Starting a freelance career is always a great idea, especially now, when many individuals are losing their jobs. Freelancing provides the ability to do what you really love while working from anywhere in the world. It is definitely worth giving it a shot if you have a flair for coding or web design, and plan to make it as your future profession.

At the same time, becoming a freelancer in the U.S. may be challenging. We have already talked about some things you should consider when pursuing the gig economy lifestyle in one of our previous posts. The truth is that no successful business is created within a month or a week. Besides, it requires lots of dedication, patience, time, commitment, and sacrifices. So, in this article, we have decided to provide a step-by-step guide on how to legally start a freelance business to help you achieve success in establishing your online career.

Popularity of Freelancing

It is a well-known fact that the freelance economy is flourishing. The world’s biggest players like Google are currently switching to hiring freelance employees. The NY Times states that more than a half of all workers at Google are self-employed contractors. These numbers should encourage you to at least give it a try. Or not, it is all up to you :-)

Anyway, more and more individuals decide to quit their in-office jobs to launch a freelance business. It is a profession that is ideal for people seeking full flexibility in when, how, and where they work to meet their lifestyle goals. The popularity of freelancing can be also explained by the fact that, in most cases, it only requires a high-speed WiFi connection and laptop to start working as a freelancer.

Steps to Build Your Own Freelance Business

So you’ve finally decided to launch your own freelancing business, what’s next? Here are the necessary steps to take for those wondering how to start freelancing with no experience:

1. Clearly identify your niche
There are plenty of areas for you to grow as a freelancer. You can be a web developer, wedding planner, designer, or freelance writer. For beginners, ask yourself the following:

• What are your interests and/or passions?
• Is there something you are good at?

Writing down your acquired skills will help you assess your strengths and identify the niche you are looking for.

2. Create a business plan
Once you find out what to specialize in, you can start developing a plan. At this stage, you need to determine your strengths, weaknesses in order to establish expectations, visions, and goals. Think through the following:

• What do you want to achieve?
• Where do you want to be with your business in, say, a year from now?
• Who is your target audience?

3. Set a budget
Your budget mainly depends on your business goals. Typically, starting a freelance job only requires a stable Internet connection and a laptop. However, certain freelance websites may ask for registration fees to let you reach out to customers.

4. Start looking for potential customers
Finding customers is as crucial as identifying your professional niche. Probably, it would be better to start your search on freelance platforms such as Fiverr, Freelancer, Guru, and UpWork. Choose the best suitable job board, create an outstanding profile highlighting your professional skills/experience, and make yourself visible to customers.

How to Start Freelancing Work and Build a Career

Basically, to make your freelancing successful, you need to follow several rules and recommendations:

1. Remove all distractions
   Find yourself a place where you can be far away from distractions. Put your smartphone away unless you need it for work.
2. Create to-do list
   This will help you structure your schedule, prioritize tasks, and meet the deadlines.
3. Set up a working routine
   Creating a routine and sticking to it day by day until it becomes natural will boost your creativity and productivity.
4. Stay organized
   Organizational skills are critical for your professional success. So it is imperative to optimize your time by keeping a healthy work-life balance.
5. Use online management tools
   These tools are very common among freelancers as they help optimize their tasks, making them way easier to perform. For example, Vollna is a simple and intuitive tool that allows you to quickly find the best and highest paid offers on multiple freelance platforms.

Key Takeaways

On your way to creating a freelance business, you will face numerous pitfalls and challenges. We hope that this article will be useful to you to launch your career in freelance. Just set your goals high and follow this guide and you’ll be already on your way to stars.