3 Things You Have to Do on Your First Day as a Freelancer

Posted on: 27 May 2015

Congratulations on escaping the cubicle and entering the world of freelance work. You now get to make all your own work decisions and create the working life for yourself that you have always dreamed of. Although there are huge benefits to the freelance life, working as a freelancer is easier said than done. To succeed, you need to hit the ground running from day one. Here are three things in particular that you need to do on your first day in the freelance world.

Get in touch with an accountant. You used to have the same amount of money enter your bank account via direct debit each month. Income tax contributions and student loan repayments were automatically taken out of your pay slip, and you could spend your monthly wages as you saw fit.

Not anymore. As a freelancer, you have to navigate the tricky world of taxes and take care of all your accounts yourself. This can be overwhelming for a newcomer to the freelance world and so it is best to get in touch with a tax accountant straight away. Companies like CMA Chartered Accountants will be able to teach you about tax rules and legislation, and they can take care of any tricky mathematics on your behalf.

Write your first blog post. Since you are officially in the freelance world, you should already have a functioning website (if not, that needs to happen as a priority). But a static website is only worth so much. In order to build your brand, you need to create and publish content to your site on a regular basis, and the best of way of doing this is to create a blog.

If you are a designer, you can create a post about logo design mistakes start-ups should avoid, or if you are a freelance plumber, you can write about the most common plumbing problems in a basement. A blog will help you to develop an authoritative voice in your field, so write your first post without delay.

Do some work. Actually getting the work done is what will make you a success as a freelancer. It can be easy to neglect this and think more about investing in the right equipment and ensuring that you have fancy business cards, but none of it is worth anything if you don't buckle up and get some work done. Start as you mean to go on and fully commit to work tasks from day one. This is the very best way to secure repeat business and succeed as a freelancer in any field.

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Accountancy: Counting Together

Hello, my name is Stuart and I live in Sydney, Australia and this is my accountancy blog. I have always loved numbers. When I was a little kid, my granddad would sit me on his knee and make me recall the times tables. I also remember counting all the money in my piggy bank and my dad explaining the concept of compound interest to me. Although I didn't enter the accountancy trade, I still keep in close contact with the industry and like to keep up with what is going on. I hope you find this blog very useful and that it helps you to save a little money one way or another!

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