Freelancing is a great way to boost your income and reduce your stress.
You don’t have to worry about appeasing bosses when working for yourself and can take a holiday without contacting HR for approval.
However, freelancing usually comes with peaks and troughs throughout the year.
Some months may have you rushed off your feet with clients, while others may be slower. Navigating these slumps can put a real strain on your finances if you fail to plan accordingly.
Finding new clients when in a slump can be challenging, but it is sure to lead to financial security in the future.
You can use the time you usually spend working for clients to refine your offering, build your network, and improve your advertising.
Doing so will bolster the long-term viability of your business and help you rebuild a stronger client base.
Sustainable Lifestyle Choices
Surviving a slump as a freelancer is all about embracing a sustainable, financially responsible lifestyle.
You can’t expect to survive a slump if you’re trying to make repayments on a brand-new car and may struggle to make ends meet if you’re constantly going out for coffee with friends when work isn’t coming in. You can craft a sustainable freelancing lifestyle today by:
- Finding time for hobbies that take your mind away from work — even when times are hard;
- Avoiding the temptation to overwork just because you’re struggling to land new clients;
- Adopting cost-effective self-care strategies like journaling, drinking enough water, and practicing positive affirmations;
- Exercising regularly to keep your spirits high and maintain your health.
These changes can make a world of difference to your morale and motivation as a freelancer — they’re also completely free!
Spending the morning working up a sweat at the gym will give you a much-needed dopamine boost that is certain to aid your efforts to find clients later in the day.
Expanding Your Offering
If you’re experiencing an extended freelancing slump, you may need to pivot to offer a broader range of services. Offering more services can be particularly useful if you’ve noticed that industry trends are moving away from the services that you typically offer. Simple ways to expand your offering include:
- Exploring new markets to diversify your client pool;
- Re-engage existing clients with new services that fulfill their changing needs;
- Partner with other businesses that can improve your core offering;
- Leverage automation to increase your efficiency;
Sometimes, you don’t need to change your core product — you just need to rediscover your competition edge.
Expanding your offering with add-ons like automation or brand partnerships can increase your ability to re-engage existing clients and boost your appeal amongst prospective customers.
Taking the time to reassess your operations during a slump will make you a more effective freelancer in the long run, too. For example, refining the way you invoice clients or complete your daily work during a slump may have a long-term positive impact on your productivity in the weeks and months to come.
Budgeting for Dry Periods
As a freelancer, you need to take a risk-averse approach to saving, spending, and investments.
You may have the cash to buy luxuries, but you can’t be certain you’ll continue to earn at the same rate you are now indefinitely. You can start creating a budget by:
- Earnings: Estimate your monthly earnings by bracketing between “good” monthly earnings and “minimum” monthly earnings. Doing so will help you establish a baseline for your budget and will ensure that you can always put at least a little away at the end of the month.
- Spending: Break down your expenditures over the past few months and look for items that you could cut back on if needed, helping you make immediate lifestyle changes when your income falters.
- Weekly Budgets: Set weekly budgets to control spending on food, drinks, goods, and social events. This will keep you honest and help you assess where all your hard-earned money has gone.
- Assess the Essentials: Figure out your baseline cost of living to ensure that you’re always earning a little more than you need to make payments on time.
Once you’ve set a budget, build a large emergency savings fund proactively.
As a freelancer, you are far more likely to require emergency savings than people who are employed full-time.
This emergency fund should be able to support your minimum cost of living for at least six months. By budgeting proactively, you reduce the strain associated with freelancing and can protect your financial health.
Organizing Your Time Without Work
Finding ways to fill your time when you’re low on work can be challenging if you’re new to freelancing and are going through your first slump. However, you shouldn’t take time off just because you don’t have any paid work to complete. If you’re suddenly left without any clients, you should spend your workday:
- Updating your digital portfolio;
- Improving your website;
- Creating connections on sites like LinkedIn;
- Attending networking events;
- Gaining new qualifications to improve your authority.
If you’ve been working nonstop, you should try to see a slump as a good thing. You finally have time to work on yourself and can spend your workday making important updates to your digital presence that you may have overlooked in recent times.
You can use your time without work to strengthen your connection with your loved ones, too. Try to compartmentalize your work life when spending time watching movies with the kids or catching up with your partner.
The busy periods will return, and when they do, you’ll be thankful for the time you spent focusing on the needs of others.
Conclusion
Surviving a freelancing slump is as much about protecting your mental health as protecting your finances.
You shouldn’t overreact when clients go missing but should take proactive steps to increase your workload in the coming weeks and months.
Using the “slump” to enhance your mental and physical well-being will serve you well when the busy periods return, as you’ll need to be in top condition to handle the workload that will come your way.
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