Freelance Tips: Start out streamlined

As a freelancer, you often have a lot of business admin to manage. It’s easy to get in a muddle. It may sound obvious and tedious, but getting organised from the outset can save you time and money.

It’ll help your finances

Think about the 10 minutes a day you spend hunting for your keys or a missing invoice. By the end of the working week that is nearly an hour’s time lost. Add this up throughout the year and that’s around 45 hours of potential work time gone. What could you have earned in those 45 hours?

Get filing

The first step is to spend 20 quid on a load of document wallets and cheap files. Set up files for business receipts into the categories you’ll need for your end of year accounts (for example, travel, stationery etc.) to make your admin easier.

Don’t forget to add all those business receipts that are stuck in the bottom of your workbag to your files. Why pay more tax than you need to?

You should also create files for useful business info, hard copy invoices, business cards you collect, industry journals and all the other stuff that ends up on your desk hiding your lovely new MacBook Air.

Plan ahead

Next, use half an hour on Sunday night to think about what’s coming up in your working week.

If you’ve got important client meetings, get your clothes planned and portfolio ready. If you’ve got several projects to finish, set out a proper working timetable to avoid clashing deadlines. If you’ve got invoices due, decide when you’ll chase them to avert a cashflow crisis.

Being prepared will ultimately free up time and ease stress because you can stop worrying about silly little jobs and concentrate on bigger projects.

Make coffee

Finally, have you done the cappuccino test? We’ve all seen the TV programmes where people ask specialists for help to manage mounting debt.

They look amazed when the experts tell them that their 2 coffees a day habit is costing them around £1000 a year. So instead of rushing out and grabbing a take-way coffee every morning, get a commuter mug and make your own at home before you go.

By Carey McIlvenny

photo credit: ansik