830,000 freelancers in France in 2016! Are you tempted by this adventure? Before you take the plunge, you need to prepare yourself. Motivation isn't enough: you have to go step by step.
The ProvideUP recruitment platform can tell you all about it!
You need to understand the main reasons why you decided to undertake this individual experiment.
First, take stock of your situation and your motivations.
Several factors can play a decisive role: the desire to emancipate oneself from the hierarchical framework of your company, a desire to be in control of one's own decisions, the need for change, loss of meaning, motivation and so on.
Secondly, you need to know where you're going: towards autonomy, productivity, organization, exchanges? All these elements will be useful in establishing a starting point and implementing your action plan as effectively as possible.
Establishing your services and offers is the most important thing.
As a freelancer, your specialties will be a lever of differentiation and development for your business. This is what will give you the edge over your competitors.
You also need to determine your clientele, identify your prospects and choose a target group of customers who correspond to you and are potentially interested in your services. The more experience you can offer, the more successful your sales will be in the long term, and the more likely your customers will be to remain loyal.
To improve your performance and professionalism, keep taking training courses to improve the areas you already master or discover new ones. If your training is renewed, customers will notice and feel valued. They will prefer the quality of your services to those of a major player in the sector.
A picture is a must!
All expenses must be listed (loans, fixed costs, taxes, levies, leisure activities, vacations, etc.) and evaluated to determine the real value of your investment.
It's also important to remember that if you decide to become a freelancer, you won't have any RTT or paid vacations. You need to factor this into your financial plan.
The instability of your business should also encourage you to save. Some months or years will be less fruitful than others, so it's vital to know that freelance cash flow is your security. It's not a good idea to pay yourself too much in the first few years, because it's important to anticipate the fluctuations in your business over the long term.
There are different ways of rewarding
You can be paid by the hour or by the day, depending on your activity.
For assignments requiring in-depth knowledge or higher value-added expertise, you can increase your rates by raising the price of your services.
As a freelancer, it could be detrimental for you to sell off your services. The price of your services must be fair and in line with what you offer.
If your offer is too low in terms of price, your customers may think it's not good enough. On the other hand, if your rates are too high, you'll lose competitiveness.
Remember that you'll always be cheaper than specialized agencies, but it's still important to find out what your competitors are charging. Having an overview of the competition in your sector will enable you to stand out from your rivals by offering different services, but also to adjust your rates so as to position your offers correctly in the market.
Now you're ready to start a new life and (finally) give yourself permission to do a job you're passionate about, with the freedom that goes with it.
Written by our ProvideUp expert
September 25, 2017
