Freelance Coach: Is now the right time to become a freelancer?

Daryl Close, our small business and entrepreneurial performance coach, discusses whether the economic downturn is a good time to go freelance.

Is the current market providing an opportunity to go freelance?

There is no right or wrong time to go freelance if you truly want to be a freelancer.  The market is always presenting opportunities; it is just a matter of not being blind to those you are not familiar with and ensuring you understand your target market.

Finding freelance opportunities

Freelancers should and must be prepared to work in any economic climate, both good and bad.  There are challenges with both but in working with my clients it doesn’t seem to matter how good or bad business is there are always challenge to be faced.  Without the exact numbers the UK is looking at unemployment rising to over 10% and from current levels that means another million people out of work by the end of 2009.  However this relates to full-time work.  The misleading aspect of unemployment figures is that it is difficult to assess how jobs are created and by whom and what you must not forget is that there is always a demand for something – the trick is finding out what.

My sources tell me the key constraints on organisations hiring is not due to lack of work, rather it is due to budget constraints and hiring freezes.  These are policies put in to protect the organisation against possible future economic downturn.  However again this pertains to large organisations.  In a previous article of mine I provided an overview as to the large number of small to medium enterprises in the UK and these organisations always need professional assistance – now more than ever.

Undertaking a skills audit and identifying your market demographic

The opportunity to go freelance of course depends greatly on your area of expertise and demand for that service in the market.  Before you go freelance it is important to understand exactly what your skill-set is and how you compare to your competitors in the market.  Whilst there is still a demand for freelancers it is not possible to assume that there is no competition for the best roles.  Review your skills in view of the target demographic you want to provide services too and undertake research to ensure you can perform to the expectations of potential clients.

Part of being a freelancer is being able to research the demand for your skills.  When it comes to identifying your market demographic don’t be caught up in going and relying on the usual job sources.  If I was going to consider marketing, copywriting or writing jobs then there would be two demographics I would be focusing on right now.  The first would be those who are unemployed and looking for a job.  Writing cover letters may not seem glamorous but when there are hundreds of CVs per open position, then let me say a great cover letter would be in high demand.  The second demographic would be those people starting to setup a business which has any kind of online presence.  The marketing of the website, writing, editing, proof reading and copyrighting would be examples of services that these businesses require.

Most important is that you do your own research and do not focus on the bad news coming from the media.  Freelancing skills are always in demand and being innovative in finding your clients is paramount.

By Daryl Close, business performance consultant & coach

Image by The Rocketeer