financial Independence as a Freelance Writer,"... Read More

Hero?s Journey ? The First Threshold

Beyond three and four act story structure, lies the Hero's... Read More