Hi my name is Ahmad Azrul and I work as a salaried copywriter by day and self-employed by night. I mainly write articles and captions for clients such as The Comic Accountant.
The freelance gig started as an initiative to slowly transition myself as a salaryman to being my own boss. After two years of doing freelance work I would like to share my experiences. With that being said, here are a few tips that I have used to work towards being self-employed.
Time Management
To no one’s surprise, one of the secrets to managing two (or more) sources of income is strict time schedule. The best method is to deal with the one that has a better time/profit ratio first. Chunk your time accordingly and deal with what pays better first! Prioritize on what will put food on the table first before anything.
For me, I would focus on my salary job in the morning and deal with freelance work at night. Sometimes I would also do my freelance work in the wee early of the morning before I leave for work.
Keep Track of Your Finances
Making that leap to be your own boss is not going to be easy financially. Setting aside an emergency fund to cover your living expenses should be done monthly. How I do it is I set aside 20% of what I am earning from my salaried employment to act as a buffer so that when I do decide to make that transition.
Setting up a budget also helps and lifestyle choices will need to change accordingly. This means you probably don’t need that brand new 3440 x 1440p OLED monitor just yet! Most importantly, monitor the returns gained from both your salaried employment and the side income. Assess if the side income returns are enough to sustain your current (or adjusted) lifestyle and if it is worth the time spent.
Learn New Skills and Get Experience
During my time freelancing I also make it a point to pick up new skills and experiences. One that stood out the most for me is I learned how to edit videos using professional editing software like Premiere Pro from the Adobe Suite. While some skills admittedly would not help in the grand scheme of things, it would still be beneficial as the whole idea of being your own boss is to be self sustaining.
It would do well for you to also look to those who have left the rat-race and are now small business owners for guidance. As it is very much unchartered territory getting advice from those who have successfully navigated through the uncertainties would prove to be invaluable for your mindset.
Will all that being said, the most important question to ask yourself before undertaking all this is are you happy? Personally, happiness should always take precedence and that includes finally being free of working on someone else’s dime! If working multiple jobs trying to reach the goal of being self-employed makes you unhappy, it’s best to set an end goal that suits you and work towards that with the utmost fervor!