Making Freelancing Work for You When You Have a Family

Working when you have a family can be pretty difficult. Your little ones are likely to require a lot of care and attention, which can prove pretty time consuming.

Freelancing with a Family

The standard nine to five working day doesn’t gel well with school starting times and you can struggle to get the kids to school or pick them up on time around your daily commute.

You may also be expected to work overtime that you’re not all too happy about in an employed job. This is why increased numbers of parents are beginning to consider alternative options when it comes to working.

Freelancing is a great choice. When you freelance, you have a lot more flexibility at the same time as earning sufficient money to keep your family afloat.

You can choose your own working hours, you can work from home, and you can earn at the same time.

So, if this sounds like something that would suit you, here are a few things to take into consideration to make it work!

Choosing an Area of Work

There are all sorts of freelance positions out there. If you can do a job without having to be in a set work space, you can freelance in it.

Take a look at your skill sets and see what you have to offer. You’re going to have to choose an area of specialism before you can get started.

Establishing a Client Base

If you’re going to freelance, you’re going to need clients. Clients are the people who are going to pay you for your services and ultimately generate your income.

Advertise your services and when people reach out to you, make sure you give them good service so that they’ll return time and time again.

Create a Healthy Work Pattern

One of the benefits of freelancing is that you can make your work revolve around your family life. But it’s extremely important that you do still get the work done.

If you know you have a project to complete, you will need to do it before the deadline, so don’t let other things get in the way of this.

You also need to make sure that you don’t end up overworking yourself. Many freelancers will work longer hours than people in employed positions, as they don’t want to say no to work when it’s available.

But it’s essential that you create a healthy work schedule where you’re getting sufficient rest and not overworking yourself!

Outsource

You’re not going to be able to do absolutely everything yourself when you’re freelancing. This is why it’s important you are familiar with outsourcing.

If you find yourself put up against a task that you have know knowledge or experience in, you can outsource to someone else to get the work done.

If you need a new website for your services, you’ll need to outsource to a web developer. If you’d like a new logo, a graphic designer is a good shout.

For photographs of your work, a professional photographer is ideal. If you’re having problems with your tech, an it consulting service can help.

Remember you’re not in this alone. There are plenty of other services out there that are ready to help you keep your business on track!

Save

Of course, one of the risks that comes hand in hand with freelance work is never having a guarantee of work.

Sometimes, you will find yourself with a lot on your plate. Sometimes, your work will completely dry up and your set list of clients won’t need anything from you at all.

You don’t want your family to experience hardship during these dry times. This is why you need to save when you have an abundance of work.

Saving ensures you have sufficient money to tide yourself over when work is short and will prevent you from slipping into debt, which can be difficult to clear.

Savings accounts are ideal for this, as they have higher interest rates and you can often also lock them, to prevent you from dipping into them.

These, of course, are just a few areas you might want to consider if you’re planning on leaving a standard employed position and working for yourself.

This way of life comes with a lot more freedom and flexibility, which is perfect for those of us with little ones to look out for!