Day 2: Let's make a non-scary business plan
Time to get your planning hat on!
Welcome to Day Two of 30 Days To Launch Your Freelance Business course.
The second challenge is to put together a business plan. Don't panic! I'm not talking about a huge document here. This is a business plan for you, rather than for investors.
I've created a couple of templates that might be helpful for this, just make sure you make a copy before you complete them!
Have a think about the main questions:
Type of business
Do you want to specialise in digital media, content, illustrating, graphic design, website design, consulting, fashion advisor, virtual assistance or any of the other many options out there? Do you like the idea of doing one specialism, or being a Jack of all trades? Yesterday's task will hopefully have helped you with this, but feel free to jump into the Facebook group and ask a question if you're still stumped.
What set up costs (if any) are there (if you're established, think about your ongoing costs)?
Costs could include: office or studio space if needed, business cards, software subscriptions, website design, an accountant, training, legal costs and living expenses. These won't necessarily be things you'll need to pay for in the first couple of months, but something to be considered in your first year.
What are your goals?
Do you want to spend more time with your family, make a certain amount of money, work with certain brands or industries, or have more flexibility to try new skills and experiences? I like to work in 90 day cycles for goals, so where do you want to be in 90 days? You can also apply this to a year if that would work better for you (some people love a long goal, some find it offputting!)
If you need help with goal setting, I have a course on it here, or I offer coaching on this.
Who would be your ideal client?
Think about who your ideal client would be. This may change as time goes on, but for now have a think about who you need to target. What do they do? Where do they spend time online and offline? What are their needs? You may want to add a survey to your To Do list, to find out more about what they want. The most important thing to think about is, why do they need to use your services? How will it improve their life?
How much time you can dedicate to setting up/freelancing (especially if you're going to be starting your business on the side of a job first)?
Have a think about how much time you currently have available to you. A few evenings a week? One weekend day? Three days a week if you're part time? Full time? School hours? Be realistic about your expectations in accordance with this, and don't compare yourself to others because you don't know what time and resources they have!
How much do you need to earn?
I recommend you put away 30% of everything you earn as a freelancer for tax and National Insurance, but we'll talk about that a bit later. For now, work out how much you need to bring in to cover your costs, costs of living and have a little buffer. You might also want to think about where you want your income to be in a year's time.
An old-school SWOT analysis
Remember at school, when you had to fill in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis? We're going retro. Take a few minutes to think about your strengths and weaknesses, and what opportunities and threats are out there for you. We'll do more on this soon.
Strengths (what are you great at?)
Weaknesses (What do you struggle with or will need to outsource?)
Opportunities (What opportunities are there out for you?)
Threats (these can be internal and external)
Don't worry too much if you can't answer all of these - we'll work through them in the course. Just pop it down on paper, in a Google Doc, using a mind map or a To Do list. There are lots of brainstorming apps around too. The purpose is to get all of your thoughts out of your head, and down on paper or a document.
Head over to The Freelance Lifestyle School Facebook group to share how you got on.