Dino

[Updated April 18th]

If you’ve lost your job or your contract, there are steps you need to take immediately, and things you can do to prepare for the recovery.

If you or your business have been impacted by this crisis, and a new or improved website would help, please visit our friends at Strategic Web Solutions.

First, it’s important to remember that we will get through this.  It will be tougher for some than other, and maybe tougher than it’s ever been for some, but we will get through it.

Here’s what you need to do now.

First, steady the ship:

1. Acknowledge that changes will be needed until the situation turns around
2. Apply for benefits/assistance
   1. Unemployment benefits, wage support, etc.
      1. In Australia, government support for businesses can be found here and support for individuals/households can be found here
      2. [April 13th] An excellent summary of support available to small businesses and the self-employed can be found here (Australia)
      3. [April 13th] Details of the Paycheck Protection Program (USA) can be found here
      4. [April 18th] Latest details about JobKeeper Payments for sole traders and self employed, from the ATO here
      5. [April 27th] JobKeeper – updated after some confusion regarding sole traders
         Sole traders go here
         Other businesses go here
   2. Apply for relief from your lenders/creditors – business expenses relief, rent/lease pause or reduction, etc.
3. Build a (new) budget
   1. Cut all non-essential expenses
   2. Reduce or pause bills (utilities, credit cards, etc.)
   3. Work out how much you really need to survive

Next, establish a new routine and do what you can:

1. Get immediate help
   1. Apart from everything above, are there other things you need help with – whether personally or professionally?
   2. If so, who can you turn to?  A family member, friend, or colleague if you need a loan?  A support line if you are struggling with mental health issues?

And finally, consider your next steps, and prepare:

1. How can you find some (any) work, or attract clients, during the current crisis?
   1. Depending on your area of expertise, there could be opportunities for you (e.g. see this article)
2. What can you do to set yourself up for when things start to go back to normal?
   1. If you’ve lost your job, is now the time to start your independent consulting career?
   2. If you’re already an independent consultant, can you refresh your website and profile, learn new skills, etc?

 

Finding work as a freelance consultant (or rather the fear of not finding it) is probably the number one concern for most, especially new, freelance consultants.  In fact, that fear is what stops a lot of people from becoming freelancers in the first place.  And it can be tough sometimes, especially if the economy in your area/country is slow and there’s not a lot of work to be found.

But it doesn’t have to be that scary, as long as you follow some basic steps.

Recruiters & Job Boards

One of the first things I did when I quit my 9-to-5 job, was to sign up with and get to know a few recruiters.  I also set up searches on job boards (I mainly used Seek.com).  These are both great methods for finding contract work as quickly as possible, which allows you to show what you can do, build up some credibility, and make new contacts.

Outsource Yourself

Depending on the type of work you do, you could outsource yourself using services like Elance, oDesk, and Freelancer.  This is another great way to find work quickly, and get some runs on the board.

Find Opportunities While You Work

As a consultant working in someone else’s business/company, you’ll find that you see opportunities for improvement everywhere.  If you see a genuine opportunity in an area that you could help with, let someone know that you could assist.  If they’re happy with your work, and they can see the value in your proposal, you could generate your next contract.

But don’t create an opportunity where there is none.  Being dishonest about that, or about your abilities, just to secure some work is a sure-fire way to ruin your reputation.  And as a freelance consultant, your reputation is everything.

Use your network

I’ve written before about the importance of networking, especially when you don’t need to – when you’re busy working is the best time to be working on your network.  That will guarantee that when you do need some help, you can call on your network.

Don’t be afraid to ask for work, by letting people know you’re available, or that you will be soon.  Social media (particularly LinkedIn in my experience) is a great way to do this.

If you’ve put the work into building and maintaining your network, you’ll find that it pays you back ten-fold when you need it.

Building your network is the key to your long term success as a freelance consultant.

Work Will Find You

When you’re starting out as a freelance consultant, it can be tough.  Ideally you’ll have some money set aside to get you through at least six months, just in case.  But even if you don’t (I didn’t, in fact I was in debt) you can still get by – you just have to try a little harder.

After some time, once you have built a reputation for good work, and built a solid network, you could be in a position where the work finds you.  And I can tell you that’s a great place to be.

Have any other methods for finding work?  Please share them by leaving a comment, thanks!

 

Cheers
Dino

 

So you want to be a freelance consultant? That’s not surprising, given that freelancing as a career choice (or as a way to earn an income while building a startup) is growing fast – in the US, UK, Asia, and Europe.

Freelance consulting sounds perfect, and no doubt you’re attracted by the flexibility. You can work when and where you want, choose your clients and projects, and are responsible for your own success. You can take breaks whenever you want, spend more time with your family, and do away with commutes/peak hour traffic!

Maybe you’re dreaming of making a lot more money, or working only 6 months every year, or of building up your own agency. And it’s all possible – but it takes work. With the right approach, and some effort, you could be living the life you’ve dreamed about.

Freelance consulting is not for everyone. Some people are better suited to, or even thrive, working in a traditional 9-to-5 office job. The following worksheet will help you figure out if you’re ready to take the leap to freelance consulting – and if you’re not, what you need to do to get yourself ready.

Click here to download my free “Am I Ready To Be A Freelance Consultant?” worksheet.

 

Cheers
Dino

 

Hi everyone.  A quick post today on a topic that I feel strongly about.  Have you ever stopped to think: Why Do We Work 8 Hours a Day?

It’s always struck me as strange that people just accept that it’s OK for work to take up most of our time.  For a lot of (most?) people, that is sadly the case.  It’s madness – do you spend 8 hours a day with your children or other loved ones?  Isn’t that far more important than working?!

And in any case, our output (results) should be more important than our input (time).

As I have said many times, when you’re on your death-bed you won’t be thinking “Gee I wish I’d worked more…”

This is also one of the reasons I became a freelance consultant.  To have more flexibility with my time, and to be judged more on my results, and less on the amount of time I put in.

I will expand on this in a future post, but in the meantime check out this article which I found interesting about how we came to accept working 8 hours a day in the first place.

 

Cheers
Dino

 

One benefit of being in the rat race (a.k.a. having a ‘regular’ job) is that you get paid annual leave to take over the Christmas/New Year holidays, when most businesses shut their doors for at least a couple of weeks.

But what if you are a freelance consultant?  Generally speaking, if you’re not working you’re not getting paid.

If you have some fixed price or success-based fee work, and you can work on that even while your client’s business is closed for the holidays, then great – you can work through the holidays if you like.

What, I Can’t Work on Anything?

But what if that isn’t the case for you, and you’re not getting paid?  Well hopefully you have planned for this time and managed your cash flow accordingly, in which case you can think of this as forced annual leave.  While that may not be a good thing if you need the money, it’s actually a great opportunity to do some cleaning up and to take a step back and evaluate where you are and where you’re heading.

Get Your House in Order

I’m sure you’ve got all your paperwork and invoicing in order and completely up to date like I have, right?  Yeah, right.  Well now is the perfect time to do that – all the things you normally don’t get to do because you’re busy – without clients pressuring you.  Of course, you may have family pressuring you instead.  Just work out a schedule where you’re not working the whole time, and explain to them that this is important for your livelihood.

Look at the Big Picture

In general I don’t think we freelancers spend enough time thinking about whether or not we’re heading in the right direction, or even where we’re heading at all.  We’re too busy working!  But I think it’s critical that we think about two ‘big picture’ items in particular: how to do what we do better, and how we will eventually stop doing it.

Ultimately we want to make more money, work less, or both.  So how do we achieve that?  And one day you will want to, or have to, stop working.  What then?  I’ll cover both these items in more depth in a future post.

Take a Break

The ‘forced annual leave’ over the Christmas/New Year holiday is the ideal time to get your house in order, take stock of where you are, and do some big picture planning for your future.

And don’t forget to actually take some time off, relax, and recharge your batteries.

 

Cheers
Dino