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Starting out as Self Employed Freelancer

So, you’ve decided to set up your own freelance business! Great news! You’ve entered the exciting world of entrepreneurism.

We want to help you get the best start you can so have put together some top tips on how to start out as self employed – have a look round this section for more information.

Whilst being your own boss can be a scary prospect and slightly risky, it’s really not as difficult as people make out. And don’t worry – you don’t have to have been born with some kind of entrepreneurial gene, anyone can be successful at being self employed. However, here’s a few tips to get you started:

Be organised

Sounds like an obvious piece of advice? Well, you’d be surprised at the number of freelancer's and sole trader’s who walk round without a diary, business bank account or email address. You need to make yourself as available as possible to potential clients so make sure that you’re organised.

Stay small and keep your costs down

Make sure you don’t grow too quickly – keep your company lean and efficient and manage your time effectively. Don’t waste hours perfecting a website or pay vast amounts of money for CRM systems you don’t need. Focus on your clients and make sure you deliver what you promise – word of mouth is the most effective and cheapest way of marketing. If you really want to actively market your business, there are plenty of free ways. Have a look at our finding work pages for advice.

Start now!

Don’t wait until you’ve got everything set up, get started right now. If you’re a freelance copywriter, get some emails out to local businesses asking if they need someone, start writing a blog to showcase your copywriting talents. If you don’t want to go into freelance work all-gins-blazing, work part time to test the water. Whatever industry you work in, get to work!

Find out who your customers are

Don’t try to sell to anyone and everyone, find out who your customers are and tell them about your freelance business. If you’re trying to market your business, pick your target and put messages in front of them that they’ll respond to. For example, if you’re a plumber, target your local area – friends and family who might be interested. Put on some seminars in the local town hall and offer free advice. If those people ever need a plumber, you can be sure they’ll come to you first.

Be informal

Just because you’re starting a business on your own doesn’t mean you have to go all serious and formal. You need to make sure potential clients feel comfortable speaking to you so make your company friendly and approachable.

If you’re thinking of setting up as a sole trader, make sure you speak to an accountant. The way you pay tax will change and you need to make sure you’re organised. If you’d like to speak to Easy Accountancy, Ask us a question, call us on 0500 234111 / 01442 275767.

Easy Accountancy

Easy Accountancy is the UK’s only national specialist accountancy firm for freelancers, sole traders and small businesses

If you’ve just started out as a freelancer or run a small business, you’ll definitely need a small accountant and there are plenty of options out there! However, most accountants will charge you every time you get in touch with them; for every phone call, email or meeting.

We don’t want our clients to be scared to contact us and potentially lose out on valuable tax saving advice. It's even more important when you first start out as you really need to set your business up in the best way possible. As a start up you’ll probably have loads of questions and will really appreciate the fact you can call your accountant as many times as you like without the fear of racking up large bills.

Our low cost, all-inclusive fixed-fee accountancy service includes unlimited access to your own accountant throughout the year, so you never need to worry about picking up the phone and then receiving a bill afterwards for the privilege, and covers all your business and personal tax affairs needs. All clients additionally receive: 

  • Help to run your business in the most tax efficient way possible
  • Help so you can understand the taxes you need to pay
  • Advice on the best ways to manage your business
  • Updates and reminders so you'll never miss a deadline
  • Help to ensure you maximise your tax allowances
  • Provide proactive tax advice throughout the year

We’ve saved our clients up to half on their accountancy bills – if you’d like a quote, click on the quote me button to the right of this page. Alternatively, call us on 0500 234111 / 01442 275767 or email aaron.oneill@easyaccountancy.co.uk

We also have a money-back service guarantee - all of your telephone calls and emails will be answered on the same day, or we will refund your monthly fee (another first within the accountancy world).

To appoint us as your accountants, please fill in our Client Agreement Form online.

If you are a contractor working through a limited company then visit SJD Accountancy (our sister company) who specialise in providing tax advice and accountancy services for Limited Company contractors. You can also keep up to date by following the SJD Accountancy Twitter

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