You have a lot to think about before taking the leap. If you haven’t considered all the factors that go into breaking out on your own, take a look at what you can expect. Use this as a guide to see if you have what it takes to become your own full-time small business owner.

1. Budget for an inconsistent income every single month

One of the most obvious factors to consider is your budget. Do you have enough money to actually pull this off, or will you be starving after your first few months? If it’s the latter, you may want to wait a little bit longer. Save up before severing ties with your solid income source.

If you do have some money saved up, consider if it’s enough to really float you if you get stiffed. You may have encountered this unpleasant reality of freelancing before, but if a client decides they don’t want to pay for whatever reason, the consequences will be more serious. Before you had your steady W-2 income to fall back on; now every second you’re not paid means you don’t get to eat.

Even if everything goes right and everyone pays, you still need to consider taxes. Since you don’t have an employer, you have to pay your own taxes—including extra to cover the self-employment tax. Quarterly estimated taxes will become your life. Every few months, you will have to pay up to the government. These payments are higher than taxes you paid as a salaried or hourly worker when your employer threw in to help you.

Take the following budgetary actions before taking the leap:

1. Make sure you have enough savings to pay your necessary expenses for at least six months.
2. Cut back on unnecessary expenses and stick to your budget.
3. Understand self-employment taxes and plan to set aside enough to pay your quarterly estimated taxes.

2. Set your business goals and stick to them

Why do you really want to get into full-time freelancing? There are a thousand reasons why you might be interested in making this leap, and everyone has a different motivation. It’s just important that your reasons are true to your vision. If you don’t have a solid reason and strong goals for your business, you may be in trouble.

Everybody needs an end point and something to aim for as they perform day-to-day tasks. It could be to retire early, to spend more time with family or just to stay out of the rat race. The important thing is to keep your ultimate goal in mind. If you forget, you may end up betraying your business.

For example, if the vision you have for your business is to stay independent, selling it off to a larger company probably won’t make you happy. Once that money gets waved underneath your nose, though, it’s a difficult thing to keep in mind.

 Take the following business goal actions before taking the leap:

1. While this decision is ultimately up to you, speak with key players in your life. Your spouse and kids may have totally different ideas about the future than you do.
2. Get it down on paper. A business planning app like Enloop helps you write your exit strategy—and the rest of your business plan, too.

3. Prepare for the psychological challenges of going solo

Now for the real true test of the freelancer and independent business owner: loneliness and motivation. With a few exceptions, this isn’t a role for someone who craves constant attention and human interaction. Sure, you may talk to people online or on the phone occasionally, but those events are few and far between. Most of the time you’re at your desk, kitchen table or comfy chair staring at your computer.

All this alone time means you have to keep yourself motivated. There’s no “Bob in Accounts” to compete with and nobody to bump into at the water cooler. If you’re not constantly checking where you’re at on your assignments, you can easily get behind. If you get behind, you risk going over your time limit and making a client mad. When this happens, you risk losing money, which means…that’s right, you don’t pay your bills this month.

Other questions to ask yourself: Who do you turn to when you have a problem? What happens if a client suddenly says they don’t feel like paying you as much as you quoted them? (Free tip: make sure to get a contract!) Unfortunately, there’s nobody to turn to in these scenarios. You can seek advice from other business owners, but you’re the only one to make executive decisions. It’s your company, and you have to defend it!

Take the following actions to prepare yourself psychologically before taking the leap:

1. Schedule play dates. Seriously. Schedule a time to work from a coffee shop or coworking space. Make several lunch dates with colleagues (or better yet, potential clients). Sign yourself up to a networking group or two. Many full-time freelancers report being surprised by their sense of isolation. Don’t let that happen to you.
2. Trick yourself. Allot yourself 15 minutes to work nonstop on that task you’ve been putting off. An advanced version of this trick: don’t allow yourself to brush your teeth or shower until the task is done. For whatever reason, the motivation of getting to refresh yourself after finishing up an unpleasant tasks usually works. So does changing your socks when you’re feeling stressed! Little psychological tricks can go a long way to keeping you motivated and on track.

Think you can handle all this? If this all seems like a piece of cake and you’re not worried about a few hunger pangs when you start out, then you may have what it takes to be a successful small business owner. If you’re even a little unsure, do some more client-building and wealth-amassing before taking the plunge.

Jennifer Dunn is the blog editor for WePay, the easiest way to accept credit cards online.

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The post 3 Smart Ways to Prepare for Your Leap to Full-Time Freelancer appeared first on Brazen Life.

Until that point, though, you ask yourself every hour if you’ve done the right thing by striking out on your own. It doesn’t help that you have absolutely no clue exactly how to score that important first client.

If you’ve already hounded your friends and family and are still coming up short, try the following ideas for a fresh approach. Above all else, keep trying, and keep asking!

1. Start doing it

You can’t gain experience without any work. And you can’t gain any work without any experience. It’s the classic catch-22 that confounds freelancers all over the globe. How are you supposed to combat this?

The answer is to start doing whatever it is you want to do. It may not sound outside-of-the-box, but it is when you consider how many people won’t even take this first step.

You’ll most likely be working for free—but that’s okay, because you love it, right? No matter if it’s for a friend, a local struggling business or your mom, you’re still getting experience. Future clients just want to see some level of experience.

2. Find partners

Someone out there loves the same things you do. Finding like-minded people can not only help your business, but also build your confidence. It helps to know you’re not alone.

Head out to local meet-ups or poke around online and find groups of business owners who can help you. For every freelance peanut butter maker, there’s a freelance jelly maker. Just imagine the good things that will happen when you two finally partner up.

3. Have coffee… with the right person

You’re not going to break into any business overnight. Luckily for you, there are people who have paid their dues. While they may not have work for you, successful people are often looking for ways to give back to the next generation of up-and-comers.

So figure out who in your area is where you want to be (LinkedIn is great for this), and buy them coffee. Not every professional will have the time or inclination to meet with you, but it only takes a couple of yeses.

You’ll learn valuable tricks of the trade from talking with people who have years of experience, and who knows—maybe they’ll remember that eager young up-and-comer the next time they want to pass along work for a friend.

4. Start local

Many of your potential clients will want to work with someone local—someone they can meet face-to-face, who knows their area and their demographic, who is invested in the same community that they are and who they might bump into at the hardware store.

So embrace local marketing. List yourself on Yelp, YellowPages.com and any local websites. Take an ad out in the paper. Put one up on Craigslist. Put up flyers where your clients hang out. Go to local networking events.

The Internet features thousands of nameless, faceless people who provide the same service you do, but few of them live in your neighborhood. Capitalize on your home field advantage. And become a recognizable face in your community!

5. Auction yourself

No doubt you’ve seen the auction-a-freelancer websites out there. A client posts “I need help,” and zillions of freelancers come out of the woodwork to bid on the job.

Yes, it’s a terrible way to get solid and long-lasting work. However, it’s great for newbies who want practice and to build their portfolio.

It may take a little while, but eventually you’ll land someone who needs some work for cheap. The more work you do, the better your chances of getting MORE work.

6. Take some classes

If you need a good recommendation, look no further than someone who teaches exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life! Since you’re still learning and growing, taking a class won’t be a waste of resources. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to network.

Furthermore, if you impress your professor by constantly performing at your peak, they’ll be more than willing to recommend you when the time comes. A professor likely knows tons of potential clients and could steer you in the right direction.

7. Ask everywhere

You’ve already asked your friends and family, and you’ve even remembered to ask your annoying former carpool buddy. But those aren’t the only people you know!

Take a second and write down every single place you’ve been in the past month, making sure to identify your regular hangouts. How many people do you know in each of these establishments, even on a casual basis? They may need work or know someone else who does—all you have to do is ask.

Jennifer Dunn is blog editor for WePay, the easiest way to accept credit cards online.

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The post 7 Innovative Ways Freelancers Can Find That Elusive First Client appeared first on Brazen Life.

Networking events can be great experiences if you approach them correctly; otherwise, they can be the stuff of nightmares. If you implement the following tips, you can help ensure that everything goes smoothly. In fact, you could expand your business in ways you never imagined. It’s all about being prepared.

Before you go

No matter how many members of your team are going, it always helps to get everyone on the same page. While you may not all be doing the same thing or talking to the same people, you want to make sure you have a common goal and ultimate prize in mind.

That’s why it helps to know beforehand who will be at the event and what you want to get out of it. It’s not that you’ll know every single member of the crowd, of course; it simply means you want to tailor your message and conversations to your fellow attendees.

For example, if you want to expand your offering to restaurant owners, you wouldn’t go in looking to talk to all the real estate agents you can corner. Not that you want to exclude anyone, but keep your eyes on the prize. You have limited time, so be sure to speak with the people who can help you achieve your goals.

While you’re there

You’ve done your research so you know what you want out of the event. Now it’s time to put your preparation to work!

Arrive early at the event. You’ll have more quality time to meet and mingle, and people won’t be broken up into intimidating cliques yet.

Once you arrive, you may think you should just jump into the first group you see. However, it’s a better idea to canvas the place so you know who is there. For one, you’ll notice the various personalities in attendance: the quiet loner, the loud braggart, the “Hi, here’s my card—see ya!”, the social butterfly and so on. Knowing who is there can help you figure out which folks to approach first.

Another plus to canvassing is that you may run into a familiar face. While there’s really no point in hanging out with a bunch of people you already know, they may be able to introduce you to some new contacts. They may even know what your goals are and have ideas to set you on the right path.

Don’t skip out on talking to the quiet loner types, either. We’ve all been that person at some point, and you remember how frustrating it can be. They may have a wealth of information, yet no one is talking to them.

After the event

Now it’s time for the follow-up. This can be a little tricky. Everyone you talked to knows you were there for business purposes, but they also don’t want to feel like a number in a crowd.

So you have to figure out how to make everyone you follow up with feel like they’re the only person you’ve contacted after the fact. We’ve all been part of that post-event “cattle call,” and it never goes well. Did you ever contact any of those people back? If you did, did anything come of it?

During the conversation at the event, you likely talked about some other interests. It could’ve been about something you both mutually love, like a sport, or pet theories you have about business philosophy. Whatever it is, make it part of your follow-up conversation.

This way, a friendly conversation about the World Cup and business ethics also serves the purpose of moving your business forward. Plus, you may have made a long-term business contact instead of one you talk to once or twice and then ditch.

Jennifer Dunn is blog editor for WePay, the easiest way to accept credit cards online.

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The post Ideas for Making the Most of Your Next Networking Event appeared first on Brazen Life.