June 8
Should you make your online freelancing job a business? When you say business, usually you would think of buying and selling goods, right? Thus when you say online business, normally you would think of selling things online, right? Surely there are lots of platforms offering just that.
Traditionally, these business requires inventory or products that you need to keep track of. Recently, there are now types of businesses that allow you to sell products directly from the manufacturer (drop shipping) or simply by promoting products and you get a commission from the sales. This is called affiliate marketing.
These two are common examples of online hustles that some people are getting into these days. How about, if you are a freelancer? Should you make your online freelancing job a business?
It's the eighth of June and the 159th day of 2022. It's almost the middle of the year already! Despite the lingering bear market for months now, I hope you are all doing great this year. In my previous post (How Can A Beginner Be Successful In Fiverr?), I mentioned that I intend to start offering my services thru Fiverr again. In the past, I got at least a couple of jobs done on that platform. But due to some technical difficulties, namely the highly unstable Internet connection at the time, I was forced to stop.
However, I need to have additional sources of income this month. Thus, I plan to start offering my services online.
Freelancing Can Be Lucrative
Freelancing can be a lucrative source of income. According to an article on indeed.com, a freelancer can earn an average annual income of around $92,000. Graphics designers can earn an average income of around $49,000 per year. I would be happy if I can start earning $10,000 a year.
(Read: 17 Highest Paying Freelance Jobs)
However, starting online freelancing services can be daunting. Many startup freelancers fail. According to the article "The 10 Mistakes, People Make On Fiverr That Keeps Their Account From Becoming Successful", one of those mistakes is people do not treat their Fiverr account as a business.
(Read: The 10 Mistakes People Make On Fiverr That Keeps Their Account From Becoming Successful)
What's the difference?
Most often freelancers will create a gig or two on Fiverr or other similar platforms. Then will do little or nothing to promote their gigs. They just wait for, by any chance, clients or buyers will contact them or buy their services. I admit I am guilty of this too.
Some would join the cutthroat pricing game. Though no one can offer lower than $5 per gig. They will offer multiple jobs in one gig priced at $5. Like, vector tracing two or more photos for just $5. Let's say one can finish vector tracing three photos in nine hours. The seller will receive only $4 for nine hours of work. ($1 will go to Fiverr). Surely, $4 is $4, but is that enough? That is less than what I am receiving from a part-time teaching job where I earn about $5 in two hours of work.
Fortunately, Fiverr now has an option for sellers to offer value-added services for additional costs.
When You Make Your Freelancing Job A Business
The way I see it, most freelancers focus on how much they can earn. Simple as that. However, they often fail to consider the costs of doing each job. I assume that some of them don't even have a goal of how much they wanted to earn each month.
When you make your online freelancing job your business, you will consider not just how much you will earn per gig. (But It doesn't mean that you will have to apply for business permits and other legal stuff before you begin).
For a business to become successful, you need to consider the following:
Goals and Objectives - If you are in business, you must have goals and objectives. You are not offering your services just for the fun of it. You may enjoy doing your work, but you should not stop there. Most successful entrepreneurs focus their businesses on providing solutions to problems. You start to offer your services to help other people or businesses not just because you love to do it.
Knowing Your Target Market - You can't target everybody and just anybody. I have no experience in line fishing, but I learned that certain species of fish require specific bait. Tiny worms may attract small fishes, but I don't think they will attract big fishes. If you know your target market, you will know exactly what they need and what you need to offer to them.
Profit and Losses - What you earn from your job, is not 100% profit. You have to consider your expenses. What expenses? If you are using your laptop and/or smartphone to earn online, then those equipment has costs. You can consider them your capital expense. If you are planning to keep on doing your online freelancing for a long time, you will need to upgrade your equipment or replace it when it's outdated or damaged.
Even if you don't consider that, you are probably paying for your Internet connection and your electricity.
Let's say you are paying PHP 1,500 (approximately $30) a month for your Internet connection. Then in your first three months, you were fortunate enough to get 10 clients a month at $5 each. Since for each sale, Fiverr will be $1, you will $4 x 10 = $40 a month. That's equivalent to about PHP 2,000 a month only. Your profit will be:
Profit= Income - Expenses = PHP 2,000 - PHP 1,500= PHP 500.
That's fine only if you have other sources of income. However, knowing this will make think about how you can improve your services or how to market your services more effectively.Marketing - Marketing is often wrongly associated with selling. Selling is just part of marketing. The principles of marketing start with the conceptualization of a product or service. Marketing also includes the promotion of your products or services.
I will share more of what I know about this subject in the future.
Growth - If you have a business, part of your goal is to make it grow year after year. To grow means, improving your services, which could mean higher charges. You will soon offer other services and even start some passive income streams.
Business Plan -Your business plan will sum up why you are offering your service in the first place, your goals, and objectives, the service(s) that you will offer, how you intend to deliver them, etc... It doesn't have to be a thick business plan complete with a feasibility study.
Read: An Easy Freelancer Business Plan
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
These are just some of the reasons why it's better to consider your freelancing job as a business.
In Closing
Online freelancing can be a lucrative source of income. Fiverr is just one of the more popular platforms where freelancers and clients can meet and transact.
Should you make your online freelancing job a business? My answer is yes. If you can convey to your prospected clients that you are offering your services as a business, they might see you as someone serious about the services that you are offering and not just for fun.
The bottom line is if you want online freelancing as your main source of income, which can be lucrative, make it your business.
May you live your dreams.
Thanks For Reading.
Disclaimer
The content of this article is primarily based on my experience and research about the subject. These may not be the absolute reasons why you should treat your freelancing job as your business, but these are mine. Still, the best way to start offering your services online is to prepare yourself by doing your research.
Image Credit: Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay with modification.
I juts posted my gig on Fiverr few days ago. The market is saturated and I expect it to be hard to even get noticed. But I just update my post every time. Here is my gig, https://www.fiverr.com/share/qqWmm2